I don’t know if there are different kinds of safeties on cigarette lighters – this is a cheapo disposable with a plastic “tab” behind and under the flint wheel and has a tiny metal spring under it; you push the tab in and forward before you can get fire. Most times, you have to do it twice and it’s bugging me. Someone told me it could be done, but they didn’t know how.
I dunno. Figured it’d blow up if I tried, so I don’t buy the childproof lighters anymore.
Got a nail file?
Take a pocketknife or screwdriver and pry the tab out. Then kiddies can start all the fires they want!
Buy a Bic. The small metal strip running along the middle of the wheel can be easily removed with a butter knife.
AuntiePam - I didn’t know you could buy a lighter WITHOUT the safety - or maybe you just use matches. Yeah, I actually thought of just prying it out, but I figured that might disable the whole damn thing. As for kiddies - I don’t have any! So alright already, I’ll just yank the thing out. Thanks gang.
Spend the money and get a good Zippo lighter. They’re not childproof and the flame won’t blow out with the wind.
Whether or not you want a zippo all depends on what you’re smoking 
Well I hope you’re happy – I just used my handy-dandy pliers to yank that sucker outta there…and pieces went aflying. Got the wheel back in but it wouldn’t budge. Had to trash it. Now if I can’t find some matches, I’ll have to use the stove burners and risk setting my hair on fire. (And knowing what a klutz I am, I probably will.)
Sorry there, champ.
I’ve done it dozens of times with out breaking it. Dunno what to say, except watch that hair!
You CAN buy the non-childproof lighters – they’re specially marked. (For us idiots old enough to smoke and too dumb to figure out how to use the other kind.)
Yeah mouth - a whole dollar down the drain. Just ruined my day 
I guess using brute force was not the way to go. I’ll look for the non-safeties Pam. Thanks again.
Any cigarette lighter manufactured in the US (with the exception of “novelty lighters”) must have a childproof feature, I belive as of 1996 or 1997. Overseas lighters do not have to have a childproof feature, but are “supposed” to have it if they are sold in the US. US Customs doesn’t care too much about chlid friendly lighters as opposed to stolen cars and drug trafficking, so the lighters get through easily.
[lecture] There’s a reason that the child resistant features were put on the lighters in the first place; because children are damn good at lighting things on fire with them. Children see a lighter, and think to themselves “Mom/Dad pushes this down, spins this, and some neat yellowy stuff comes out of the top.” They’re curious little buggers, and they’re very good at lighting things on fire. Good enough that about 190 of them end up killing themselves every year. Bic was so paranoid about kids starting fires with their lighters, they created a teaching program that addresses lighter safety (pretty good program, too, I might add). The childproof features are put on the lighters for a reason. If you want to disable them, there’s nothing I (or anyone else) could do to stop you. However, just keep the damn things out of the kiddies’ reach. [/lecture]
Jeremy…
Nobody ever calls me after they’ve done something smart.
KCB - As I mentioned in one of my replies above, I have no children. Neither do I have children visit in my home. I understand perfectly why the safety mechanism was added.
I never said it shouldn’t be there. I never even said that they should make lighters without the safety for those of us who don’t have to worry about children. However, I stopped by the drugstore on the way home tonight for a pack of cigs and asked for a lighter. They were behind the counter and I took what they gave me. When I got home, I used it. There is no safety mechanism on it.
Now if only they could figure out a way to put a similar mechanism on guns!