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#84996 - 02/07/07 07:42 AM AUTO Cigarette Lighter
Chisel Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/05/05
Posts: 1563
Two years ago, I lost my car cigarette lighter and never bothered to find it since I am not a smoker. Today, I was thinking about the different methods of lighting fires. I have never heard or read anyone talk about the auto cigarette lighter. Is it because it is soooo obvious ??

Maybe I was wrong to waste that lighter that could save my life if stranded in cold weather.


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#84997 - 02/07/07 09:08 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
redflare Offline
Addict

Registered: 12/25/05
Posts: 647
Loc: SF Bay Area, CA
Some of the newer cars don't have a lighter. They just have this plastic plug with a no smoking sign on it!
I wonder if it is possible to buy a replacement lighter in auto stores? Anyone knows?

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#84998 - 02/07/07 10:12 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
JCWohlschlag Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/26/06
Posts: 724
Loc: Sterling, Virginia, United Sta...
Quote:
I wonder if it is possible to buy a replacement lighter in auto stores? Anyone knows?

Yes, it is. In fact, it's pretty common to have to buy replacements because the heating elements in them wear out after a while. I'm not a smoker, but my father was (quit about a year ago).
_________________________
“Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee. Sometimes old people hike by mistake.” — Demitri Martin

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#84999 - 02/07/07 12:52 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2997
yes, they can be bought pretty much anywhere. IIRC from playing with one years ago they won't light much, I'm guessing that cig paper is very flamable, we couldn't get anything we tried to burn. It was much like the magnifying glass in the sun, it would make some things smoke a bit but nothing would ever catch fire.

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#85000 - 02/07/07 01:33 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
Matt26 Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 09/27/05
Posts: 309
Loc: Vermont
I can testify about it not lighting things on fire. When I was three I pushed it in and when it popped out I thought the glowing red light was pretty. My Mom asked me why I was playing in the car and I hid the lighter hot end down on my knee! All it did was smoke, I can tell you now that at 35 I still have the scar on my knee.
_________________________
If it ain't bleeding, it doesn't hurt.

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#85001 - 02/07/07 03:21 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
KenK Offline
"Be Prepared"
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 06/26/04
Posts: 2210
Loc: NE Wisconsin
"IIRC"?

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#85002 - 02/07/07 03:39 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
raydarkhorse Offline
Addict

Registered: 01/27/07
Posts: 510
Loc: on the road 10-11 months out o...
you can light a fire with it but its all about finding the right starter and experimenting with it. I have done it but not in years (I was kind of a pyro in my youth)
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Depend on yourself, help those who are not able, and teach those that are.

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#85003 - 02/07/07 04:19 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
OldBaldGuy Offline
Geezer

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
Yes, you can buy them in just about any auto parts store. And if your vehicle does not have a cig lighter socket you should buy one of those too, and either install it yourself, or have someone do it for you. They can be used to power all kinds of fun things, like portable CB radios, GPS, cell phone charger, etc....
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#85005 - 02/07/07 06:11 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
capsu78 Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 01/09/07
Posts: 98
Loc: Chicagoland IL
I don't have a scar, but I have one of my lifes first memories doing the same thing when I was no older than 3. It is the only memory I have from the first house we lived in because we moved while I was 3.
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"The last time I had a "good suprise", I was 5 and it was my birthday"

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#85006 - 02/07/07 07:38 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
JCWohlschlag Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/26/06
Posts: 724
Loc: Sterling, Virginia, United Sta...
Quote:
"IIRC"?

IIRC = "If I recall correctly" or "if I remember correctly".
_________________________
“Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee. Sometimes old people hike by mistake.” — Demitri Martin

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#85007 - 02/08/07 12:44 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
Stretch Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 707
Loc: Alamogordo, NM
With all due respect, an auto cigarrette lighter WILL start things on fire. I can take any one of them (that works), make it a -90 degree day, give me some decent paper or whatever, and it will burn. Oh yes my friend, they absolutely positively WILL start a fire (all other things properlay in place of course).
_________________________
DON'T BE SCARED
-Stretch

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#85008 - 02/08/07 05:44 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
paulr Offline
Addict

Registered: 02/18/04
Posts: 499
Not sure why you'd want to start a fire with a car cig lighter, given that you're in your car and there's 12 volt power available to run the lighter.

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#85009 - 02/10/07 02:32 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
Stretch Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 707
Loc: Alamogordo, NM
I think there are much better things to start a fire with, but..... imagine you're stranded and you need heat. Say, for whatever reason, you need more heat than you can get by being inside your car and you don;t have much fuel. So you want to build a fire outside, not far from the car, and you have no lighters, matches, flint strikers, or anything else. You might want to work a few times at starting a fire with the cigarrette lighter. I mean...just toying with the idea I can see some merit to it.
_________________________
DON'T BE SCARED
-Stretch

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#85010 - 02/10/07 04:17 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
Actually, they may not be that obvious. I've read of people who were stranded in their car and said they had nothing to start a fire with. Apparently, they all had cars with no cigarette lighters, and no batteries, either. Or no brains....

Sue

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#85011 - 02/10/07 04:27 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
OldBaldGuy Offline
Geezer

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
"...no brains..."

Sadly, there is a lot of that going around...
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OBG

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#85012 - 02/10/07 06:08 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
Chisel Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/05/05
Posts: 1563
The biggest problem with a cigarette lighter is that it annot maintain its temperature as long as a flame of a match or butane lighter. As soon as you pull it out of its socket it cools down by the second. Remember that it is made for a cigarette that is no more than two feet away from the socket. If you use it to burn some tp INSIDE the car, you are looking for trouble , and if you take the lighter outside of the car, it may not be hot enough to burn anything.

Maybe an extension cord is the best way to solve this problem. You will have the soket outside of the car, near the tender, and the lighter will be red-hot, hot enough to start a nice fire.

Maybe one of these can be the answer

Battery Clip Cigarette Lighter Adapter - $8.33



Cigarette Lighter Extension Cable - $8.00

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#85013 - 02/10/07 12:48 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2997
Those are $4.99 at most auto parts stores, not $8.33, $8.33 sounds like a walmart price, they always end in odd numbers.

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#85014 - 02/10/07 01:35 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
ratbert42 Offline
Member

Registered: 05/31/06
Posts: 178
Loc: Florida
You could always get one of these for your computer.

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#85015 - 02/10/07 09:32 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter
coyote Offline
stranger

Registered: 04/02/06
Posts: 16
Loc: 100 yds from elkhorn creek
Something you might want to check is if the plug says power outlet it is plastic. And a lighter would melt it. In my S-10 i have both so just a heads up.
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Semper Fi

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#86710 - 02/26/07 01:00 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: coyote]
porkchop Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 11/07/05
Posts: 58
Loc: Florence SC
The reason the car lighter works so well on cigarettes is that cigarette paper is coated with a chemical to help it burn.
Ever watch someone light one and then put down in an ashtray only to watch it continuously burn. But notice the same thing doesn't happen with cigars or pipes, they are not treated with said chemicals. They will go out if not smoked.


porkchop

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#87068 - 03/01/07 10:00 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: porkchop]
sodak Offline
Addict

Registered: 03/20/05
Posts: 410
Cigars, in addition to being a great comfort item, will light a good many fires. You can use the lighter to light the cigar, then consider your options.

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#87284 - 03/04/07 04:45 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: sodak]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
Oh, great! Two new things to have to carry: cigarette paper (presumably in the glove box or attached to the ResQMe, and cigars, which can probably be smelled 15 miles downwind...

Sue, gagging at the thought of smoking a cigar

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#88083 - 03/12/07 03:28 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: Susan]
sodak Offline
Addict

Registered: 03/20/05
Posts: 410
I didn't say you had to smoke it. It can be used as a punk to light all kinds of tinder. If I choose to smoke it, then you can stand upwind or stand downwind and gag. Makes no difference to me.

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#88096 - 03/12/07 09:46 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: sodak]
Chisel Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/05/05
Posts: 1563
Not a bad idea.

If you are lost you need to make a signal. Everyone is using visual signal ( flare, fire, smoke ) or audio signal ( crying, whistle, three shots) . But now we can add odor smell . Choose a nice comfy spot. Light the cigar and enjoy. Rescuers will follows the smelly trail. I hope bears dont love the smell and reach you first.

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#88103 - 03/12/07 02:12 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: OldBaldGuy]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Agree, my Ford Ranger came with three sockets and one lighter. One socket is a bare minimum.
_________________________
Better is the Enemy of Good Enough.
Okay, what’s your point??

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#88110 - 03/12/07 03:17 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: Chisel]
OldBaldGuy Offline
Geezer

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
"...Rescuers will follows the smelly trail..."

Or go the other way... sick sick sick
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OBG

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#88111 - 03/12/07 03:22 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: OldBaldGuy]
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2997
If you really wanted a fire that can be seen/smalled then drain the oil from your vehilce engine and burn it, that makes dark smoke and smells pretty bad too and still isn't as bad for you as a cigar.

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#88120 - 03/12/07 05:11 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter (cigar smokers) [Re: NightHiker]
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2997
Not really a predjuice against, more like common sense. We have tolerated people poisioning us in public for too many years from cigars and cigaretts, just because the drug is still leagal because of historical purposes doesn't mean one should still use it. I'm sure I'll offend a few with that statement but really think about it for a minute, what is the difference between the legal drugs like nicotine and the illeage like marijuana other than the paper that says one is legal?
From a survival perspective, I've seen so many people suffer the health probvlems that come from both. What if you did need to bug out on foot and after the first mile are wheezing because your lungs are too full to breathe?

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#88127 - 03/12/07 06:31 PM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: Susan]
norad45 Offline
Veteran

Registered: 07/01/04
Posts: 1506
Originally Posted By: Susan

Sue, gagging at the thought of smoking a cigar

That is another use for a cigar: as an emetic. sick grin

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#88206 - 03/13/07 05:29 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: norad45]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
Okay, after trying a Coghlin's firestarter (rough edge after breaking in half), a rolled up tissue (dry), a little sawdust in a metal lid and some kind of seed fluff, I finally found something that the cigarette lighter would ignite.

MATCHES!

Sue

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#88311 - 03/14/07 04:58 AM Re: AUTO Cigarette Lighter [Re: Susan]
Stretch Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/27/06
Posts: 707
Loc: Alamogordo, NM
Well, when this thread started Chisel just proffered another idea on firestarting... the cigarrette lighter. It isn;t the best, but neither is a flint rock and the back of your folding knife. It takes work to start a flame with a cigarrette lighter just as it does with flint....or a bow/drill.

I think if I needed fire, and the cigarrette lighter was my only option, and I had a cigar or cigarrette, I would absolutely light the tobacco and use it, like Sodak said, as a punk. Or, I could cough, make funny faces, hold my nose, and say things like "Ewwwwwwwww" and toss the cigar or cigarrette away and maybe wish I had it later.....when nothing else would light!
_________________________
DON'T BE SCARED
-Stretch

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