Sorry if this has been answered before, but, what are the advantages of the Spark-Lite Firestarter over just a plain old Bic lighter?

I have several of the Spark-Lite Firestarters but it seems to me that the Bic can do everthing it can.

What am I missing?

All comments appreciated.

Tom

The spark-lite is quite a bit more compact, making it more suitable to a mini survival kit.

SL also not sensitive to altitude.

The Sparklite must be considered as a unit, which includes the splendid tinder. I've never experienced a failure with disposable lighters, and @ $1 they are a bargain. The previously mentioned altitude limitation and a finite fuel supply leave it on par with the Sparklite sans tinder. I could start a cyber flame by mentioning the sources of both units, but that won't heat anything but passions and I haven't had my coffee yet ( lousy slow burning ESBITS) <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

It's the tinder. The sparker is prettymuch the same as the sparker on a Bic lighter. The tinder is very compressible and burns well. It can get wet and is easily dried out.

S.

This is the only answer that made sense to me.

The argument that the Spark-lite is part of a system and needs to be used with the special waterproof tinder makes no sense - it would be cheaper to just buy the special tinder and you could use your 99 cent BIC lighter to ignite it, even if the lighter is cracked and has lost all its fuel.

Likewise, the BIC lighter will generate a spark quite well at any altitude (short of outer space where the lack of oxygen will make building a fire problematic <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ) The fact that, under some conditions, it fails to provide the additional functionality we expect of it is a limitation on the Sparklite, not the BIC.

I saw some lighters at Walgreens a few weeks ago that were very compact. They were cylindrical, and as I recall about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter, less than 2 inches long. Not a heck of a lot bigger than the spark-lite, IIRC. No guard on the flint wheel. I should have grabbed a few, but that wasn't my mission. Next time I'm there I'll get some and tell you more.

For the most part a sparklite is like a bic with no fuel. If your bic ran out of fuel you could use it the same way after removing the guard and it would generate enough spark to work wth a cotton ball or sparklite tinder. The advantage I see is that the sparklite is more durable. It is made to spark and only to spark. After you remove the sheild from a bic, it gets a little fragile. I have had them come apart on me after removing the shield.

So is it fair to say that it is not the spark lite but the tinder that is important and I would be better off with a Bic and some of the spark lite tinder as opposed to the spark lite sparker and the tinder.

I must be buying the wrong lighters (Mini Bics) because I get twice as much spark from the SparkLite as I do from a Mini Bic (yes with the guard removed). Maybe you guys are referring to the full-sized Bics? I have no info on those. They are way too big for me to consider carrying so I have never even bothered testing them. As far as tinder goes... the TQ that comes with the SL is great stuff. It's my favorite tinder for wet weather, hands down. However I have had much success lighting both toilet paper and natural tinder with a SL. I have had success doing this with the spark from a Mini Bic lighter also, but not as much. If my choice is an empty Mini Bic or a SL, I'm taking the SL!