As a survival lighter they are great.
There are only two things to keep in mind (which you already pointed out).
You need a can of lighter fluid with them because it evaporates. They are not as fussy as you might think about their fuel and will burn most light fuel oils, just some are harder to light. You don't really need to worry about the wick too much.
The original wick will last for more than 20 years if you don't try burning them dry. Most smoke shops sell spare wick kits, but if you need to, almost any wick material will work.
Spare flints are a must and the best place to keep them is under the bottom pad where you fill it with fuel. Spare flints are cheap, I like Ronson for flints and fuel. You can harvest spare flints out of dead bics too.
Now about Bic lighters.
They are cheap and have a very long shelf life, buy a case of them and scatter them through your vehicles, office and home.
(Like a couple in the glove box of each of your cars, some in the kitchen drawers, desk drawers, tool box, etc, etc)
I say Bic but almost any of the disposables are the same. I prefer the ones with a lock that prevents the gas valve getting pressed.
(I used to find my bic lighters empty far too often when back packing.)
The big advantage to me of Zippo over Bic was that the Zippo would light even after getting wet, but the bics would not.
The biggest disadvantage of Zippo is the cost (second is the fuel evaporation in storage) which means you tend to only have the one you are using and don't have any loose ones laying around in handy locations.
Edited by scafool (12/27/08 06:09 PM)
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May set off to explore without any sense of direction or how to return.