Ahh, the Solo Storm. Worst lighter I ever tried. I bought one before a backpacking trip based on positive comments on the site. Ouch. Maybe I got a bad batch, maybe they've gone downhill? I couldn't get the damn thing to light, in my house, the first night. I finally get back to the store to return it, and I get a new one. Mind you these are in a locked cabinet that none of the employees at this newish store seem to know how to open, they finally disassembled the case for me and got one out--vowing to never use that case again. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Anyhow, once bitten, twice shy. I get as far as my truck in the parking lot before I try again. This one hardly sparks at all, and the gas valve won't close without fiddling to pull it back up! Yeah, that's safe. I was livid when I took it back, I ended up apologizing profusely to the poor clerk for being in such a bad, loud mood over it since it wasn't really her fault.

So, for $25, I found an Eddie Bauer-branded Colibri at Target. It has a lanyard hole, a fuel level window, and is reasonably water-resistant. It always lights on the second try. Other than that, I bought a $10 "pocket butane torch" that works like a champ. Of course, I still carry a lot of backup.

The moral of the story is, try every piece of technology that you buy for a kit. You want to know it's crap before the store won't take it back, and certainly long before you need it. Just about everything is so cheaply made these days. Especially if it's sold < $50 it seems. Cheap BICs have much simpler technology than piezo ignition Solos and Colibris. Much harder for them to fail.

Oh, and one more plus for the cheap BIC: TSA won't let you on a commercial flight with a refillable lighter.