Life expectancy of a BIC ??

Does anyone know what the "shelf-life" of a BIC lighter is?
I have quite a few of them(Mini's) spread out through my assorted packs,vehicles,kits, tackle boxes, etc.
They seem to be lasting a long time. I found a few still in package from Y2K prep years ago and they are still working fine.

Any ideas?

I've had one in my trailer for about 10 years and it still works. Corrosion aside, my guess is as long as they've got fuel they are pressurized, and as long as they are pressurized they will work. The fuel might have a shelf life though (?) Best rotate them like everything else.

Thanks for the info, I kinda always wondered that myself.

I see Bic lighters mentioned a lot here, but I don't hear anyone mention problems with them. I for one have had the flame heat the metals parts and melt the plastic. Am I the only one?

Personally I don't trust them overly because of this.

-john

I never trust a Bic. I always trust matches first. Bics are handy to have, but I rely on matches and Sparklite or ferro rod when it really gets down to kit.

if you use a zippo, look around the smoking areas at work for empty bics. The flint may have to be trimed for length, but they last way longer than any zippo replacement flints you'll find.

So that's where Zippo makes some money. What a rip!

Bics stay pressurized for a long time. I always trust them, even in the cold, you simply warm them up a bit with your bare hands. I do the opposite you seem to do : I never trust matches (actually, I never carry them or use them in my kits).

I rely on the Bic, and I also have a firesteel in my wilderness PSK. Oh, and I have cotton+vaseline balls... <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I hate matches, basically. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

But they malfunction. Matches are more reliable and as John Wiseman says in his SAS Survival Handbook:

"However many lighters or fire-makers you carry, still pack as many matches as you can - you can't beat them."

After seeing so many lighters screw up so much on myself and others throughout my lifetime, I tend to agree with him.

The general rule is that a BIC lighter will always last one light LESS than what you needed it to.

If your Bic is getting that hot is getting close to exploding. Do not keep the flame of any butane lighter lit for extended periods they will overheat and explode.

I don't know how long they'd last, but I can only think of two types of failures that I've had. The most common is loss of fuel, I dont' know the reason why, either a leak or it accidentally gets pressed in my bag. It doesn't happen a lot, but it's happened a few times.

The other type of failure is leaving it lit too long. The spark wheel heats up and melts the plastic, and the pressure from the flint springs push it out.

They're cheap enough that I would just double them up wherever I need them. The chances of two of them going bad are pretty slim.

I have never had a Bic malfunction. The cheapo lighters fail all the time but I have never had a problem with a Bic and I use them every day.
My Bics usually light even after almost all of the liquid is gone.
In fact on more than one occaision I have found a Bic sitting in a puddle and I was able to light it right after I dried it out by blowing on it.

But I also carry matches, a sparklight and a fire steel.
I love making fire!

But you do use them every day. Not everyone does. Does that make the ones you use get used quicker, as in they "stay new" in your pocket?

A puddle huh? Interesting.

I have had them malfunction myself. I am not condemning them, I just won't bet my life on them by depending on them alone...

MY experience is similar to Bee's.

I don't trust matches as much. I've had plenty of match failures, typically due to deterioration. Even some of the newer "strike anywhere's" have such a small white tip, that failure to light is too common.

For Bic lighters, no problems. There were some initial failures due to fuel leakage from inadvertent pressing on the lever while stored in a kit. I cured this by wrapping a thin rubber band around the lighter, passing under the lever. Since then, no leaks. Plus you have an extra rubber band in your PSK. When I go through my kits I always test the lighters. Some of them have to be at least 10 year old. I'll start swapping them out as cheap insurance, but prefer bic to matches.

TR

Posting late to this thread but might be of value.
Friend of mine, former smoker, asserted that he'd never had a BIC last more than months. Said they leak out.
I had a stash of BICS still in the package for years all still
full.
So I used one briefly. Then marked the fluid level and left it sit.
Just noticed it the other day. Was 3/4 full on 8/4/06.
Totally empty 12/18/06 (or earlier).

Unless you've checked your lighters recently for fuel level, don't count on them being anything more than a sparker.

Unimogbert

This post and its replies are very interesting...

I have one of those catch-all dishes on my dresser. Through the years it's "caught" everything from coins to pens to bic (and other) lighters. Just last week I was cleaning it out. There were two bics in there that were at least four years old. Both fired right up. So did the other lighter, which was one of those colored, see-through, lighters. Who knows how long they'll last?

I have never found a bic in a puddle.... I should probably pay more attention to puddles when I see them. I have found bics lying around elsewhere though, but I generally leave them lay. I think, however, that through the years I have dropped a bic or two in water.... it might as well have been a puddle. When you want a Swisher Sweets wood-tip, there's nothing that makes you want one more than that very moment when your Bic fails. I call it panic... but it often turns to mild anger just before I become desperate.

No matter how much I distrust matches, I just can't bring myself to hate them. I believe I might hate the idea of being in need of fire, realizing my flint methods were lost in the river, finding my bics empty, and kicking myself for leaving my ever-trusty waterproof match container (full of wind/waterproof matches) at home.

Here's some not-so-surprising information: most large Bics are "made in the USA". Most of the smaller ones are "Made in France".

The failure mode I've seen 3 times is for the flint to simply disappear. Sounds weird I know, but I've stashed lighters in various places and tested them a few years later -- to find the flint gone. In one case it obviously had turned to powder, the others I don't know. These were kept dry, in a non-climate controlled location like a garage or car glove compartment. So while I carry a lighter and still stash them, I don't trust them, and will rely on waterproof or stormproof matches.

Steve

I've had that too, not common but for whatever reason the "flint" just turns to dust, had it happen with zippos too. Don't have a clue why, but it does ocur from time to time.

Makes you wonder about the long term usufullness of a sparklite??

Also have had spark "misdirection" problems, you try, try, try again to no avail, but often when you try two "dead" lighters together you get a flame.

I have had pretty good luck with them so far. knock on wood...

I usually buy whatever is on sale and rotate my stock every couple of years. The last batch I bought were the Calico brand made in Thailand. I have had them for a couple of years now and each one has performed reliably. In addition to using it to seal the ends of cut 550 cord, I will spark them to test them once in a while just to make sure they still work.

The most recent "test" was when I inadvertantly left one in my pants pocket and it went throught the washer and dryer before I noticed a couple of days later. I dug it out and it works fine. Only the sticker label got a little mushed up, but who cares. It is translucent so I can see the fuel level is still good. Has lit every time so far. I have tried it a few times over the past two days. I was expecting the flint to disintegrate, but nope, still ticking.