Considering things further, I have a followup question.

I have been EDC'ing a small off brand BIC. The reason for this is that they can be modified to allow "blowtorch" mode.

The manner of EDC is the least hospitable to man. I make a small loop of the outer sheath of paracord and tape it to the body of the cheap lighter with about 6-12 inches of duct tape (Gorilla brand). The excessive tape is to dual use the lighter.

The lighter is then attached to my keychain. I have found that each lighter has a functional life of about 6 months. Since I do not smoke, this amounts to 1-2 uses of the lighter before failure.

This is unacceptable in terms of reliability. Does anyone know of a way to carry a cheap lighter in one's pocket without it falling apart? Perhaps a case of some sort?

The failure mode seems to be uniformly the metallic part of the lighter surrounding the flint wheel. I have attempted to tape the metal to the body without success.

Conway Yee