The Bic disposable lighters seem a little bit flimsy for my survival kit. The last one I had lost its fuel presure after only sitting 5 months in the kit. Recently I saw a product called " The Sportsmans Lighter " by DAK Technologies. It is a waterproof refillable butane lighter.

Does anyone have any experiences with this particular lighter ?

Thanks

Never worked with it. I just want to say, don't sell the Bic short. I've had them work when Zippos wouldn't light. I've tried various expensive lighters, and while some are great, few of them in my opinion outperformed the Bic to a significant degree, and all were larger, heavier and much more expensive.

Thanks for the input and opinion on the lighters. I don't want to bash Bic Lighters They have been around as long as I can remember and my guess is millions have be manufactured. Perhaps I just got a bad one that didn't keep its fuel charge over time.
In any case thanks again for your response.

I have not used that lighter from DAK, but, I have a couple of "Storm" lighters. I purchased them through West Marine, but, they are available elsewhere. They are refillable Butane lighters. They are adjustable, and I have never had a problem with them after a couple years of use, and several refill cycles. They have an O-Ring water seal, and a sliding switch that can lock the top closed to avoid accidentally clicking it open. There's a place to attach a lanyard.

I have another similar lighter, called a SOLO lighter. Also a refillable butane model. This one has an added feature... on top of the cover is a small button compass, and under the cover is a small mirror. Nice little additions.

Both of them have what seems like it would be a sensitive piece of wire that is the ignitor, but, I've dropped them, had them sit in the bilge of my boat for a while, left them out in the rain camping (shall I say, my son left one out in the rain camping.) They keep going. I use the "high quality" butane. I get it for a portable soldering iron that I use, and it works for these lighters too.

Cabelas makes one called something like the "Alaskan Guide Lighter". I've been tempted to buy one, has anyone else used them? I think LL Bean may also brand the same thing with their name.

ALL lighters leak fuel. If something got it, it can get out, unless you want to get into some very fancy sealing of the unit that means you'll never get the fuel out again, which would kinda defeat the purpose.

The important thing is not to rely 100% on whatever lighter you choose to carry. The boys in my son's Scout troop have taken to carrying fire steels and appropriate fire-starters instead of lighters. They are much less prone to failure and repeated use provides excellent firestarting skills.

Unfortunately many of them still need to learn the proper way to prep for and build fires. They tend to gather a small amount of wood and then yell for others to go get more wood while the flames run out of fuel.

By the way, my favorite refillable lighter is the Solo Candle Lighter It looks like a regular lighter, but the lighter nozzle extends out to make lighting fire-starters tucked under kindling much easier.

http://www.ronsoncorp.com/jetlite.cfm

check out the new Ronson Jetlite lighters. I picked up several recently from -your guessed it...........everyones fav. Walmart. Its a excellent lighter................fuel seems to last VERY VERY well. It projects a precise blue jet flame. So far in my testing, it works very well. Case is rock solid metal........stainless steel?? i think? lit has very heavy duty spring mech.....should last very long time. and the best part...........they are only about $3.00 bucks................why not pick up several..............you cant go wrong!

I dont normally consider my primary choice for EDC gear.........but Ronson has been in the lighter business since 1913, so if anyone can make a dependable yet simple butane lighter these guys should!

I've got one. they are serious when they say don't use it for for a short time. If you use it for longer, the lid will deform & not latch down w/o using the wire clip.

Thanks for the tip. I might have to pick one up. My only gripe with this model might be that it is not made to be water resistant. IF they would add a rubber gasket, they would have a real winner.

There are really only two ignition system in lighters: flint/wheel and piezo. My experience with piezo ignition system is that they fail when they get wet. With flints, at least you can twirl the knob enough to dry them out rather rapidly. With pezo, your only hope is to set them in a warm place for a few hours and pray. The reason is that the piezo system is actually electrical, and ignition occurs with an electric spark. Any water would provide an alternate path for the current so that no spark will occur. Also, if water gets in the crystal pile, you are seriously boned.

FYI: The little wire in the lighter is NOT the ignition system. It is a platinum wire that provides the wind resistance. When the ligher first lights, the heat gets this wire to glow cherry-red. If the wind blows out the flame, the wire is then hot enough to re-light it instantly. I believe that you could even cut the wire out and it would light if there is no wind.

Not that I support Bics or any other perticular brand of lighter. I generally buy the no name store stocked cheapies. I have found it is normally not the lighter that is at fault for loosing fuel in kits especially the smaller ones.

Most people tend to try to cram as much as possable in the smallest space available. The ploblem that happens in many cases is that something ends up jammed into the fuel release lever of the lighter. This opens the valve and out goes the gas. Some time slowly or at full flow. The the negt time it is checked It is dead. Then the assumtion is that it leaked because the lighter is defective. But it was an operator error to begin with.

I have had several lighters that were stashed for more than 5 years or more that still work like new. In fact one is a Bic. Years ago I bought one of those multi packs of various colored lighters. Since Pink isn't really my color I stuck the pink one in a rearely used pocket of my heavy winter jacket. Kind of a last resort emergency back up. Every year when I break out the coat I check the lighter. Having been forgatten. Run through the washer and dryer several times. And generally ignored for at least 5 years and probably more like 7 or 8 years. It still works fine when I remember to test it at the begining of the cold weather season.

Are there any jet-flame lighters that use flint ignition? All the ones I've come across are piezo-electric. It's a shame because I'd prefer flint for the reason you mention and also because there is a chance you can use the flint to ignite improvised tinder when the fuel runs out.

I agree on the Solo Storms. I have a couple of them. Good windproof/waterproof lighters, particularly for the money--$10-15.

I just had one of the no-name rectangular ones fail on me. It was the kind with the clear housing so I could see there was plenty of fuel in it. But no fuel came out when I pressed the button. It was usable as a spark wheel only. I didn't see any visible clogging in the nozzle and I've since thrown it away. The thing was, I dunno, at least 3 years old and I'd tested it a few times over that period and it had always worked, but I had occasion to use it a couple weeks ago, and dug it out with the above results. The spark it made was actually enough for my purpose though (lighting a gas stove).

QUOTE: "Most people tend to try to cram as much as possable in the smallest space available. The ploblem that happens in many cases is that something ends up jammed into the fuel release lever of the lighter. This opens the valve and out goes the gas. Some time slowly or at full flow. The the negt time it is checked It is dead. "

I wrap a small rubber band multiple times around the lighter just below the gas release lever. This prevents any accidental actuation of the lever. I have had zero leaking problems since. It is easy to remove to use the lighter and the rubber band can be used in a pinch for other PSK duties.

Good luck, TR