“Two old fashioned ways to light your pipe, without having to wait for the sulferous end to burn off a wooden match; much cooler, too....”
A spill lit off a candle is an elegant way to light a cigar. I make them from the thin cedar that separates cigars in cabinet style boxes. If you have a natural fireplace and want to go old school get a pair of ember tongs. Here is a picture of me getting lit with a spill at NYC’s Carnegie Cigar Club during last springs blizzard ahead of the Pipe Show.
I already mentioned this lighter on another thread, but THIS discussion is probably a more appropriate place.
I just bought this 1980s Dunhill lighter from a guy in Austin, TX who restores old Dunhill lighters. His company is Vintage Dunhill Rollagas Collectors. Very substantial lighters and they pretty much light every time. You can definitely feel that Dunhill quality. He only uses Dunhill parts and they come with a lifetime warranty! Since Dunhill doesn’t make lighters any more this is a great way to get one that you’ll have forever and pass down to your kids someday. He’s a great guy too. I smoked several bowls with him while in Austin. He said he’s been smoking a pipe since the early 50s! His name is Jim Paul (Pjpaul42@gmail.com) if interested.
Pipes and Cigars recently had a promotion wherein they threw in a Sutliff Soft Flame lighter if one bought a pound of Sutliff. Being incapable of passing up a tobacco deal, I ordered a pound of Black Cordial and the order arrived the other day. I absolutely love the lighter, which has a strong flame and pipe attachments.
These are my last three purchases from wan alight.com. All three under 20.00$. Free shipping in the US, plus free Flints and wick with each order. Thousands of styles. I only use these once in a while because the application on the front starts to wear off when constantly taking in and out of your pocket. However they have plenty of lighters that don't have this type situation
@motie2, yes I remember you telling me before, I'm not sure I would call myself a collector, sort of pick and choose.On the other hand I do have a crap load of Zippos. It's sort of like when someone asks if I like the Rolling Stones or whoever and I say I'm not a hard core fan then I look at the amount of music I have by the Stones and I'm blown away. Hope this makes some sort of sense. Good to hear from you.
I have my Zippo from my time serving. I hand engraved every place I had been on the cover.....not real pretty but certainly nostalgic. We were taught to carry two lighters, one to use starting out and one taped shut to avoid evaporation of he fluid.....good for maybe a week or so after the first ran out.
@pwkarch, Thank you for the post, that was interesting. I also had a a Zippo engraved while in Vietnam, it had a map of the country on the face and on the back my initials and year served. Nostalgic for sure, unfortunately it has been lost somewhere along the way. Felt bad for a long time, still do. I only have one thing from my days in the service, a bible that was given to us in basic training, sad to say it never got much use. Like many people I regret lost items that didn't seem important at the time and wished I had the foresight to preserve those things I deemed unimportant back than.
I have mentioned the 2 lighter trick to bunches of ex military guys, and NO ONE had ever heard of it? Probably told by a long time Petty Officer from personal experience I guess.
Affirmative......throw whatever that thing is away and get yourself a Zippo. There is a pipe version available, but I use my old Zippos because I also smoke cigars. We have had lenghty discussions here regarding lighter fluid imparting smells....i light the Zippo and give it a few seconds and cannot say I ever noticed any problem. Of course the least expensive way are the throw away butane lighters, or good old matches.
@pwkarch If you use a pipe lighter insert and take the cap off, they work both ways, just not as windproof. Of course you could just as easily hold the pipe lighter Zippo horizontal and it works like a regular Zippo anyway. I took one of my bad Zippo inserts that was returned after a Zippo warranty replacement and drilled a hole through the chimney like a pipe lighter insert. It works the same.....if I can get it to strike (not very often-hence the reason it was sent back). I am not sure what the heck is wrong with it because it throws sparks seemingly fine...the damn thing just won't light consistently. You would never believe it until you see it, the thing has me perplexed. I also have no problems with the fuel "taste", as long as you give the flame a few seconds. I love the smell of burning lighter fluid, it reminds me of my dad. He always used a Zippo until Bic's came out. He was a cigarette smoker exclusively for as long as I knew him-he did smoke a pipe for awhile-before I was a gleam in his eye though
Oooooohh! Two Zippo torches and a plasma insert. Looks like they'd be fine for cigarettes and cigars, but I'm not trying to set my briar on fire! (LOL)
And like so many plasma lighters I've looked at, there's no way it can reach down inside a bowl for a re-light. Although there are more plasma lighters now than there were last year that have the business works out at the end of a "spout" like the Crocs butane disposables, so I might try one of them once I approximate which model looks to be best suited (YMMV!!!).
Recently, I found another butane lighter with a "spout" that fixes most of the problems I had with the Crocs lighters. It' called "EZ BLAZE" and "Candle Butane Lighter" (sku# 999321). First, this one is refillable. Second. the flame level is adjustable. Third, the spout is just a little shorter than the one on the Crocs, making it slightly more pocketable. Last, the bottom of the lighter is not opaque, which lets one check for the fluid level. And irrelevantly, it comes in several colors.
Crocs on left, EZ Blaze on right.
I knew there was some reason why I rarely use the camera in my dumb-phone!
I use, and always have used my Zippos for over a half century (yep,over 50 years, yes I am old) to light my cigars and my pipes. A lot of people claim they taste the lighter fluid, but if after lighting the lighter waiting a couple of seconds I have NEVER detected the smell or taste of the fluid. I refuse to spend a fortune on the "fu fu" lighters that I see all the time. We were taught in Military Survival School to have two Zippos with you. One ready to use, the second taped shut around the lid so as not to evaporate the fluid (not needed in civilian life). It Worked every time.
Comments
A spill lit off a candle is an elegant way to light a cigar. I make them from the thin cedar that separates cigars in cabinet style boxes. If you have a natural fireplace and want to go old school get a pair of ember tongs. Here is a picture of me getting lit with a spill at NYC’s Carnegie Cigar Club during last springs blizzard ahead of the Pipe Show.
I just bought this 1980s Dunhill lighter from a guy in Austin, TX who restores old Dunhill lighters. His company is Vintage Dunhill Rollagas Collectors. Very substantial lighters and they pretty much light every time. You can definitely feel that Dunhill quality. He only uses Dunhill parts and they come with a lifetime warranty! Since Dunhill doesn’t make lighters any more this is a great way to get one that you’ll have forever and pass down to your kids someday. He’s a great guy too. I smoked several bowls with him while in Austin. He said he’s been smoking a pipe since the early 50s! His name is Jim Paul (Pjpaul42@gmail.com) if interested.
http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/pipe-lighters-accessories/vintage-styling-and-quality-continued-the-im-corona-old-boy/
A BRIEF HISTORY OF FLAME: THE STORY OF THE EVERYDAY LIGHTER
I have my Zippo from my time serving. I hand engraved every place I had been on the cover.....not real pretty but certainly nostalgic. We were taught to carry two lighters, one to use starting out and one taped shut to avoid evaporation of he fluid.....good for maybe a week or so after the first ran out.
I have mentioned the 2 lighter trick to bunches of ex military guys, and NO ONE had ever heard of it? Probably told by a long time Petty Officer from personal experience I guess.
Affirmative......throw whatever that thing is away and get yourself a Zippo. There is a pipe version available, but I use my old Zippos because I also smoke cigars. We have had lenghty discussions here regarding lighter fluid imparting smells....i light the Zippo and give it a few seconds and cannot say I ever noticed any problem. Of course the least expensive way are the throw away butane lighters, or good old matches.
If you use a pipe lighter insert and take the cap off, they work both ways, just not as windproof. Of course you could just as easily hold the pipe lighter Zippo horizontal and it works like a regular Zippo anyway. I took one of my bad Zippo inserts that was returned after a Zippo warranty replacement and drilled a hole through the chimney like a pipe lighter insert. It works the same.....if I can get it to strike (not very often-hence the reason it was sent back). I am not sure what the heck is wrong with it because it throws sparks seemingly fine...the damn thing just won't light consistently. You would never believe it until you see it, the thing has me perplexed. I also have no problems with the fuel "taste", as long as you give the flame a few seconds. I love the smell of burning lighter fluid, it reminds me of my dad. He always used a Zippo until Bic's came out. He was a cigarette smoker exclusively for as long as I knew him-he did smoke a pipe for awhile-before I was a gleam in his eye though
https://www.zippo.com/pages/lighter-inserts
https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokingpipesblog/single.cfm/post/lighters-need-cleaning-too
lighters, bought in bulk. End of story and OK to lose, as Iwon’t take my Old Boy out of the house.
Linses are available in packs of three , five, and ten at Amazon. Think of them as BIC’S for pipes.