Thread: Lighters

I'm a sucker for Zippos. Sure they leave a taste (let the flame burn for a few secs to help dissapate the taste) and a full zippo can leak in your pocket, blah-blah-blah. I like the machine sound they make when you open and close them. I have a tiny collection of 4 but will buy up any nice one that catches my eye. Don't really like any that advertise for any booze (except Jim Beam If I find one!) but like the looks of vintage ones. Here's a pick of my collection.
Ernest

I just posted my Dunhill for sale in the classifieds. If I smoked my pipes regularly, especially around other people, I'd spend the money to have it serviced. but as it is money for razors trumps unused lighters. :-)

I only like the sound of genuine brass zippos, they have that "ping" that the aluminum and other just don't. I have about 4 zippos too, maybe 5. a couple with pipe inserts and one has a jet flame insert.

Red

Originally Posted by Big Red

I just posted my Dunhill for sale in the classifieds. If I smoked my pipes regularly, especially around other people, I'd spend the money to have it serviced. but as it is money for razors trumps unused lighters. :-)

That is a very nice piece, Red. I'd love to be able to own something like that someday (in the near future).

So I went and got myself a new lighter on Ebay. I had seen this same lighter from a different seller and forgot to bit. I was pretty upset with myself, but another one popped up. It came with a pair of Monogas lighters in a lot (interesting to see a lot of three Colibri's), but I only really wanted this one.

She's quite clean on the outside, but there is some discoloration under the lid. I was going to clean it, but the lighter was advertised only as having a functional flint (the seller didn't test to see if it lit). Naturally, I was eager to see if she worked. Turns out she does, and I'll clean her as soon as she's empty.

Now, I've heard some bad things about the reliability of Colibris. Nevertheless, the two that I have (this one included) light on the first time, every time. This one is also on the heavy side, and that makes me think it is probably quite well built. The large roller makes sparking very easy. The lid snaps open and closed, requiring just enough force so you know you're doing something.

The coolest feature: this is a dual purpose lighter. Normally, the black slider on the side of the lighter sits in the up position, and the lighter functions like a normal cig lighter. But, when you pull the springloaded slider down, the flame switches to a horizontal orientation. The beauty, IMO, is the mechanism through which this happens. The butane nozzle (where the lighter lights), is modeled like a pipe lighter, with the hole on the side. But there is a collar around the nozzle which normally sits up, covering the nozzle. This collar slides down when you move the slider down, allowing for the conversion between a normal and pipe lighter configuration.

As you can probably tell, I love this lighter. Enough with the ranting, on with the pics. That's a standard sized zippo for reference.

Colibris has gone bankrupt so most of the cigar shops are selling them at 50% of with out warranty JFYI. So great time to get a good deal!

I have a couple ST Duponts and they are da bomb!!!!!!

Lynn

I still have a dozen or so Zippo's from my smoking days. Most are Army insignia, one Navy, and a few Harley ones from when I bought my bike. While they have been in a ammo can for the past 18 years I just can't seem to let them go...

Anyone interested in this one?
ST Dupont Lighter Line 1 Solid Gold 18K (14945) *RARE* on eBay (end time 18-Aug-10 17:58:59 BST)

I collect lighters and especially love my Zippos. There is an insert available from Tobacco Barn called the Thunderbird that does an especially good job of converting a Zippo to butane. It provides a soft flame, never leaks, lasts an amazingly long time, and looks just like a regular Zippo inside. Another favorite, even though they don't work very long, is the Nimrod. I've had several over the years and they are cool to own but that's all they're good for. They run out of fluid in a single day. I could never afford an S.T. Dupont but I have a knockoff that was a steal on the 'bay and works great. The old Scripto Vu-lighters are nice. I have several with the fishing fly inside. All in all, my very favorite is my gold and briar Corona Old Boy. Like one previous poster said, if I lost it I would immediately buy another. It's that sweet.

I have a Thunderbird, and I don't like it at all. The case it came in closes really crooked, but you can pull it out and drop it into a zippo case, so no biggie. I have the flame setting to minimum, and it's still a massive flame, so that is a big thumbs down. It's totally unusable with pipes for this reason (I got the pipe version). It wasn't like that originally; it's a problem it developed, and rather quickly.