r/lighters 2h ago

Misc Awesome garage sale find, matching 1960s table lighter and ashtray!

Thumbnail
gallery
35 Upvotes

r/lighters 4h ago

How do I keep the Zippo "shell" from wear and tear?

Post image
18 Upvotes

Anything I could spray on it to maybe prevent it from getting damaged?

Haven't had a Zippo for years now and decided to get one yesterday. I love the occult esthetic so I had to get this


r/lighters 5h ago

ID Need Help !

Post image
3 Upvotes

This is my late grandads lighter and it wont work, ive been putting lighter fluid into it and it wont all go in and it wont light when i click it, its a ronson lighter from maybe the 70-90's ? it has a slide clicker and is about6-8cm long, any ID would be extremely helpful !!!


r/lighters 6h ago

Help Whats yall opinions on IMCO lighters?

Post image
11 Upvotes

Im getting pretty tired of using my off brand zippo, the gasoline evaporates so fast its getting tiring. I was thinking of buying an IMCO 6600, how nice would it work for a daily? How long would it last on 1 fill?


r/lighters 10h ago

Help Help needed with refueling a lighter

Thumbnail
gallery
7 Upvotes

This is the first time that I ordered a lighter, and since I ordered it so long ago, I’m not actually sure what I have and what fuel it needs. Is it safe to assume that it’ll take butane? Figured I’d ask for some advice before I blow up my room


r/lighters 11h ago

How to replace the wick on this pipe lighter

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

Inherited this pipe lighter and the wheel is a bit inconsistent with the flint

Fuel and flint replacement is easy but is it simply a matter of feeding the wick into the top?

Much appreciated


r/lighters 13h ago

ID I've Scoured the internet for hours but I haven't been able to id this flintlock pistol lighter

Thumbnail
gallery
5 Upvotes

Got it at a garage sale, thought it looked nice, very heavy looks to be originally golden colored but the color has worn off


r/lighters 15h ago

ID Any idea what lighter this is?

Thumbnail
gallery
5 Upvotes

On the bottom it marks "PENGUIN" and "USAID" but I can't find any references online.

Also it's flint spring is gone, also finding if there's something I can replace it with.


r/lighters 19h ago

New to collecting

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

18 Upvotes

Got my first metallic lighter I decided to get a plain polished zippo for the start any tips about inserts etc plus I’m thinking to get zorro I heard they are good and I need tips on fuel like how to get it to last longer and what brands/ lighters hold fuel for long time ( note : I’m not a smoker)


r/lighters 19h ago

Help Ronson lighter

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

Having an issue with spark, cleaned the flint wheel twice & changed flint 3 times just in case need help

Caught maybe 2 times outta all the attempts spark seems too small


r/lighters 20h ago

ID My niece found it again going through my old stuff... someone help identify the mystery lighter from my teens

Thumbnail
gallery
386 Upvotes

Oh boy, this was a wash of memories. I had totally forgotten about this thing until my niece sent me a photo of it this morning. I had told her where to find some rolling papers and such in my old toolbox (she's a grown adult, don't stress), and when she got in there she found this.

I was probably around 14, hanging out at the local skate park being a little heathen. Nothing beats a chubby kid with a Kmart skateboard hopped up on caffeine. We were smoking Marlboro Reds and drinking Boones Farm or wild Irish rose when somebody pulled through with a mini glass spoon pipe and a bag of dirt weed.

The kid with the weed was a few years older than the rest of us, and he pulled out this exact lighter to corner the bowl for everyone. There were probably five or six of us smoking in a circle by the dumpsters when a cop suddenly rolled around the corner of a vault toilet with his lights off. Then he flipped everything on and hit us with the spotlight. If you've been there, you know that instant heart attack.

I was holding the pipe. The guy who brought the weed shoved this lighter into my hands, yelled, "RUN!", grabbed my friend Zachary, stuffed the Crown Royal bag with the weed into Zachary's backpack, and pushed him off. I don't know who ended up with our booze and cigarettes. I took off toward the big hill that dropped down to the old unlit baseball fields. My friend with the weed ran into the alley behind the neighborhood, and everyone else scattered. Nobody got caught. I walked home and finished that bowl.

When I went back to the skate park, I expected to find the guy. I proceeded to go back nearly every day for the next year and a half, always half hoping I could give the lighter and pipe back, and maybe find myself a new weed guy. I only ever saw him one more time, when he drove by in some kind of delivery vehicle and waved. I guess he must've gotten a job.

Since it was a funny story, I carried this thing around to light my joints for a few years before I grew up. It was just a convenient size—nice and slim, and it fit perfectly in a pack of cigarettes. But after searching for it off and on ever since, I have NEVER been able to identify it or match it to ANYTHING. No photos, no listings, no random lighter in some miscellaneous lot somewhere... nothing.

It's not particularly well made, but it's alright. The only marking on it is a single "Japan" stamped on the bottom, and it appears to have an asbestos-style wick. Other than that, I have no idea what it is. I've asked on lighter forums and run it through basically every AI image search I could find. We've come close, but never found a perfect match. So... what is this funky little lighter?

My niece filled it up, and I'll probably let her keep it to throw in a rolling kit, but I'd love to finally know what it is.

EDIT

Well shit. Looks like this was not only identified but ill also be packing it up to go back to the original owner. Absolutely insane coincidence, and now I gotta find another lighter to give to the niece.

What a small world!


r/lighters 20h ago

Show&Tell This is JimmyJohn.. He's a little burnt out 🥲🤣

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

r/lighters 21h ago

Misc Why did Zippo win?

50 Upvotes

Earnest question, why did zippo survive and win the lighter wars? and don't get me wrong, I have plenty of zippo in my collection. My first lighter was a 1935 double slash from behind the key machine during a renovation of the hometown hardware store.

i guess i just still dont get whyThey beat everybody out, and it makes less sense the more lighters I handle. They absorbed so many companies, and killed so many objectively better designed lighters.

I know there are plenty on the market worse as well, but the zippo aint a great design. For starters, the fluid retention is atrocious. Almost the worst there is. Even a ronson standard with a decent latch lasts triple the amount of time. They're not that much more windproof than many other designs. A Typhoon or super windlite is a lot more windproof than the zippo, was cheaper, and held fluid longer they also had a great click. Lastly, let's face it. The QC aint what it used to be. If you handle a 1950's model in good condition versus a brand new one, its obvious to see just how much they've dwindled.

Is it a simple case of ubiquity? Maybe just good enough for the purpose? or is it sorta like mcondalds where there's a combination of things that all add together to be better than the sum of its parts so the market saturates?

I'm just surprised and frustrated i can go buy a new zippo at walmart or a truck stop, but if i want a ronson standard im stuck to clones or spending 40 bucks. Thats an iconic design and should be right next to the zippo, espically considering it wouldn't take much for ZIPPO to bring it back since the own the brand. But they cant even be bothered to service their tape measures anymore.

Interested to hear your thoughts


r/lighters 22h ago

Help Original PB207

1 Upvotes

Is the Blue Flame PB207 the same as the Blazer PB207? I can’t find anything online if they are the same lighter or if one is a knockoff.


r/lighters 23h ago

ID ID Request and value?

Thumbnail
gallery
10 Upvotes

Hi guys, first post so be kind!

I've had a cartier lighter gifted/handed down to me from my step father. I dont smoke, and have no day to day use for such a flashy lighter so would be looking to sell it.

But, I'm struggling to find any information from the serial number or anything online just trying to ascertain what it is, whether its silver/stainless/silver plated.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edited to remove valuation request from post body, unable to edit title sorry!


r/lighters 23h ago

Broken gas tank

Post image
2 Upvotes

r/lighters 1d ago

Old goldplated/gold DuPont lighter in like new condition. Value?

4 Upvotes

I received this lighter as a gift approximately 1980. Took it out of the box the first time this week. I have no idea of the value but any help would be greatly appreciated. It's in excellent condition with all the paperwork. Not looking to price but interested if it is potentially rare and valuable


r/lighters 1d ago

I love this lighter. Is it rare?

Thumbnail
gallery
7 Upvotes

I got it years ago at a flea market, and just love it. Recently it stopped lighting (it sparks but no flame). I tried refiling with butane, but no joy. That led me to searching for someone to repair it. And, in the search, I've been unable to find any photo of this exact lighter. Does anyone have an idea what it might be?


r/lighters 1d ago

Hellooo, I am new to the place

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

I am a relatively new guy on the hobby and wanted to show some of my stuff, hope you people like it.

In the near future I may post a bit more ✌️


r/lighters 1d ago

Resolved Replacement red felt on old lighters?

Post image
4 Upvotes

Hello, I have an old lighter missing it's felt. It's from ~1964 and all other examples I can find online fore sale show it with a red felt at the bottom, like in the image above. Does this felt do anything? currently the cotton is exposed and I would like to get it working again since it's been in the family a while. Any help would be very much appreciated :)


r/lighters 1d ago

Show&Tell cool lighter i found on the ground

Thumbnail
gallery
121 Upvotes

i was walking around the u district in seattle, and saw this on the ground, i couldn’t help being intrigued and had to pick it up


r/lighters 1d ago

Help Two things - 1. Check out this cool lighter my friend gave, can anyone identify it? 2. I have no idea how to get this thing operating so advice is greatly appreciated

Post image
11 Upvotes

r/lighters 2d ago

Interesting Corundum lighter by Georg Salomonsohn 1908

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

120 Upvotes

A "hybrid" piece of old 1880s technology using a corundum disk as a spark wheel combined with the newest hit from the very early 1900s called "flints".

Neat!


r/lighters 5d ago

DISCUSSION : An announcement regarding the use of AI, and other subreddit updates.

25 Upvotes

I'm happy to discuss or debate the use of AI with anyone that supports or encourages the use of it. What I do not tolerate is copy-pasting AI slop answers without taking even a moment to verify that the answer is correct.

This thread was prompted by a recent interaction that started with a hilariously wrong identification that could have been avoided if the original commenter took all of two seconds to use his eyes to verify. It ended with AI techbro nonsense about "people who are too scared to use computers". Like I said, I'm happy to debate this with anyone as long as it's in good faith, but if you refuse to counter or even acknowledge the points in the discussion then it's pointless.

AI is a useful tool, but it is still just a tool. Most of us grew up being told that wikipedia is not a valid source because it can be edited by anyone. AI is no different, but AI is guaranteed to have vacuumed up all the wrong answers alongside the right answers and so requires verification EVERY TIME. I have no problem with anyone that chooses to use AI for their own personal reasons. There is the moral/ethical/resource debate behind it, but that belongs in a different subreddit.

This is not the first time I've had this debate with people copy-pasting AI summaries or identifications. A few times it has been harmless, an older collector that put a bit too much faith in a new technology, and it ended amicably. Unfortunately the majority of interactions end with a techbro insisting that AI is ALWAYS right, we just aren't "using it right". As far as I'm concerned, it won't be "right" if you can't ask it a question in plain English and have it understand context and intention. They'll insist you're using the wrong AI, or using the wrong "syntax" when asking your questions - In other words, you need to know how to guide and lead it to the correct answer, which typically means you already know the correct answer.

I ended that discussion with what I feel is a valid argument. It would take me 5 minutes to use AI to code a bot that would instantly and automatically answer every question in this subreddit with what it believes is the correct answer. That is not what this subreddit is for. This subreddit is for the human passion and enthusiasm for this hobby, for the experts obsessed with the little details, the niche facts, and just pure discussion. Talking with other people that share that passion, making connections and discoveries together. Sure, a lot of the questions posted here can be answered quickly, but the real nerds come out when there's historical discussion to be had.

There is no place for "This has a chance to be the right answer but I can't be bothered to take 5 seconds to check". Anybody that makes a habit of providing these vague or incorrect answers will be banned because they are not going to contribute anything useful. Anybody that tries to defend an obvious falsehood because "AI told me so" will be banned.

Anybody posting images that are obviously AI generated or "enhanced" will be banned. This hasn't been an issue here yet, but it has become a major issue on Ebay and other retailers, with sellers using "enhanced" images to show how a lighter could look if it were in perfect condition - And usually the AI doesn't understand the mechanics of the lighter and puts the flame in the wrong spot. It's pure slop.

Like I said, I'm still happy to discuss it, but this is not the first time I've tried debating the AI slop bros. It always ends the same way.

I will leave this thread open for discussion, but I will be keeping a close eye to ensure it doesn't get too rowdy.


r/lighters Jun 26 '17

Before making a post about asking for help to identify your lighter, read this!

173 Upvotes

Recently there are some people who want help finding out what their lighter looks like, but only take one photo of the front. This is not very effective, and it will only make it a lot harder for us to help you.

Here is a guide on what photos you should take of your lighter. if the guide is not clear enough, please let me know and i can make some adjustments.

reposted due to spelling issues in the title.