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?