If he was trained to use one, wouldn't he already include it?

Jeanette Isabelle

I was talking to a representative of a survival kit company. The reason his company does not include a lighter is due to the cost of shipping and shipping restrictions.

Jeanette Isabelle

I just checked th fire lighting materials section of REI and i am in the process of ordering item lbeled "shipping restrictions apply". Those restrictions must be rather trivial because my order is going through at the usual rate with standard delivery. It is an interesting gadget which ai will report on when it arrives....(and I get my second covid shot).

Interesting that these survival gurus cannot manage to provide a very important, if not the most, fundamental capability in the survival process. Fire starting is the one area where I favor redundancy - I pack matches in a waterproof case, a lighter (also waterproofed) and a ferro rod and striker. A couple of times I have been very glad I did.

Does seem odd.

Can order a tin of Zippo lighter fluid directly (not a third party) from Amazon UK. But not BIC lighters.

In the U.S., DOT restrictions are different for filled lighters and fuel. I ship my kits with an empty lighter and a cylinder of fuel and it's a cinch. Just gotta get the labels right and ship ground. Including a filled lighter of any kind leads to a whole PITA of issues.

The laws don't necessarily always make sense! But you do what you must regardless.

It appears BIC US will happily ship them.

https://us.bic.com/en_us/bic-classic-lighters-orange-12-pack.html

No lighters to be found on BIC UK nor France.

https://uk.bic.com/en

In Germany vendors at Amazon send BIC lighters. They even send to DHL package stations.
I got these when the lighters where almost impossible to get in offline shops:

https://www.amazon.de/BIC-Feuerzeug-Reib...C176&sr=8-5

No affiliation, just a happy customer.

note: I use a rubberband under the tab to keep my bic in the off position.