I imagine the fuel vaporizes thru the wick. The wick is obviously "charged" with fluid (or vapors) when you hit the striker wheel so it stands to reason that the "wet" wick is evaporating when not in use.

I wonder if different brands of fuel have different evaporation speeds. I use Ronsonol mainly because that's all that Wally World sells in my neck of the woods. I have seen Zippo brand and Red Devil brand. There are probably others. Anyone with an opinion on this? I tried Coleman lantern fuel once and it didn't work so well. Must have had a different flash point than lighter fluid.

TIP: One drop of lighter fluid on a tick will dispatch him to that great parasite heaven in the sky. Definitely not recommended for more private parts of your anatomy unless you want to get shot down over Hong Kong on the first orbit! <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />