I have a couple and carried one for a few years in Alaska. They work. Not wind resistant - like a match. They also work fine to ignite responsive tinder like cottonballs. I think of them as a fire ignitor vs a "lighter" for smokers. Blazo (Chevron brand white gas stove and lantern fuel) worked OK in mine, although I keep lighter fluid in them nowadays. The Blazo I used to buy in Alaska was more volatile in cold weather than Coleman Fuel, FWIW, but it may have been locally refined for our conditions.