This weekend my son and I were out fishing and just generally messing about in the Rappahannock River here in VA. We were wading, crossing rapids, and ultimately swimming. Decided to test the basic EDC gear and kept my Mini RSK, Rock River 1W LED light (from Target), and a mini bic in my pocket.

End result, the Mini RSK was fine. The Rock River 1W LED light was in fact water resistant/proof (it is o-ring sealed but I was worried about the bezel).

The mini bic, well, we all know that they need to be dried out after a dunking. Tried to blow it out, but was unsuccessful in getting a spark. Waited a while and managed to get a weak spark, but no light. Took a couple of hours to finally light reliably again. End result, I still carry it since 99% of the time it can be kept reasonably dry, but it would have failed if I had an accidental dunking that I needed to start a fire to avoid hypothermia with. Path forward, looking for another fire starting method that will be more water resistant that is small enough for EDC (probably a small fero rod).

Bill

That's something I'd never have thought of. If you're getting hypothermic, you need a fire fast!

I wonder if a piezo lighter like a cheap Ronson would suffer the same?

Personally I carry the firesteel all the time since I got the hang of using it. I only carry a lighter when I may be required to light a cigar

How fast would a Spark-Lite dry out, light tinder after a dunk?

These Peanut Lighters are incredibly tiny and dunk-proof. They may be the smallest lighter going and I've been really happy with mine. It has a permanent place on my keychain. (I'm amazed the lighter fluid doesn't evaporate. Try that with a zippo! )

There are a couple of other sources for them online, but CountyComm has always done right by me. (No affiliation, just a happy customer.)

Huh ... I've dunked a Bic lighter under running tap water, shook it out, and within a few minutes got a flame. Maybe it depends on the humidity at the time.

A few months back I tried using a Bic light in a pretty strong wind and was very frustrated. I've used sparkers in similar wind and found them even more frustrating. These days I've taken to carrying jet-type lighters (Storm, Windmill) since they are more windproof. They also have a rubber gasket on the lid, which helps water resistance.

Ken

I've been pondering adding a storm-type lighter to my camping gear. I was wondering how well they worked. How many lights you can expect. Etc... etc...

I like the stainless steel peanut lighter above, but would definitely have issues with it in windy conditions.

Anyone have any familiarity with this one from REI?

Colibri Extreme II Wind-Resistant Lighter

I like the Storm ... the only real complaint I have is that the flipped lid only flips 90 degrees or so, which puts the lid a bit in the way in use. It would nice if it flipped all the way over - like the Zippos do. As I recall, the Windmill does about the same thing (not flipping all the way over) though a bit better. Silly problem.

Boy, I haven't a clue as to how long a butane load lasts. It would seem prett easy to time it, though I'd worry about leaving it on too long and maybe melting some parts.

Ken K.

My swimming and fishing PSK is contained in an Aloksak waterproof bag which is then pinned inside of my front pocket, or in the pocket I sewed into the waistband of my swimming trunks. If I get dunked, my fire starting equipment remains dry, and the pin keeps the PSK from getting washed out.


The PSK I carry while hiking and camping is waterproof.

My answer to mini-Bics getting wet and becoming nonfunctional is to carry several when I'm in the field. Where rain or getting dunked is an issue one rides in zip-lock.

Also in my kit I carry one that has been sealed in heavy-duty foil tape. This stuff is essentially a 2" wide strip of soft aluminum with a permanent acrylic adhesive protected by a strip of plasticized paper liner. Foil tape is commonly used for assembling and sealing ducts but once you get a roll you will find a lot of uses.

The lighter is wrapped in the tinder and a bit of wax paper to keep the foil tape from sticking and placed on the sticky side of the tape after the liner has been removed. Another piece of the tape is placed over this and pressed down to eliminate as much of the air as possible. The edge is squared off with scissors eliminating any exposed stickum and the corners are rounded to prevent snagging and cuts. Sealed in this way the lighter is very well protected. I have gone swimming with mine and when checked the tinder and lighter was always bone dry.

I have, at various times and situations also carried flint rods, magnesium blocks, match safes and lifeboat matches wrapped in foil or wrapped in wax paper and dipped in wax to seal them. If you feel the need you could carry any or all of these.

I have generally moved away from these as I increasingly see them as unnecessary. But, depending on my mood and the situation, I sometimes slip in a package of four lifeboat matches that has been sealed in wax paper. This is a very compact and light little bundle. A bit slimmer than a mini-Bic. Pretty much small enough to be slipped into a jacket pocket and forgotten about until needed. Which is one of the reasons I like the mini-Bic. Cheap, compact and effective is good.

But my observation has been that usually the lighter works. When it doesn't the second source of fire does. I can't remember ever having to resort to a third. And if it came down to it I could always get primitive and spin a stick with a boot lace.

Don't forget that when you need a fire most, your ability to make one will be impaired (i.e. post river dunking with hypothermia coming on, you will have limited fine motor skills)

Also, if your firestarter is wet, how's your tinder?

The key to drying and lighting a wet Bic is;
Shake off all water.
Blow into the top really hard to blow out the excess water.
NOW HERE IS THE TRICK; run the sparker wheel on your pant leg several times quickly without pushing the fuel release.
The lighter will now light.
This works 100% within 2 minutes for me.
Run one under the faucet at home and try it out.
Billy

Funny this topic should come up. I was canoeing with some friends last weekend when we flipped the canoe. We clambered ashore to dump the water out of the canoe. I had no reason to light a fire but I looked into my emergency kit just to check the contents. Lots of water in there. I pulled out the lighter and it wouldn't light fer nothin'.

It was raining and my fingers were wet. I had just gone for an impromptu swim in the river so every stitch of fabric I owned was dripping wet. Running the flint wheel with my finger or on my pant leg just put more water on the flint wheel and didn't do a thing to help it dry. I had some strike anywhere matches in a match safe that were good and dry. But, I didn't have anything dry to strike them on. I guess I could have peeled some bark off a dry stick to find a dry surface to strike a match.

I do alot of canoeing and I tried many times to keep things dry in a zip-loc baggy. Nuh-uh. They almost always leak - not always but almost. I'd never trust a zip-loc to keep something dry for very long.

Based on this experience I did some experimenting and I found that I can take a fire steel and a greasy cotton ball, soak them in water to the point of being completely, sopping-wet waterlogged and still get a flame going in just a minute or two.

A lighter is always part of my basic fire starting kit. But I will now be sure to also take along a sparker rod and some vaseline cottonballs for those times when everything is wet. I guess there's commercial tinders out there, too, that claim to be waterproof. I've never tried them. You can try to keep your lighter and tinder dry if you want to. But, I'll bet eventually water is going to get to it one way or another. I prefer to keep something on hand that doesn't fail no matter how wet it gets.

Kart,

Thanks for relaying the information. Definitely some good knowledge from a first hand experience.

Mike

They are quite wide, though - about half an inch across. This makes them uncomfortable to sit on in a back pocket.

Deal Extreme used to do thinner butane ones that were flat and roughly a quarter inch thick, eg http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10087 which I prefer. That one's a jet flame and not waterproof. They also do a flint ignition one that's the same thickness but wider, and which has a cap that covers the mechanism. The cap isn't sealed but is surprisingly good at keeping the water out. It also protects everything else from the grind-wheel and prevents accidental ignition or fuel leakage (as compared to a Bic with exposed mechanism).

Unfortunately the build quality isn't very high (but then the peanut rarely lights for me first time either), and there's no fuel window (again, the peanut lighter lacks that too). And DX don't seem to be shipping any butane lighters currently.

easy solution: Don't put it in your back pocket

I have the peanut lighter and I really like it, I also have another lighter from county comm thats really cool.

Also if you like your zippo but are looking at butane lighters they have this wich looks really cool ( I don't have it)

No affiliation except that I spend way too much time on their site.

I quite like the peanut lighter (although I had to replace the o-ring), but my back pocket is usually the only place I have room for something as rarely used as a lighter. They are also a bit fiddly, in that you have to unscrew the top to get them open, and then they are quite small to use, and it sometimes takes half a dozen or more attempts to light it. They aren't ideal if you have cold hands.

I don't like Zippos. Too unreliable (due to evaporation). I have a couple of of those other liquid fuel lighters (mine are from Imco) and they are certainly fun - especially the candle mode - but they also suffer from evaporation.

Peanut lighters work well on a lanyard. That's where mine usually lives.