# What is the big deal about Zippos? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 18, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504 "2004-12-18T07:26:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/41 "2005-01-07T11:27:55Z")
I lost mine a few years back (it was an 18th birthday present from my ex). True, you have to maintain them, but they’re cool. Never replaced it, but lately i’ve been thinking about getting one with FUCK COMMUNISM on the side. heh heh. Now thats cool. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/42 "2005-01-07T11:29:23Z")
What happened to all the non-Zippo cigarette lighters? Your average drug store used to stock a wide variety of non-disposable naptha and butane lighters. It’s been years since I’ve seen something other than a disposable butane lighter on the shelf of my local stores. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/43 "2005-01-07T12:19:40Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > I use Bics. Why? I lose my lighters a lot. But Bics always come back. > > Here’s my theory… No, no, you have it all wrong. Bics come back because they are molded in our image. They run out of gas, and so endeth their mortal coil. They share our knowledge of death and impermanence. Why would a bic want to suffer in the companionship of a Prometheus? To see its short life set in sharp relief to the divinity of gods? Their home is with us. Zippos, now they are different species. Immortal in the absence of tanks. Even then, resurrection is possible. A wick replacement operation here, a quick flint job there and they become Endymion writ large in the firmament of tobacco lighting equipment. These perfidious incendiary devices know they share more in common with gods than us mortals. A zippo will never love man in the way a Bic can. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/44 "2005-01-07T12:38:08Z")
> [@InvidiousCourgette](#): > > A zippo will never love man in the way a Bic can. :wipes a tear from my eye: Damn. That was…_beautiful_. ---
**Author:** ![Domokun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Domokun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domokun)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/45 "2005-01-07T12:39:14Z")
They’re also great for lighting kindling, melting the ends of rope or doing anything else fire related that requires use of two hands or a prolonged flame. Plus, they just look so damn cool. Every home should have one. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/46 "2005-01-07T12:40:36Z")
Being weak willed and easily impressed I started using a Zippo after a Vietnam vet showed me about 20 different lighting methods he had learned from GIs. I only ever owned 2 (number one got stolen at a party) and both would light more than 99% of the time. I never suffered the BIC user’s moment when they flick it 10 times before realising it is dead. When the power goes you can flip it open, light it up and put it on the table like a candle while you hunt up what you need. And you can stuff a little piece of hash wrapped in foil up in the lid - try that with a BIC. Always remember with fuel lighters and matches, let it burn for a beat so that the tip of the flame isn’t chemical laden. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/47 "2005-01-07T14:51:33Z")
Sounds like most of the problems the OP is having could be solved by trimming the wick a tad. I know the pamphlet say to trim it so it is even with the chimney, but I find that if it is trimmed just below (a millimeter or two), I get better results. I have a nice collection from when I smoked. My favorite is the one which belonged to my Granddaddy. When my Father found out I was smoking (in my mid-twenties - Both my parents’ noses are shot from my Mother’s old 3 pack a day habit), he gave me his Father’s old zippo which he had gotten as a “vendor toy”. My Father told me that if I could get it to work, I could keep it. It took ten minutes to replace the wick and cotton wadding, and _boom_ working lighter. Of course my Father started playing with it, saying the sound and smell reminded him of taking trips with his Father as a child. Anyway, that’s my long winded way of saying the major advantage of a Zippo over a Bic, is that a Zippo can be an heirloom. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/48 "2005-01-07T14:54:59Z")
> [@paulberserker](#): > > but lately i’ve been thinking about getting one with FUCK COMMUNISM on the side. heh heh. Now thats cool. Have one. You shoulda seen tha face of the woman at Things Remembered when I asked for the engraving. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/49 "2005-01-07T15:07:30Z")
Obligatory link to [LighterTricks.com](http://lightertricks.com/), formerly zippotricks (I think Zippo made them change the name to protect their trademark). While you’re there, you should watch the video for [Squeeze It Lit](http://www.lightertricks.com/Video/promo_med.mov) (6 megs). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/50 "2005-01-07T15:38:54Z")
BICs? Zippos? Youse are all wicked retarded (crap – been in Boston too long). Get yourselves a Djeep. They cost a bit more, but they won’t run out of fluid until the year 2097. They are 100% reliable, unless the little child-proof button thingy breaks, which happens a lot. You want to Pit a crappy lighter? Pit those clear butane pieces of shit. The ones with the 2 fluid chambers inside. Suckier than rubbing 2 sticks together. No flame, even for the .0452 seconds that the damn things still have fluid left. Worst lighters ever. And often the only kind that most stores sell. Cheap-ass fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/51 "2005-01-07T16:04:14Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Get yourselves a Djeep. They cost a bit more, but they won’t run out of fluid until the year 2097. They are 100% reliable, unless the little child-proof button thingy breaks, which happens a lot. You mean one of these? [DjEEP disposable cigarette lighters fail safety tests](http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/warnings/1998/98_96e.htm). ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504/52 "2005-01-07T16:38:23Z")
cool, a _dangerous lighter_? \ FIRE GOOOOD! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-big-deal-about-zippos/280504.md?page=2)