Hi Presumedlost,<br><br>I have several of those "Permanent Match" containers and the advantage really is that it keeps full with the fuel you put in there for months without evaporating as with an regular Zippo.<br>They cost next to nothing ($2) in Europe and come in Black and Blaze Orange. <br>The only thing you'll experience it that if you keep it lighted to long you'll burn your thumb/finger you're holding the "match-es" metal stick with. These are most times made (turned) from brass and heat up quiet fast.<br>On the other side this saves fuel as you won't keep it on to long .<br><br>I just gave the one I have had dangling from my keychain to a friend who's going for a year to Australia he really fancies it.<br><br>Best Scouting wishes from Holland,<br><br>Bagheera<br><br>

>>They cost next to nothing ($2) in Europe and come in Black and Blaze Orange.<<<br><br>I haven't seen them for quite that cheap over here.<br><br>>>The only thing you'll experience it that if you keep it lighted to long you'll burn your thumb/finger you're holding the "match-es" metal stick with. These are most times made (turned) from brass and heat up quiet fast. On the other side this saves fuel as you won't keep it on to long .<<<br><br>It really is probably just as well- the "match" tube (much smaller than the reservoir) can't hold that much fuel, and presumably, once it's gone, the wick itself would start burning.<br><br>Again, I don’t see what’s not to like for a micro-kit (sorry, but these Altoids size tins are beyond “mini”). They weigh very little (once you get rid of the key ring attached), they’re cheap, tiny, flat (so they pack well), waterproof, simple, they use common fuel(s), and they get you a flame instead of just a spark, which greatly increases what you can use for tinder. As you say, they retain fuel without drying out for months at least (probably indefinitely), and if the fuel is gone, you still have a ferro-cerium rod to use for making sparks.<br><br>You can certainly say that they are cheaply made- mine had a polystyrene body (cheap plastic) but it seemed to have thick enough walls. I’ve seen several makes of these, some with metal bodies, but those look much thicker and heavier, and I don’t really think that they’d stand up better to being stepped on, for instance. The sparking rod is very thin, and I doubt that it would really last for the thousands of lights advertised, but… this is emergency use we’re talking about here. Buy another one when your'e back safe at home.<br><br>So- what’s not to like? About the only real negative I see is that they’re not nearly as available here as they used to be (lots of novelty shops had them, and they were premiums for gas stations and cigarettes). I'm seeing the metal ones more and more, and the plastic less.<br><br>I think I've talked myself into it- I haven't seen mine for 20 years or so, I think I'll order a couple... <G><br><br><br>