My EDC is a mini-Bic.

I carried it for a long time without an significant leaking or issues but I've taken to wrapping a blousing band around it a few times. It isn't evidence based but I suspect that the band riding under the gas lever may help prevent leaks. The band, along with pocket lint and the cotton pocket material itself, provides a reserve of tinder.

Every two weeks or month I pull it out and test strike it and check flame height and condition to make sure I have a decent reserve of fuel. I keep spares at home but one lasts many months, well over a year.

I think years is closer to it. I wrote the month/year I first used the Bic I'm carrying now but the writing wore off. It's been that long.

Yes, I know. I'm not going to boost my reputation as a rugged frontiersman pulling out something as pedestrian as a mini-Bic and kindling a fire in seconds without theatrics or arcane techniques, I may have to relinquish my Kit Carson club membership card, but it works.

If I wander off the beaten path I stuff a second one in a pocket. A ferro stick and tinder, mag block/ferro stick, or matches sealed into a bindle, makes a third.

But for simplicity, ease of use, effectiveness, speed of getting a fire lit in lousy conditions with poor fuel, weight/size, and reliability the mini-Bic wins. For about a buck a piece they are a bargain.