I received the Lucienne "Mountaineer" lighter that I ordered last night- another disappointment. Too bad, too... this one came close.

First impression, it's larger than I thought it would be (that was true with the Colibri "Seal", too- none of the manufacturers seem to include anything in the photographs for scale). I sort of thought it would be "Cricket" lighter-sized, but it's more military-matchsafe size. It's probably lighter than the Colibri Seal was, but because of it's shape, it's a little more awkward to pocket.

Very solid feeling. Unlike all the others I know about, the locking mechanism on the cap of this one really does seem to compress the gasket enough for it to be waterproof. The “locking frame” seems sturdy, as the container itself. The end with the filler aperture has a nicely gasketed cap on it. All in all, pretty nice, especially for the relatively modest (compared to the Colibri Seal) price.

Except, of course, for the compass. Initially, it didn’t work at all, just pointing wherever you turned it , just like the Colibri Seal compass. After fiddling with it and shaking it, I managed to dislodge a LARGE bubble from underneath the compass disk, so large that it then tilted the disk from above and interfered with it’s turning. Useless.

So-back to the dealer it goes. Very frustrating- that’s two high-end lighters with compasses that don’t even try to work properly- or four, if you count checking out 3 Colibri Seals. Apparently early 21st- Century technology is not capable of turning out a decent waterproof lighter with a compass that actually works, though there are plenty of expensive lighter with compasses that don't work at all.

I’m sort of surprised.

I haven't decided whether to give up on this, or to explore some of the cheap Asian imports. How much worse could they be?