Was pointed to a particular row - and found - charcoal lighter fluid. Turns out the supermarket has oodles of charcoal lighter, but doesn't carry the other sort anymore. Dwindling numbers of smokers - and dirt cheap plastic butane lighters, no doubt are driving demand down.
Got me wondering.
I figure FR has a higher-than-norm proportion of regulars who know a thing or two about Zippos...
So thought I'd ask the group: Can a Zippo operate off charcoal lighter fluid?
/Zippo vanity
Yep.
Hell, I’ve filled mine up with kerosene once in a pinch.
Way to find out put a drop of fluid on the wick and see what happens!
Store it in a quart sized zip lock plastic bag to virtually eliminate the evaporation problem.....if you don’t have quart size, a gallon size will do almost as well.......
Hmmmm... interesting question. I am a cigar smoker and for lighting cigars, you can’t beat a Zippo for the combination of reliability and function. The torch lighters are nice, but they break so easily.
Go to a smoke shop, lots of them left for unenlightened dullards such as myself. They sell lighter fluid for zippos there.
Denatured alcohol, Energine (naptha), Aqua Velva, Everclear
You zippo heads will like this video:
Zippo lighter tricks
http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=zippo+tricks
If you read the label on a can of lighter fluid you will see that it is only naphtha. You can buy naphtha at any Home Depot or Lowes in the paint department. It is also cheaper when you can get it by the quart.
Naptha, purchased by the quart at a hardware or homestore also works—lighter fluid, as far as I can tell, is Naptha; they both smell the same. Ronson lighter fluid in a plastic container can be found at most drugstores.
If you buy a quart of naptha, pour a SMALL amount into a small container and use an eyedropper or similar to saturate the wick.
I have two zippo lighters and don’t smoke either. I don’t carry them routinely though.
Zippo and Case Knife companies are in the same town in Pennsylvania.
http://www.zippo.com/ZippoCaseMuseum/index.aspx?bhcp=1
Smokey Mountain Knife company has Case and Zippo stuff on-line.
http://www.smkw.com/webapp/eCommerce/main_front.jsp
I prefer a zippo when backpacking as a primary source of fire (I have several others, don’t worry) — it’s rugged, I can store extra flints in the base under the first layer of cotton, the wind doesn’t put it out, and if my hands are frozen it’s still easy to light.
The traditional downer is the one you mentioned - the fuel evaporates in about 10 days after refueling. That also means that your clothes stink of naptha, making them useless thereafter (without several washings) for deer hunting.
A post on another forum suggested getting a bicycle inner tube (~$3 at wally world, or free if you happen to keep them around for a source of high-tension rubber bands) and cutting a band the length of the zippo (i.e., cut a piece of tube about 2” long). Insert the zippo into the band — it will fit snugly with a slight amount of stretch.
My last trial with this method kept the zippo lighting for almost 2 months without refilling. It also keeps the lighter from banging on my keys, etc. in my pocket or from opening inside my pocket.
To answer your other question, a zippo can operate off most napthas. Coleman white gas is actually naptha, not gasoline, and will serve well. Charcoal lighter fluid is also a naptha but usually has a higher combustion point than zippo fuel or Coleman white gas, probably because of the propensity of most guys to spray it on the fire straight from the bottle. Using high-flashpoint naptha as charcoal lighter is a sound litigation avoidance strategy. It will work, but it will take more strikes to light and might need to be warmed in your pocket first. (for more information on naptha see: http://www.ask.com/wiki/Naphtha)
Hush!!!!
Have the smoking police determined how much damage the public has suffered as a result of breathing in naptha?
I see a class action lawsuit against Zippo coming down the pike.
You can use the charcoal fluid, I have done that. As someone else mentioned I have also used Kero although that is a bit more troublesome.
When I smoked a pipe my fav lighter was the Nimrod.
When the kids started coming I lost it for ten years. When I found it I was excited to the point I ran out of my garage yelling that "I found my Nimord!"
That did not go over well with the neighbors.
I used it for another ten years or so but I quit smoking regularly several years ago and it got misplaced again.
We recently moved and I haven't found it yet but if I can't I am going to see if I can't get one on Ebay.
There’s an app for that. You open the lid, click it and it lights.
Ronsonol lighter fuel is Naptha. Coleman camp fuel is Naptha. Ronsonol fuel is $4.50 for 12 ounces. Coleman fuel is about $6.00 per 128 ounces (gallon). For about 2 bucks more you get ten times the product! A gallon ought to last you a while.
Z-plus and Thunderbird make drop in butane inserts for Zippo - they can be refilled.
Just me say’n, the times have changed....
