I just bought a Solo Storm, 1st of all the ignision when i click down the button doesn't light some of the time, mechanical probelm or overall design flaw? 2nd of all the "Waterproof ring" doesn't look very waterproof at all, but i havent tried it yet.MOST IMPORTANTLY! i am out of fuel, what fuel should i use, I bought some Coleman Butane Fuel Cell Fuel. It doesn't say refined or Premium on the bottle, is special fuel neccisary? Will it ruin my lighter if i use it?

I don't know firsthand, but I did google on "Solo Storm" + lighter and came up with this web page:

http://www.basegear.com/stormlighter.html

Sorry if this only tells you what you already know - I would assume that the lighter came with these instructions but I'll post it here anyway:

"Recommended Fuel:

The Lighter Company recommends using premium butane fuel, which is butane blended with propane. Premium butane fuel is sometimes characterized as "triple" or "double refined" butane.

Recommended brands include: Lava, Lucienne, King, Prometheus or Vector. These fuels are available at many outdoor specialty shops, sporting goods stores and tobacco shops.

The Lighter Company does NOT recommend using Clipper, Ronson, Scripto, Zippo or Sun butane fuels, as they may clog the butane feeding system in the Solo Storm Lighter and affect its overall performance."

I would assume that Coleman Butane fuel, even though it's not mentioned, is simply butane, not butane/propane, unless it specifically says otherwise.

I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the Solo I had, and it didn't long survive in my equipment inventory. Bic lighters are considerably cheaper, and vastly more reliable IMO. As long as I can see fuel in a Bic - or even cheaper knockoff - (assuming you buy the transparent kind, which I highly recommend) it will light. I've never had a failure yet. Another plus is the fact that they'll still generate sparks long after the fuel is exhausted, something that can't be said of the finicky electronic ignitions on the Solo-type lighters. Where fire-making equipment is concerned, simpler is definitely better, and I test, test, test all my fire making equipment before I commit any of to possible field use.

This is why I'm also a big believer in Vaseline soaked cotton balls, as they seem to go up easier than anything else I've tested - short of maybe gasoline soaked rags...which probably wouldn't be amenable to carriage in a PSK! Most of the commercial tender seems to ignite pretty easily too, so long as you fluff it up good before using it.

Last Christmas (a year ago) I was helping my brother build a house in Fort McMurray, with daytime highs of -30 C. <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> He had a couple of rented propane heaters in the basement. We found out that the piezo-electric barbeque starter he had bought was NOT a good choice - I had to drive to the Mac's Milk to pick up a couple of books of paper matches. At least they could start a fire at 30 below. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />