Firecrafting: Storm Lighters

[Outlander Systems]

What sort of storm/wind-resistant lighters would you guys recommend.

I've been considering the Windmill Trekker, Brunton Helios, and Brunton Firestorm.

I'd like something that will hold up. Issues at high-elevations are irrelevant for me.

For my outdoors-related adventures, I typically use "traditional" firesteel, matches, etc. In a pinch, since I'm a chain-smoker, I will break out the Bic.

I've been simmering on this for over a year, and while I've been getting by fine without one, it's something I've been wanting to add to the kit.

Points for rugged.

[tailrotor]

Here's a pretty good review on the Trekker...the only drawback seems to be that it's finicky about the fuel.

http://www.woodsmonkey.com/index.php...ment&Itemid=97

[Loki]

the only drawback is you must use triple-filtered fuels or it will clog up.

[Gutshot John]

How does using a windproof lighter count as fire craft?

There are better things to spend your money on, the more you carry in your brain the less you have to spend on stuff.

If you really need a lighter a zippo is adequate for most circumstances. For others a little practice with real fire craft will cover the rest.

[Outlander Systems]

I've been simmering on this for over a year, and while I've been getting by fine without one, it's something I've been wanting to add to the kit.

John, I don't want to use a bow drill unless I have to.

It's akin to suggesting that buying a firearm for self-defense is foolish, since, in a pinch, you could make a zip gun.

Since I smoke, I use lighters a lot. As much as I want to love a Zippo, I find them to totally suck balls. I'd rather have a 50-cent Liberty lighter. The last two Zippos I owned are in the North Georgia mountains somewhere. I threw them into the woodland abyss in a fit of rage, on two separate occasions.

[Gutshot John]

John, I don't want to use a bow drill unless I have to.

It's akin to suggesting that buying a firearm for self-defense is foolish, since, in a pinch, you could make a zip gun.

Since I smoke, I use lighters a lot. As much as I want to love a Zippo, I find them to totally suck balls. I'd rather have a 50-cent Liberty lighter. The last two Zippos I owned are in the North Georgia mountains somewhere. I threw them into the woodland abyss in a fit of rage, on two separate occasions.

Who said anything about a bow drill? The comparison to a "zip gun" is absurd.

I've been camping a lot of years in a lot of conditions. I've yet to need a windproof super lighter to light a campfire.

Zippos work just fine...so do matches. In about three seconds I can show you how to light a match in hurricane force winds (old navy trick). People are infatuated with relying on technology instead of experience.

It's amazing that humans ever made it out of the stone age.

[K.L. Davis]

It's amazing that humans ever made it out of the stone age.

And unless this thread picks up some real substance, versus oneupmanship, it will not make it out of its first week.

[Gutshot John]

And unless this thread picks up some real substance, versus oneupmanship, it will not make it out of its first week.

There is no "oneupmanship" I see the value in technology for a lot of things. Building a fire isn't one of them.

If the OP can't get a fire lit with a zippo or matches I don't see that he's going to have that much more success with an overpriced BIC lighter.

I was trying to save him some cash but if he insists on spending the money anyways, I don't see where one brand/model is going to be that superior to another.

[Von Rheydt]

I agree with Gutshot.

As the Bushcraft God Ray Mears said "The more knowledge you carry with you the less you have to carry in your pack".

The windproofs are all well and good but they are damn expensive when good [practiced] technique and a disposable or match will do the job just as well. Many moons ago I attended a survival course and the SAS instructor spent a day running thru fire lighting methods. At the end of the day he did his summing up and basically said that all the tricks and techniques are good to know but carry a half dozen disposables distributed around various pockets and pouches and you'll be fine. I put a couple of fat rubber bands around the bodies of my disposables - it makes them non-slip so they don't fall out of pockets and the rubber also makes for good tinder.

For cheap windproofs these are good, treat them as disposable though as they don't last that long with serious abuse:

http://www.turboflame.co.uk/

PS Some time last year over on the Professional Soldiers.com Forum a similar topic was discussed and I recall the majority carried disposables and not fancy windproofs.

[Outlander Systems]

I'm not going to lie, my biggest desire for one is for pipe-lighting. Since it comes with me on my trips, it's just another redundant system for getting a flame up if my other options somehow get exhausted. I'm sick of wasting matches on pipe lighting, and Bics & Zippos suck, as far as I'm concerned for trying to get a good clean smoke.

I should have clarified that this is primarily for smoking and as a fourth-tier fire-making device.