This post and its replies are very interesting...

I have one of those catch-all dishes on my dresser. Through the years it's "caught" everything from coins to pens to bic (and other) lighters. Just last week I was cleaning it out. There were two bics in there that were at least four years old. Both fired right up. So did the other lighter, which was one of those colored, see-through, lighters. Who knows how long they'll last?

I have never found a bic in a puddle.... I should probably pay more attention to puddles when I see them. I have found bics lying around elsewhere though, but I generally leave them lay. I think, however, that through the years I have dropped a bic or two in water.... it might as well have been a puddle. When you want a Swisher Sweets wood-tip, there's nothing that makes you want one more than that very moment when your Bic fails. I call it panic... but it often turns to mild anger just before I become desperate.

No matter how much I distrust matches, I just can't bring myself to hate them. I believe I might hate the idea of being in need of fire, realizing my flint methods were lost in the river, finding my bics empty, and kicking myself for leaving my ever-trusty waterproof match container (full of wind/waterproof matches) at home.

Here's some not-so-surprising information: most large Bics are "made in the USA". Most of the smaller ones are "Made in France".