Okay first of all one of the nicest guys on this forum is French so if youre going to be bashing the French, this is probably not the right place for it. You won't find much (if any) support from anyone else.

Now for the 'real' matter at hand... survival equipment, specifically lighters:

I EDC a mini Bic and and have another in my PSK. I was a pack-a-day smoker for 15 years before I quit a couple years ago and I still smoke the occasional cigar so I have lit my share of fires as well and (like any smoker) have used many different methods to do so.. even some really strange ones. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I agree completely that it is very difficult to tell how much fluid is left in a Bic and I also agree that when they do run out of fluid the only way to get a good spark off of the them is by removing the sheild and once you do this then they become extremely fragile. I will also add that if you use one to illuminate an area (as I often have with many lighters) or another purpose that requires maintaining a flame for more than a minute, then you're likely to melt critical componants and render it useless.

However, I don't like the Zippo much either. The Zippo solves the problems mentioned above but it has problems of its own as well. Primarily the fact that fuel seems to evaporate out of a Zippo faster than rubbing alcohol on the concrete in Las Vegas in August at 3pm. Also a Zippo does not make a very good spark thrower.

Metal matches are nice. I used to EDC one, but they have their problems too; primarily that they hold very little fuel and can not be operated one-handed.

What I would like to know is what is the answer? What is the perfect lighter? About a year ago I thought it might the Windmill Storm Proof lighters until I took one in the mountains and found out they don't react well to altitude changes and that when purging them to repair the problem you can end up losing a lot of fuel if you aren't careful.

I can tell you what I want in a lighter, I just cant find the lighter that meets my criteria. I want a lighter at least as durable as a zippo, that holds (without evaporation) as much fluid as a Mini Bic and is the size of a Mini Bic, if not smaller. I would also like it to be a good spark thrower on its own when it is out of fuel. This is not the first time I've brought this up. As a matter of fact I am following a similar thread of at BF right now hoping to eventually get leads which bring me closer to the perfect lighter.