In praise of the disposable lighter....

[Wook]

I would consider myself pretty much an expert at using a traditional flint and steel. I'm pretty good at modern ferrocium and also at using a fire piston. I'm not brilliant, but in a pinch I'm convinced I'd get a fire eventually with a bow drill because I've done it before (with great difficulty) and I'm convinced I could do it again if I had to.

After learning all these more primitive methods I've come to a conclusion: the humble disposable lighter is a remarkable invention. It lights first time, every time. It works when it is wet. It weighs next to nothing. It is tough, produces a nice hot flame, and lets you know when it is running out of gas. All this and it can be picked up in any corner shop for less than 80p.

When you consider how much heartache and suffering has been faced, how many cold, wet and miserable deaths have been endured for want of a fire during the course of human history... well, you'd think we'd be more appreciative of just how good we have it.

Of course it is not as much fun, or as enlightening to use - but for sheer efficiency and bang for the buck, I don't think the disposable lighter can be beat.

I'm sure 99.99% of all the people who ever lived would have given almost anything to possess what we now consider a throwaway item......

[Dartmoor navigator]

A fantastic post!

[Chiseller]

Tis true, so is the fact, they fail, break, can explode, are dangerous when lighting a meths stove. I'd say the humble match still outstrips them. Folk just don't like the little extra effort of caring for and striking a match these days.
On a bimble on Sunday....I made a match using birch, lit it via another piece of birch from my small Ferro rod, and in turn lit my pipe. Very satisfying :thumbup:

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[spandit]

Striking a match one handed isn't easy. Lighting a taper like you describe would make a meths stove safer and could be done with a lighter!

Bought 6 of them for 99p yesterday

[Chiseller]

But then your not using just a lighter

And you can't cup/shield the flame one handed like a match
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[robin wood]

yep they are everywhere because they are better, I often wonder what would be the thing Neolithic man would most covet in our modern kit and I reckon a lighter would be up there along with electric light of some form and a hard point saw.

[Stringmaker]

yep they are everywhere because they are better, I often wonder what would be the thing Neolithic man would most covet in our modern kit and I reckon a lighter would be up there along with electric light of some form and a hard point saw.

And a hunting rifle.

But, back on topic, Wook is right to praise the humble lighter. When I'm working with school groups doing fire lighting I start with my Zippo and then go back in time to bashing iron pyrite with flint. The same basic methods separated by a couple of hundred thousand years. Stig of the Dump got it right.

[sandbender]

I always carry a disposable, but also matches, it is my impression and perhaps and inaccurate one that a match flame burns at a higher temperature than the gas from the lighter, perhaps someone who knows their science can refute or confirm that.

[Wook]

Tis true, so is the fact, they fail, break, can explode, are dangerous when lighting a meths stove. I'd say the humble match still outstrips them. Folk just don't like the little extra effort of caring for and striking a match these days.
On a bimble on Sunday....I made a match using birch, lit it via another piece of birch from my small Ferro rod, and in turn lit my pipe. Very satisfying :thumbup:

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

All true, but considering what you're getting against the price you are paying is amazing that such a device can be bought cheaply by pretty much anyone. Especially when weighed against just how difficult making a flame can be using some traditional methods compared with the basically instant flame from the lighter. To someone whose only method of creating fire was a hand drill, I'm sure my 78p Ronson would have seemed like magic.

The lighter wins out over matches to me, because the lighter will still work if dropped in a river whereas the matches will not.

As to lighting meths stoves with lighters, I've found a good trick is to deliberately "spill" just a wee bit of meths around the outside rim of the burner. This is much easier to light with a lighter and will ignite the main burner. Alternatively dip a twig in the meths and use it as a taper.

[rik_uk3]

I don't have a problem lighting Trangia's with a Bic. For campers the humble Bic type lighter has to be one of the best inventions ever.

11p each, silly cheap
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-x-Light...item3f1111d3c5

If a match fan
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-BOXES-O...item4168cad7e8

The gas lighters will last a lot longer though.

[Man of Tanith]

i seem to recall an episode of mr mears where the access to matches had resulted in the tribe he was visiting had forgotten the traditional method(s) of lighting a fire and it was a long trip to their local shops

not that i am knocking the humble bic but its always nice to know different ways to light a fire.
i remember in scouts we only had short safety matches to light some very scary old leaky gas stoves and water boilers, many a teenagers proud bum fluff beard was lost to them

[Stringmaker]

i seem to recall an episode of mr mears where the access to matches had resulted in the tribe he was visiting had forgotten the traditional method(s) of lighting a fire and it was a long trip to their local shops

not that i am knocking the humble bic but its always nice to know different ways to light a fire.
i remember in scouts we only had short safety matches to light some very scary old leaky gas stoves and water boilers, many a teenagers proud bum fluff beard was lost to them

I remember that episode; he re-introduced the bow drill (I think) to them. The expression on the face of the native guy as he blew the ember to flame was one of the best pieces of TV I've seen.

[Wook]

i seem to recall an episode of mr mears where the access to matches had resulted in the tribe he was visiting had forgotten the traditional method(s) of lighting a fire and it was a long trip to their local shops

not that i am knocking the humble bic but its always nice to know different ways to light a fire.
i remember in scouts we only had short safety matches to light some very scary old leaky gas stoves and water boilers, many a teenagers proud bum fluff beard was lost to them

Indeed. Although the reason the matches and lighter had displaced the traditional methods is because they are several orders of magnitude easier and quicker.

However, they cannot be easily made from the immediate environment which is their big failing. The same could be true for most methods of firelighting with the exception of fire by friction methods. But even this usually requires you to pre-dry the wood and/or carry some cordage to use as a bow string.

I do hold that a man should know several different ways of making fire, and this is one of the reasons I hang around here. I love learning new ways to make fire. But when I sat down and thought about what the pocket lighter actually represents, it astonished me.

One thing that had a big impact on me is that final scene in Castaway where he plays with the lighter after he gets back to civilisation - obviously recalling the blood, sweat and tears it took to make fire without one.

[Man of Tanith]

i recall the bit hwere he finally makes fire by friction
i had a similar effort when i managed it

yeah its a definate testimont to our civilisation where a means to be warm,dry, food cokked and water safe is described as disposable

[rik_uk3]

Its easier to source a Bic than a piece of flint or for that matter wood suitable for friction lighting. When I was sucking on two packs of smokes a day, Zippo was king, a part of the lighting up ritual enjoyed so much by smokers.

I would think three or four at most, Bics could easily last you a year of fire lighting.

[Wook]

Here's a pack of 50 disposable lighters for £5.77

http://www.amazon.co.uk/50-DISPOSABL...4505875&sr=8-1

I think that would last me a lifetime.

Or if you're feeling posh you can get 50 branded Ronson ones for the lofty sum of £12.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/RONSON-QUALI...505931&sr=1-17

[worldwanderer]

I am a big fan of the disposible lighters, but i only use them when in a pinch, very short on time, very wet or very cold. all other times i try to use more traditional methods of lighting a fire, such as bow drills, ferro rods, flint and iron. I do prefer a zippo to a disposible lighter as they can be refilled with almost any flamable liquid, and you can teach yourself zippo tricks when really bored waiting for things.

[rik_uk3]

Here's a pack of 50 disposable lighters for £5.77

http://www.amazon.co.uk/50-DISPOSABL...4505875&sr=8-1

I think that would last me a lifetime.

Or if you're feeling posh you can get 50 branded Ronson ones for the lofty sum of £12.99

http://www.amazon.co.uk/RONSON-QUALI...505931&sr=1-17

Pay attention Wook and read post No10

[Wook]

Pay attention Wook and read post No10

Thou hast beaten me to it......

[rik_uk3]

I'm trying to work out how long one lighter would last when I was smoking and off the Zippo, 30+ smokes a day maybe three weeks? Four? So around 800 to 1000 lights? Be generous and say you burn four times longer lighting dry tinder than a Marlboro, one Bic could give you perhaps an easy 200 fires; lets be pessimistic and say 100 fires which makes it a fantastic tool.

[MSkiba]

You can get disposables now from pound shop (5 pack) that have a blue LED built into the bottom. Holds a bit less gas but handy to have in your emergency fire lighting kit.

[MartiniDave]

I've been meaning to snag a pack of the pound shop jobbies with the light in, are they any good?

Editted to add -

Acording to Cody Lundin the average bic lighter will give 61 minutes of flame.

Dave

[Bushwhacker]

I've been meaning to snag a pack of the pound shop jobbies with the light in, are they any good?

They're pretty handy. The light gives off just enough light to find your way about without compromising your night eyes too much.

Acording to Cody Lundin the average bic lighter will give 61 minutes of flame.

Don't try that all in one go mind!

[abominable_scouse_monster]

The pound land ones are just the same as the ones in the corner shop they just happen to buy them by the container load, but having said that not all lighters are created equal some of the REALLY cheap ones tend to throw the wheel and the flint making it useless most of them where sold in pubs though so you don't see them any more.

Edit to add though:

The lighter is a remarkable tool, and one that truly shows the out mastery over fire, such a small device so basic when you think about it happens to symbolise one of our ancestors greatest needs and most useful tools that they spent so much time learning how to use in a small simple and disposable device.

[MartiniDave]

Cody does say that he only "ran" the lighter for short bursts, then allowed it to cool before repeating, and adding up the time - that's dedication to the cause!

Dave

[Bowlander]

There'll be an "in praise of the thermos flask" thread next. No need for a lighter at all then!

[rik_uk3]

There'll be an "in praise of the thermos flask" thread next. No need for a lighter at all then!

What????? Got to boil the water to fill the flask.

We should have a Thermos thread, another remarkable invention often popular with hikers and climbers but seemingly underused by bushcraft campers.

[Bowlander]

What????? Got to boil the water to fill the flask.

If you're camping yes , but the majority of 'out and about' posts are folk bimbling for a few km , having a brew up with a hobo stove and then going home. If I'm only out for a few hours give me a flask anyday.

For me brewing up on a stove is a means to an end, not an end itself.

I'll get me coat!

[Wook]

For me brewing up on a stove is a means to an end, not an end itself.

I'll get me coat!

In that case I should probably confess that I'll often light up one of my wood burning stoves just to watch the flames and feel the heat.

I'll usually pop the kettle on it, but that isn't why I lit it

[Bowlander]

I spend the colder months feeding 2 Clearview stoves so the novelty of a fire soon wears off! I do use the stoves for slow cooking and the kettle.

Tim Smith sums up the firelighting equipment issue well by calling it purposeful redundancy - have a lighter but take matches, have matches but take a firesteel.