A comment in another thread got me thinking about my Zippos. I love these things! I quit smoking years ago so I don’t carry one anymore (I still carry a Bic; it’s more lightweight and doesn’t require any maintenance), but I still love them.
I like the ones with a design on them, but I find only the chrome ones make the pleasing, distinctive “ping” sound. The others still make a metallic sound, but it’s not the same, it’s much duller.
I have a single Zippo in my collection: A polished chrome Republic Of Korea Marine Corps Zippo. It has red engraved letters that say “ROKMC” and what I assume is the same in Korean. In the center it has an ROKMC emblem attached…glued, I guess. Unfortunately, it popped off and is now in a baggie with the Zippo.
I don’t smoke anymore, but it was a cool conversation starter when I’d sit in on my pack of cigs at the bar.
I believe I’ve owned two in my life…I forget what the first one had on it, but I actually used it. The second features a logo that I designed for a major sporting event, and it just sits on my shelf.
It bugs me a little. I wanted something use use for firestarting purposes on camping trips, which may include snow camping at altitude. Butane lighters never worked well in the cold, and matches are annoying. I thought a Zippo would be an excellent choice, and they certainly light well, but I didn’t realize that the fuel just evaporates after a few weeks. I end up wasting like 98% of the fuel since the trips are spread apart. Is there such a thing as a Zippo that seals up with a gasket or the like?
Other than this, Zippos are great. They light well under any circumstances and can be left “on” standing upright.
I quit smoking in 2007 but I keep a favorite enamel Zippo, Playboy mag cover of Sept. 1972issue. In honor of the mag I lifted from the local 7-11 type store. It was my first “heist”. I dont carry it . . . keep it in its box next to the actual “mag”. Man thats anal.
I do not own a Zippo. However, there is a Zippo Club in Bangkok. Not much English on that website, but there are some neat-looking ones under the Zippo Stock dropdown menu. I believe the guy who runs the club sells them at a stall he runs out at Chatuchak Weekend Market.
Me too. I just added a comment to the one I read. Yeah, I’m resurrecting an old thread; but it’s on my mind since Mrs. L.A. asked to use a Zippo.
I have those. There’s also one that belonged to my dad, which he got when he was n the Navy in the '50s or '60s. I don’t recognise the ship that’s engraved on its brushed chrome exterior. I know dad was in USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5), Lexington (CV-16), and Philippine Sea (CV-47). ISTR he was on an LSD at some point (I think he said he was in charge of the ‘Mike boats’), but the name doesn’t ring a bell.
Dad also had a chrome-finished lighter with the emblem of the U.S. 7th Fleet on it. When he died, I made a ‘shadow box’ with some of his Navy artefacts in it. That lighter is in there. I couldn’t help ordering a ‘duplicate’ (engraved, rather than having the metal 7th Fleet badge affixed), and it shows as having been delivered to my office. I’ll get it on Monday.
I own 3 or 4 Zippos, all of them stashed in BO bags in various places. I don’t smoke, so they aren’t everyday carry. But I like that I can run them on wicked out gasoline if I have to in an emergency situation. IIRC, they are brushed chrome(2), matte black and Playboy logoed.
I first bought a standard brushed chrome as a college freshman in New Haven, at the old Owl Shop on College Street, in 1978. $3.75, in those days. Had it until the early '90s, when it fell out of my pocket while I was playing with my baby daughter on a lawn at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
In the late '80s I bought a standard bronze with the Art Deco diagonal corner slashes at a tobacconist in midtown Manhattan. Still have it.
I replaced the brushed chrome in San Francisco in the early '90s. Got it at a tobacconist on Union Square. I liked the idea of alternating between a New York Zippo and a San Francisco Zippo.
Lost the second brushed chrome when I brought it to an airport in the early '00s; forgot it was in my pocket and had to turn it over to Security.
Replaced it on my next trip to Frisco in 2004. Got the new one in a smoke shop in the Mission District. That’s the one in my pocket now. I think the price was up to fifteen bucks at that point.
The Art Deco bronze is in Bradford, Pennsylvania, getting the free overhaul Zippo offers its clients. The hinge was cracking and the internal works needed replacement. Got to love the fre repair service; who ELSE does that?
I have:
A gunmetal plated
A polished copper
A 194-something replica - It’s a big ol’ boxy thing
A brushed chrome vendor lighter my Granddaddy got in the 50’s when he worked for the Highway department.
A polished brass one with “FUCK COMMUNISM” engraved on it.
I received the 7th Fleet lighter. Also a 1960s 7th Fleet ashtray. Somewhere around here I have an Oklahoma City ashtray dad snagged from the mess. (Or maybe he bought it in the ship’s store.) I was at my sister’s about a decade ago, and she’d put it out in a ‘free’ box on the sidewalk. :smack:
I have several. I checked the website and this was the only one I was able to find.
solid silver ready to be engraved
I also have:
a solid black w/ the Marlboro man logo they were promoting back in the '90’s.
A waving American flag
A wavy pattern that looks like a 12 mHz sine wave
I quit smoking cigarettes back in 2010. I do like the lighters though. I need to send the Marlboro man lighter back to get it fixed. The pin broke out of the hinge and they do have a lifetime warranty.
