What is the big deal about Zippos?

The BBQ Pit
1

I just re-flinted my Zippo. After I got done doing this, AND re-fueling it, AND trimming that wick after pulling it up with needle-nose pliers. And after I got done doing all this, I couldn’t help but wonder, why?

What is so great about Zippos? I hardly ever use mine. Those cheap-ass Calico adjustable-flame lighters from the gas station work just as well.

Here’s what’s good about Zippos:

They make a nice fashion accessory. They’re classy.

Here’s what’s wrong with Zippos:

The flame is too big, and lasts too long, for a cigarette or a…hand-rolled cigarette. A brief flick of a small flame from a disposable lighter is enough to light those. You don’t need to scorch it with a Zippo bonfire.

You can’t light a pipe with one. Because you can’t hold it upside down…that pesky tendency of the flame to “rise” and travel upwards results in you burning your hand. Also, if you’re smoking an actual wood tobacco pipe, the rim of the bowl can get singed. The narrow flame from a disposable fits in better.

Zippos are NOT DEPENDABLE!!! I don’t know if anyone here has watched the great movie “Four Rooms” (featuring Tim Roth emulating Charlie Chaplin’s physical comedy) but if you have you will recall a scene where a guy makes a bet that he wins another guy’s Corvette if he can light his Zippo ten times in a row, and if he can’t do it he gets his pinkie chopped off with a cleaver. Well, out comes the zippo, and he can’t even light it the very first time. His pinkie gets chopped off.

Lesson: Zippos don’t light when you want them to. You have to flick, and flick, and flick, and shake the lighter, trying to distribute the fuel, and flick some more…when it does light it’s a damn miracle.

I once tried to light a cigar with my Zippo while standing on a dock in Saugatuck, Michigan one night…the mild breeze coming off the lake was enough to exterminate the flame EVERY TIME. Eventually I had to give up on smoking the damn cigar. What the hell? Why does it only operate under the most delicate conditions?

Zippo…go fellate a hippo.

2

I agree wholeheartedly.

I keep thinking I would like to own a Zippo, because as you say they look nice, but I always talk myself out of the expense and hassle. Just not worth it.

3

Fuck the complaints. They are so cool that they don’t have to work well. And you forgot how they leak lighter fluid on your clothes. But they are cool. The windproof aspect was topnotch 60 years ago, but they still work better than BICs in the wind. Plus they are cool.

4

Oh, and I forgot: They are so ICY cool that their shortcomings don’t matter, like Ferraris.

5

I dunno, I find them useless in the wind. Sure, they stay lit, but the flame is whipping all over the place - everywhere but the tip of my cigarette.

6

I used a pipe zippo for years. I bought it in the 80’s and still have the thing somewhere. Sadly, I too got tired of the flick-flick-flick and the fact it always seemed to die at a place I could never find a light.

Let it sit for a week, forgetaboutit.

I love the scene in the movie The Postman where Mr Postman finds an old car with a dead guy in it. Seems the car has been there so long the dead guy is now all bones. Mr Postman finds a zippo in Mr Bones’ jacket and after a few flicks it lights up. That scene was written by a fellow who has NEVER used a zippo.

Personally I think if you need a reliable lighter, nothing beats a bic.

7

Although I don’t smoke any more, I love and treasure my engraved Philadelphia Fire Department Zippo. What makes them cool?

They are one of the few remaining examples of an American (or any other) company standing behind what they build. No matter what you do to a Zippo, mail it back to Bradford, PA and they will rehab that puppy and return it, no charge.

Real key to good operation is fresh fluid. Skanky old naptha doesn’t want to flash. If the flame is too high, trim the wick lower in the chimney. Distribution of the wick through the wadding is also important regarding reliability. Keep your wick clean. Store a good spare flint under the bottom flap.

Zippo stands for a quality product that can easily outlast a man’s life in a world of disposable stuff.

8

Ever fill one up too much and get lighter fluid burn on your leg?
That is fun.

Plus…how in the hell do you install a new wick? I have one that I guess I have yanked one-too-many times and their ain’t nothing left…never had to put a new wick in there.

However, when they work, they are great.

They are butch, dude.

A real man just whips it out, flips, snaps and there is fire. Nice aroma of burning fluid. Stud.

Of course, the stud value weakens when you have to turn it upside down and shake it thirty-five times to get it to light.

9

Ah, but you can do cool stunts with a Zippo - I can flick mine open with my right hand, while simultaneously snapping my fingers with my left across the wheel in order to light it. Oh, and that guy in Four Rooms didn’t know what he was doing: the vapour build-up in a warm pocket can prevent it from lighting first time - just flip it open, dip it up and down swiftly to air it, and light away. I won a few bets after that movie came out {no digits involved}: “Bet you can’t light that thing ten times in a row.” Oh, yes I can.

10

So does A.T. Cross, and their pens work and look cool.

Coffeecat, who learned just about everything he knows about Zippos from this thread.

11

You’ll hardly see anybody in a movie light a butt with anything but a Zippo, because a character gets to have his own cute little lighting style. He may use a quick one-handed technique and light his cigarette while still talking, he may slap it open and shut with the other hand… of course smoking in general is all about style in the movies. A Zippo or a wooden match, preferably struck on something besides the match box. In real life, I found a Zippo such a pain I put it away and couldn’t even find it now. (I don’t even smoke; just like to have the ability to make fire. Great invention. Civilization and all that.)

Incidentally, somebody should note that the drunken morons in that scene in the movie Four Rooms (the segment written by and featuring Quentin Tarentino) were (as they acknowledged) copying a famous episode of the old “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” tv show, an episode starring Peter Lorre and Steve McQueen. That episode in turn was based on Roald Dahl’s short story “The Man From the South”, but I’m not sure if Tarantino is aware of that, since it’s possible he’s never read a book in his life. He has, however, seen every movie and tv show made before 1975.

12

Quentin Tarantino. You’d think I’d spell his name right when I make fun of his level of literacy.

13

Cigs lit with Zippos taste much better than those lit with butane lighters IMHO.
Oh, and its wicked-cool. :slight_smile:

14

I feel the opposite - I think cigs lit with zippos have a very faint, but unpleasant aftertaste. Always seemed like I lit it with a kerosene lamp.

15

I can relate. I don’t smoke, I think it’s gross. But when we used to go to bars and clubs in college, sometimes I would carry a lighter to light girls’ cigarettes. Eh, what are you gonna do? When I ended up with a Zippo, I might not use it for weeks or months at a time, and then when a girl would ask for a light, (poof!) nothing. It was always a bit embarrassing–“I swear, this never happened to me before!” Sounded almost like the apology for a different sort of problem. Also, I’d fill the damn thing with Ronson lighter fluid from the yellow squeeze bottle, and by the time I used it again, it would be dried up. What a waste of money, especially for a non-smoker.

16

Old soldier clicking in…

115/145 AV Gas … nuff said.

17

I’ve quite smoking but I love my Shag Tiki head zippo. Also, zippos are not supposed to be used to light cigars or pipes or bongs.

18

I’ll swear by Cross pens. I got one as a high-school graduation gift. I lost it at my parent’s house, outdoor by the patio. I found it two years later. I cleaned the gunk off the outside and it still worked.

19

If you carry a zippo in your shirt pocket it will someday stop a bullet for you.

20

Yeah, but so would a piece of the true cross.