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Zippo Lighter vanity
(vanity)

Posted on 10/26/2010 7:02:08 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network

Recently acquired a Zippo lighter.

Don't even smoke, but it goes everywhere with me. Still made in USA!

Thing is:

A Zippo lighter is sort of a hobby. About once a week the lighter needs fuel, since it slowly evaporates.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: zippo
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Went to the grocery and asked about lighter fluid.

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

1 posted on 10/26/2010 7:02:13 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

Yep.
Hell, I’ve filled mine up with kerosene once in a pinch.


2 posted on 10/26/2010 7:05:04 AM PDT by RandallFlagg (Let this chant follow BHO everywhere he goes: "You lie. You lie. You lie.")
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

Way to find out put a drop of fluid on the wick and see what happens!


3 posted on 10/26/2010 7:05:12 AM PDT by ontap
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_you_use_charcoal_lighter_fluid_in_a_Zippo_lighter


4 posted on 10/26/2010 7:06:14 AM PDT by mnehring
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

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.......


5 posted on 10/26/2010 7:06:51 AM PDT by macquire
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

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.


6 posted on 10/26/2010 7:07:49 AM PDT by brownsfan (D - swift death of the republic, R - lingering death for the republic.)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

Denatured alcohol, Energine (naptha), Aqua Velva, Everclear


7 posted on 10/26/2010 7:09:01 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim (Pablo lives jubtabulously!)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

You zippo heads will like this video:

Zippo lighter tricks

http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=zippo+tricks


8 posted on 10/26/2010 7:09:07 AM PDT by Hang'emAll
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

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.


9 posted on 10/26/2010 7:10:05 AM PDT by Not a 60s Hippy (They are SOCIALISTS, not Progressive, Liberal, Left Wing, Democrats, Special interest groups.)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

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.


10 posted on 10/26/2010 7:11:20 AM PDT by GunsareOK
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

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


11 posted on 10/26/2010 7:11:49 AM PDT by alarm rider (The left will always tell you who they fear the most. What are they telling you now?)
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To: mnehring

Thanks all for the feedback.

Somehow, I knew FR was the best place for a Zippo question. :)


12 posted on 10/26/2010 7:11:54 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (GOP establishment are dinosaurs. Tea Party is a great big asteroid...)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

13 posted on 10/26/2010 7:15:15 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim (Pablo lives jubtabulously!)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

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)


14 posted on 10/26/2010 7:15:34 AM PDT by FateAmenableToChange
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

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.


15 posted on 10/26/2010 7:20:03 AM PDT by sodpoodle (Despair; man's surrender. Laughter; God's redemption.)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network
Zippos - Made in Bradford PA - are still the best lighters! Last I checked they were still there and there are a couple of Zippo museums, one in Bradford and one in another town in PA ...Blawnox?

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.

16 posted on 10/26/2010 7:22:46 AM PDT by prisoner6 (Right Wing Nuts are holding The Constitution together as the Loose Screws of The Left come undone!)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

There’s an app for that. You open the lid, click it and it lights.


17 posted on 10/26/2010 7:23:28 AM PDT by sarasota
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To: sodpoodle

How bout when the Zippo is in your pocket and some naptha leaks out and irritates your skin? For days if you don’t bathe.


18 posted on 10/26/2010 7:25:54 AM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

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.


19 posted on 10/26/2010 7:27:48 AM PDT by 762X51
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To: Zuben Elgenubi

“For days if you don’t bathe.”

-

Representing the birkenstock-shod smoking police viewpoint, I see.


20 posted on 10/26/2010 7:28:24 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (GOP establishment are dinosaurs. Tea Party is a great big asteroid...)
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