Okay, today I got my order from DealExtreme. Included in it were a pair of small peanut lighters, just $3.70 for the pair with free shipping! While I haven't used them much, I did fill them up and tested them and wanted to post a few impressions.

First off, DX is a company some love and some hate. On the negative side, they're based in Taiwan (a negative to many, at least). Also I'm aware that they deal in some stuff that appears to be counterfeit. You may recall that there was a thread here somewhere that details some fake CRKT Doug Ritter knives that someone found for sale there. Now how much DX knows about the products it sells is open to debate, but it's possible they do it knowingly. For the record I placed this order before I heard about that. Anyways, that brings me to the last drawback- while they do ship free, it takes about a month to get your stuff. That said, this is my 5th order from them and I've yet to have a problem.

Okay, to the lighters! They come in two packs. Mine included on black one and a copper/brass colored one. They're about 1.75" x 0.5" or so and are reasonably robust. The cap and barrel are metal. The bottom, however, is plastic. I'm not sure how sturdy this makes them but overall the lighters are solid. They ship empty (postal regs, I presume) so I picked up a bottle of lighter fluid on the way home. Note: I don't smoke so I've never bought the fluid before, but to me it smells exactly like the lighter sold for charcoal briquettes. Can anyone confirm or deny this? The latter is cheaper so it would be good to know.

At any rate, they seem to hold a ml or or two of fluid. They have a batte, a wick and a sparker much like a Zippo. I'm not sure but they look to be replaceable. I've never smoked anything so I've never had a "real" lighter, just the disposable butane ones that I tuck in my pack for camping.

Both of them light easily and stay lit. Being small they're susceptible to wind.

So far I'm pretty pleased with them. They're certainly pretty nice considering they're under $2 each. If they hold up as well as they seem like they will, one will go into a PSK and the other will go with my regular camping gear. I'll keep you all posted as I use them more.

DX is based in China / Hong Kong (well atleast looking at the stamps).

Anyways, i have had used their full metal peanut lighter and the thing to check are the o-rings. Not very well made. One tore the first time and they generally feel very cheaply made. the rest was ok.

They are very small and metal so impossible to use with gloves.

I have some these peanut lighters:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/super-mini-vintage-oil-lighter-3734

They're cool novelty items while at home, but I carry mini Bics.

So I do. But does that mean you don't consider the DX ones worth carrying? Just picking your brain. I've had the Bics (mini and regular) outgas in storage. I don't smoke so my lighters sit more than they work. That's why I wanted the ones with the gaskets.

Are these truly waterproof like the real peanut lighters from countycomm, or are they just water resistant novelties?

I haven't tested that yet but I plan to.

I consider mini Bics to be more rugged. They are simple yet over-engineered and remarkably reliable. I have not had a leaking problem with mini Bics. Anyway, you can tell how much gas is in a mini Bic by looking at the white bottom and holding the Bic horizontally. Better yet, get a mini Bic with a case that is white, yellow or orange. Also, a mini Bic has no exposed wick, which may be a weak link on the peanut lighter.

Unfortunately, mini-Bics are not waterproof, like peanut lighters are (or should be). That's typically not an issue, but one should be aware of it just in case your backpack falls in a river. You need to let the mini-Bic dry before you can light it. It doesn't take long to air out. I just tried it. My mini Bic was able to light in about 2 minutes after being dunked in water. I heard that if you take the childproof lock off, then the mini Bic works while wet, but I have not personally tried this.

Regarding the peanut lighters from DX, I have had no leaking problems because I swapped out the O-rings with better ones purchased off the Internet. Overall, however, the peanut lighters from DX are more finicky than mini-Bics. I don't own any peanut lighters from Countycom, and I don't plan to buy any.

Peanut lighters are definitely a bit more fiddly that a bic - IMO.

I bought four (cheap ones) a while back and one did not work ! But I guess you get what you're paing for.

A plus with the peanut lighters is that they are easy and unobtrusive to attach to a key ring - as an EDC item.

Also you can light them and stand them up - like a candle, which is also handy if you want a light or need a candle.

I do have a handful of Mini-Bics and like them a lot, especially the orange ones. I just figured the cheap peanut ones were worth a try given the low price.

Just an FYI, I soaked one of the peanut lighters in a glass of water for an hour and it lit on the first strike.

What makes me uncomfortable is the ruggedness of a peanut lighter depends entirely on the seal at the O-ring. If the O-ring breaks or if the lighter otherwise fails to have the seal, then you have a lighter that is suddenly on the delicate side. Without the seal, the lighter will have basically zero water resistance. I would expect a peanut lighter to be entirely inoperable for the remainder of a trip if the mechanics are exposed to heavy water. Also, the lighter fuel will leak relatively quickly on a peanut lighter without an O-ring seal.

In contrast, a mini Bic just needs to air out for awhile if it gets wet. Also, the mini Bic doesn't have a gas leak issue (at least not for me).

Here's an invention idea: a lighter with a head unit as rugged as a mini Bic lighter, but with a covering like the peanut lighter, and less than $10. My temporary homemade solution would be to put a mini Bic inside a larger capsule that's waterproof. I would bring this setup if I'm venturing into extreme conditions somewhere, along with other other fire starters of course.

A whole lot of stuff depends on O ring to keep them working, flashlights, watches, cameras, stoves etc. I think you are over worrying a bit.

There's nothing wrong with a cheap peanut lighter, or a bic, or a box of matches or anything else.

You need to test your equipment before you use it, know its limitations, and keep a backup for stuff that is critical or that you rely on.

I'm not necessarily advocating carrying a $2 Chinese peanut lighter as one's only fire starting method. I'm just pointing out the results of my preliminary tests. While it does rely on an O-ring I agree that lots of things rely on them. Overall O-rings are fairly robust, and the way the lighter is constructed it's hard to imagine just how the O-ring would be subjected to much shock or stress. You could get aftermarket gaskets or carry spares if you were really worried.

I got two of these as well. They are too small for my hands and lose fuel to quickly. The 'o' ring's disappeared quickly.

I tried an experiment that I left unfinished, but looked promising. I pulled the lighter insert out of the peanut case. I then poked a PT soak cotton ball into the container, teasing out a wick, making a permanent match.

A few sparks from the empty 2nd lighter, lit the match with no trouble.

It's still hard for me to use for it's size, but this seems like a promising approach to making it more durable for long term storage.

Interesting...what do you mean by "disappeared"? Do you mean they degrade or they fell off/got lost? I'll keep an eye out for that. Maybe I'll look for better gaskets. Again, I don't suppose I'll mess around with them much since they were so cheap.

I'm headed out this afternoon for an overnighter at a nearby state park. I'll take one of the lighters with me along with my other stuff.

I have a revision of a previous statement. Looking at some notes, I recall now that I was unsuccessful twice at buying fitting O-rings for my peanut lighters. If anybody wants to try their own buying, note the following O-rings are too thick:

http://www.oringsusa.com/catalog/product...it26noks59osvg3

http://www.amazon.com/-013-O-Ring-Durome...0034&sr=1-1

If you find the right size, please share. Don't be scared by that pic. The actual O-rings I have look like they could fit, but they're just a fraction of a mm too thick. There's no room for anymore thickness on these peanut lighters. The extra thickness makes the O-ring slide off.

I have a Spy Capsule Keychain Lighter from EDC depot that I filled with fuel 10 months ago. I don’t use it, don’t smoke, I just wanted to see how long the fuel would last. I lit it once a day for a while then went to once a week. Now I only light it about once a month and guess what? It has lit every time so far. I guess the O-ring keeps the fuel from evaporating as well as keeping the water out. Compared to a Bick, of which I have many, you can light the peanut and set it down. For what its worth.

http://edcdepot.com/spycapsulekeychainlighter.aspx

That's a pretty cool looking little lighter, and cheap too.

A nice thing about lighters generally is that you can wrap the lighter with bike inner tube and you have a complete firing starting system in a relatively tiny package. (I prefer to use inner tube as tinder, rather than keep the lighter going.) The inner tube also dampens clanking with other gear.



I wouldn't be surprised if that's the same lighter from DX (China).
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/super-mini-vintage-oil-lighter-3734
You said you can light your lighter and set it down. Did your lighter come with a flat bottom?

Just thought I'd add 2 cents about the "unwaterproof" mini Bics. What I do with all my Bics that are in kits is put a tight rubber cap over the important end; keeps water/dust out and might even prevent accidental gas release by lever getting pressed.

These rubber caps are the things you put on your fingertips for paper handling. No. 2 (typ. yellow) is perfect for a regular Bic, No. 00 (typ. red) is right for the mini Bic. Stationery/dollar stores, very cheap for a pack, other odd-ball uses.

The DX ones don't have a flat bottom, they have a rounded lanyard loop. I just got back from an overnight trip to a local state park where I played with the lighters a bit. Overall they worked just fine but are pretty vulnerable to wind.

They're very small and easy to keep on one's person, so I do like that, but for the strength of the flame I'd give the nod to the mini-Bic. I will probably keep using them both.

I was wondering if the lighter in CAL's link has a flat bottom.

Regarding the issue of wind, that's another important consideration of course! I have found that even a Bic is difficult in a moderate wind. There's no replacement for testing gear. It exposes issues one may not have otherwise considered!

Pheadrus, 'o' ring disappeared, got lost, under night time zero light, outdoor, in the woods test conditions. The 'o'ring on mine were very loose once you opened the lighter.

Ireckon, No it does not. They did not have this one http://edcdepot.com/spycapsulelighterwflatbottom.aspx when I bought mine. If I had seen this one, I would have purchased it. It is the same price as the one with the round bottom.