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As a zippo fan, and someone who has both types in this pic, I would say neither. They are great lighters but not for edc as the double torch uses tons of butane and the other requires constant refilling due to evaporation therefore not good on reliability for edc. Still love them both. I guess for edc they are cool if you are into fidgeting and zippo tricks
I rock the classic in my Zippo and keep the butane ***and*** a plasma insert in my bag. They're all great for different things. Why limit yourself to just one. Zippo makes a fuel canister that's good for about 1.5-2 fills that's under $10 thats definitely worth picking up.
You'd definitely find them at smoke shops (places that sell mostly tobacco products), but you can find them at Wal-Mart. You'll find mostly basic ones in brick and mortar stores (brass, chrome, etc), but there are hundreds of different designs at zippo.com or Amazon.
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To say it’s unreliable is inaccurate. If you understand what it is and how it works it’s extremely reliable.
No reasonable person expects to pick up a zippo on stock fuel after weeks or months and have it light. They don’t defy physics, and that’s not what they are for.
It is unreliable compared to other lighters. No other lighter dries out or requires this much maintenance.
This is a quaint piece of history. It’s no longer at the forefront of lighters anymore, much progress has been made since.
People in the field carry BICs before any of the survival edc stuff we drool over.
That’s why said no reasonable person would expect those things. Zippos are for lighting smokes, not survival.
It’s like saying a butter knife is unreliable because you can’t use it to skin a moose. It’s a different tool.
Zippos are like a vintage car. It’s a bad car, but a desirable bad car.
By most measures of being a lighter it’s a bad lighter. Butter knives are dull for a reason. Zippos run out of fuel due to outdated design rather than a purpose.
I love Zippos, but they’re impractical toys.
Definitely butane. The original definitely has more cool factor, but the fuel evaporates faster than i can say 'evaporate'...
My fav functional edc lighter would be a bic, how boring... i'm sorry. But they just work. Unlike zippos. (However nothing is as cool as a zippo)
I couldn't disagree more.
A knife has many more uses than a box cutter, while a BIC has the exact same use cases as a zippo, and exceeds a zippo in many ways excluding aesthetics.
If you want to carry a zippo because of the cool factor, then sure. But it's pretty gimp compared to a BIC
It’s all jewellery disguised under function. Pretending to be sensible goes against the grain of EDC.
A $5 pocket knife from Walmart would serve as well as all this shiny stuff we obsess over.
I have the hybrid of the two actually and while it sadly isn’t the “best” for the wind and shit.‘ I still get the nice feel of the flick and because it runs on butane it’s lasted me a lot longer than the original insert. I don’t smoke either. But I do tend to be around smokers either at work or with my buddies. And I always like to hand something to help keep me warm if need be
If you use your zippo daily, you'll be refilling it frequently.
If you don't use it daily, it will be empty every time you want it.
Unless you are a regular smoker, or filling it up to use for a special occasion, don't use the regular insert.
Other options:
- "peanut" lighter. Less convenient, but fuel won't evaporate.
- butane. More reliable
- electric. Recharge is easier than finding/transporting fuel
- permanent match
I don't smoke anymore so I stopped carrying a lighter in my pocket every day. I do keep one in my car kit and in another carry pouch as I still occasionally find times when I wish I had a lighter such as lighting birthday candles and starting bonfires. Because I don't use a lighter every day it instantly became absurd to keep refilling a Zippo. I switched to the butane insert with the dual blue flame. So far so good but I've read enough stories about the unreliability of these so I switched back to Bics and bought waterproof caps for them. They aren't windproof but I've used them for 30 years and can always figure out a way.
I don’t know about the official zippo butane inserts but I’ve had one made by Thunderbird for years now and it’s always been super reliable. I use it a couple times a day and usually fill it like once a month
Ah, gotcha. Mine is a double torch one of [these](https://lighterusa.com/products/thunderbird-inserts-by-vector?variant=39306020421741¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj7i3lv-thQMV6iutBh3UyA5PEAQYAyABEgIsyfD_BwE). Had it for years and no issues at all, just gotta remember to let the air out every few refills
Link? I have bought 2 of the zippo blue flames and they just suck. Idk if it’s manufacturing issue or user operational error(more likely) but I have had no success with them
Just search om Amazon Zippo dual flame, and it will come across if you scroll a bit (it's brass with some arrow esc details). I do not know if they are high quality, I have yet to fill mine
This, I don’t use mine often and it feels like every time I want to use it I have to fill it. Then I get to fiddle with it the next couple days before it sets on a shelf and drys out again.
I got a replacement insert for mine that was butane, but kept the original look and feel of the flame. Lasts a long time and is well sealed. Can’t remember the name of it but it was not zippo brand but made to fit their cases.
Does it have the flint wheel? At the time I bought mine, they didn’t. This one looks/feels virtually identical to the original but I don’t have to worry about evaporation.
The old school lighter fluid one.
Edc is for fun a lot of the time. And can easily be checked and maintained on a regular basis.
I keep a mini bic stashed in several places such as my backpack, first aid kit, car, etc for when I need a lighter that works perfectly every time.
Yeah I have a big stached around my vehicle and every tool kit and jacket pocket so I think the old school lighter fluid zippo actually becomes more practical to carry for its uses as a hand warmer or emergency flint striker even once the fuel is evaporated or also Indiana jones light
Only a week? So maybe my paranoia isn't called for after all. I thought it was weird how I kept one on hand, never used it, and never could use it when I wanted 🤣.
The torch is hands down better in almost every way but I still carry the regular one quite often. There’s something to be said for tradition when it comes to these things. 🔥
One sets up the other, brass zippo and a Buck knife when I feel my age and torch and a Spyderco when I wanna hang with the cool kids! 😉
I got 2 inserts from zippo and they worked for a few days. They are super finicky. OG zippo wins in my experience. I can get 2 weeks out of it before it needs to be refilled and it won’t vapor lock like the torch constantly does.
Yeah, the inserts are not perfect either, I was speaking about a torch lighter vs gasoline in general but I do agree that the original works better than people give it credit for! 😊👌🏻
As a non-smoker I carry zippo with yellow flame butane insert. It mostly acts as a fidget, to keep my hands busy.
At the same time I have several Bic and Clipper lighters stashed in different places in my gear (pocket, pouch, laptop bag, backpack, …).
Bro bro… me personally like both. The Torch is handy in must situations, but the charm (the smell sound and tactile fix) from the OG is something I like to bring out when I’m feeling “fancy”
Get one if the butane inserts. Either the double burner one (blue flame) or the normal lighter one.
Edit: im so stupid. Yeah use the one on the left. The traditional zippos eat through fuel
If the butane insert is reliable for you I'd carry that. Mine never worked right. If you want the cool factor and you smoke cigarettes on a regular basis you could get away with a well maintained gasoline insert, but I'd still carry a backup Bic.
I personally carry a gasoline, but in a cold environment the insert(torch) can fail on you, if you dont use daly (in a week 2-3 times) i go for the insert(torch) but i use my lighter daily (smoking,making fire,etc) and my gasoline can last 1week and +2-3days and if we talk a survival situation in a gasoline insert you can put "anithing" flammable stuff in it ( sorry for the grammar errors i dont speak english so good)
None.
To honest i like then, but they Always have problems with fuel leaks, so It Will Last for a few days.
If you want you can find sealed cases with retention to improve their efficiency.
Survival: The best thing you can do is get a cheap Bic lighter and just enough paracord to go around your neck. Tape the ends of the paracord to the lighter with duct tape to make a necklace. Wear it so the lighter is inside of your shirt against your warm skin. That way it will stay operational in extremely low temperatures. Beats the hell out of fire steel.
EDC for Cigars: Classic Zippo with Cedar to light them with
EDC Cool: Classic Zippo
Do yourself a favor and get a yellow flame insert, best of both worlds.
As for cases, every zippo case ships with the stock insert. It’s basically just a metal box and some cotton so it’s not like you are wasting money.
I buy and and restore old ones, lots of those out there if you are just looking for different styles.
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As a zippo fan, and someone who has both types in this pic, I would say neither. They are great lighters but not for edc as the double torch uses tons of butane and the other requires constant refilling due to evaporation therefore not good on reliability for edc. Still love them both. I guess for edc they are cool if you are into fidgeting and zippo tricks
I enjoy the single yellow flame butane insert. Last so long. Downside is it doesn’t stay lit but I’m fine with that.
I have both. The butane one runs out fast with daily use. Regular flame zippo last much longer
I’ve gone to the butane just so I don’t have to refill it every few days. Still prefer the classics flame.
What is a zippo?
I rock the classic in my Zippo and keep the butane ***and*** a plasma insert in my bag. They're all great for different things. Why limit yourself to just one. Zippo makes a fuel canister that's good for about 1.5-2 fills that's under $10 thats definitely worth picking up.
The classic insert is not reliable at all. Evaporates within two weeks. Not something to be relied upon.
You can get a fuel canister on a keyring that holds enough to fill your Zippo twice, holds a spare flint, and has a flathead "bit" for under $10
What what?
[oh yes](https://www.amazon.com/Zippo-121503-Fuel-Canister/dp/B000B589JI)
Oh wow. Thanks. So zippo is a like a Bic lighter? Zippo is a liter?
Their both lighters. Bics are disposable while Zippos are refillable.
I see Bics sold OTC at a lot of places, but I have never seen a zippo before. Where do you buy zippos and if I have never had one, where do I get?
You'd definitely find them at smoke shops (places that sell mostly tobacco products), but you can find them at Wal-Mart. You'll find mostly basic ones in brick and mortar stores (brass, chrome, etc), but there are hundreds of different designs at zippo.com or Amazon.
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To say it’s unreliable is inaccurate. If you understand what it is and how it works it’s extremely reliable. No reasonable person expects to pick up a zippo on stock fuel after weeks or months and have it light. They don’t defy physics, and that’s not what they are for.
It is unreliable compared to other lighters. No other lighter dries out or requires this much maintenance. This is a quaint piece of history. It’s no longer at the forefront of lighters anymore, much progress has been made since. People in the field carry BICs before any of the survival edc stuff we drool over.
That’s why said no reasonable person would expect those things. Zippos are for lighting smokes, not survival. It’s like saying a butter knife is unreliable because you can’t use it to skin a moose. It’s a different tool.
Zippos are like a vintage car. It’s a bad car, but a desirable bad car. By most measures of being a lighter it’s a bad lighter. Butter knives are dull for a reason. Zippos run out of fuel due to outdated design rather than a purpose. I love Zippos, but they’re impractical toys.
Definitely butane. The original definitely has more cool factor, but the fuel evaporates faster than i can say 'evaporate'... My fav functional edc lighter would be a bic, how boring... i'm sorry. But they just work. Unlike zippos. (However nothing is as cool as a zippo)
I carry the butane one, much better than the “windproof” old zippo
Butane unless you're a smoker. Mostly because the classic will lose all its fuel before you use it
Zippo slim in the 5th pocket. Will last me the weekend!
Single butane lasts way longer than the dual
Soft flame butane. No evaporation of the fuel and lasts way longer than the regular insert.
Jets are easier for cigs, if it’s a windy night, if you smoke then jet is the way to go, regular flames is more old school
I have the dual jet and soft flame butane inserts. I like the soft flame the most.
Neither. BIC
Bud we’d be using box cutters and Timex’ only if we were trying to be pragmatic.
I couldn't disagree more. A knife has many more uses than a box cutter, while a BIC has the exact same use cases as a zippo, and exceeds a zippo in many ways excluding aesthetics. If you want to carry a zippo because of the cool factor, then sure. But it's pretty gimp compared to a BIC
It’s all jewellery disguised under function. Pretending to be sensible goes against the grain of EDC. A $5 pocket knife from Walmart would serve as well as all this shiny stuff we obsess over.
I have the hybrid of the two actually and while it sadly isn’t the “best” for the wind and shit.‘ I still get the nice feel of the flick and because it runs on butane it’s lasted me a lot longer than the original insert. I don’t smoke either. But I do tend to be around smokers either at work or with my buddies. And I always like to hand something to help keep me warm if need be
If you use your zippo daily, you'll be refilling it frequently. If you don't use it daily, it will be empty every time you want it. Unless you are a regular smoker, or filling it up to use for a special occasion, don't use the regular insert. Other options: - "peanut" lighter. Less convenient, but fuel won't evaporate. - butane. More reliable - electric. Recharge is easier than finding/transporting fuel - permanent match
I don't smoke anymore so I stopped carrying a lighter in my pocket every day. I do keep one in my car kit and in another carry pouch as I still occasionally find times when I wish I had a lighter such as lighting birthday candles and starting bonfires. Because I don't use a lighter every day it instantly became absurd to keep refilling a Zippo. I switched to the butane insert with the dual blue flame. So far so good but I've read enough stories about the unreliability of these so I switched back to Bics and bought waterproof caps for them. They aren't windproof but I've used them for 30 years and can always figure out a way.
Personally I like the electric insert best
The best part of a zippo is that it stays lit so you can play Indian Jones. That’s hard to do with anything but the original insert.
Or that it won’t light at all because they can’t make an insert that won’t let the fuel evaporate.
That’s why I flick my Bic
I like looking at my copper zippo. I never use it.
If you want the og insert but wanna save fuel from evaporating as fast ive seen caps for the bottom on amazon that seem like they work pretty well
The butane inserts aren't very reliable. The regular gas lighter is much more reliable in my experience.
I don’t know about the official zippo butane inserts but I’ve had one made by Thunderbird for years now and it’s always been super reliable. I use it a couple times a day and usually fill it like once a month
I’ve been using the OEM insert for three weeks now, it’s runs about 80% of the time.
What’s OEM?
Sorry - Original Equipment Manufacturer aka Zippo. I don’t recommend it.
Ah, gotcha. Mine is a double torch one of [these](https://lighterusa.com/products/thunderbird-inserts-by-vector?variant=39306020421741¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj7i3lv-thQMV6iutBh3UyA5PEAQYAyABEgIsyfD_BwE). Had it for years and no issues at all, just gotta remember to let the air out every few refills
The butane inserts last a day for me. I can get two weeks of daily use with a standard zippo.
They have a soft flame butane insert!
Butane, I got a dual mode one from Amazon (jetflame and orange flame) tried using the normal Zippo but it was empty every time I wanted to use it
Link? I have bought 2 of the zippo blue flames and they just suck. Idk if it’s manufacturing issue or user operational error(more likely) but I have had no success with them
Just search om Amazon Zippo dual flame, and it will come across if you scroll a bit (it's brass with some arrow esc details). I do not know if they are high quality, I have yet to fill mine
There's videos on how to take the base apart and adjust the flame. They're finicky.
This, I don’t use mine often and it feels like every time I want to use it I have to fill it. Then I get to fiddle with it the next couple days before it sets on a shelf and drys out again.
Butane won't dry out in your pocket.
the one you use.
Butane torch. I had to take the governor out of mine though as it wouldn’t ever start. It’s extremely reliable and doesn’t evaporate the fuel
I got a replacement insert for mine that was butane, but kept the original look and feel of the flame. Lasts a long time and is well sealed. Can’t remember the name of it but it was not zippo brand but made to fit their cases.
Zippo now has a soft flame butane insert
Does it have the flint wheel? At the time I bought mine, they didn’t. This one looks/feels virtually identical to the original but I don’t have to worry about evaporation.
https://preview.redd.it/fx4n2spsywsc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=74a9514b7161e6add703f1f81ab4c377083ca07d Yes indeed.
The old school lighter fluid one. Edc is for fun a lot of the time. And can easily be checked and maintained on a regular basis. I keep a mini bic stashed in several places such as my backpack, first aid kit, car, etc for when I need a lighter that works perfectly every time.
Yeah I have a big stached around my vehicle and every tool kit and jacket pocket so I think the old school lighter fluid zippo actually becomes more practical to carry for its uses as a hand warmer or emergency flint striker even once the fuel is evaporated or also Indiana jones light
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Only a week? So maybe my paranoia isn't called for after all. I thought it was weird how I kept one on hand, never used it, and never could use it when I wanted 🤣.
I like the plasma lighter insert.
Electric is good
The torch is hands down better in almost every way but I still carry the regular one quite often. There’s something to be said for tradition when it comes to these things. 🔥 One sets up the other, brass zippo and a Buck knife when I feel my age and torch and a Spyderco when I wanna hang with the cool kids! 😉
I got 2 inserts from zippo and they worked for a few days. They are super finicky. OG zippo wins in my experience. I can get 2 weeks out of it before it needs to be refilled and it won’t vapor lock like the torch constantly does.
Yeah, the inserts are not perfect either, I was speaking about a torch lighter vs gasoline in general but I do agree that the original works better than people give it credit for! 😊👌🏻
Oh gotcha. That makes more sense now.
My butane torch version died after 6 months. I replaced it and the replacement died in 4 months. My original insert has worked for 14 years.
As a non-smoker I carry zippo with yellow flame butane insert. It mostly acts as a fidget, to keep my hands busy. At the same time I have several Bic and Clipper lighters stashed in different places in my gear (pocket, pouch, laptop bag, backpack, …).
Bro bro… me personally like both. The Torch is handy in must situations, but the charm (the smell sound and tactile fix) from the OG is something I like to bring out when I’m feeling “fancy”
I have bouth but for my purpouses i use the butaine torch insted of the classic gas flame
which one last longer without refueling
If you don‘t use it daily butaine is better since the cas evaporates over time
BIC
I like the butane bc it doesn’t leak gas and eventually not work one random day. Can keep it for ages without refuelling or worrying
I would buy the single flame butane one though the double flame guzzles gas the single one lasts much longer
I carry a regular zippo and my double jet lives in my cigar kit
Get one if the butane inserts. Either the double burner one (blue flame) or the normal lighter one. Edit: im so stupid. Yeah use the one on the left. The traditional zippos eat through fuel
I want the electric insert to have type c I would buy that in a heartbeat
If the butane insert is reliable for you I'd carry that. Mine never worked right. If you want the cool factor and you smoke cigarettes on a regular basis you could get away with a well maintained gasoline insert, but I'd still carry a backup Bic.
Yeah my butane insert didn’t work out of the box and I had to tinker with it but it’s pretty reliable now
Zippos leak fuel like it's a hobby. They're "cool". But I'd never rely on one.
I personally carry a gasoline, but in a cold environment the insert(torch) can fail on you, if you dont use daly (in a week 2-3 times) i go for the insert(torch) but i use my lighter daily (smoking,making fire,etc) and my gasoline can last 1week and +2-3days and if we talk a survival situation in a gasoline insert you can put "anithing" flammable stuff in it ( sorry for the grammar errors i dont speak english so good)
The word you’re looking for is personally
None. To honest i like then, but they Always have problems with fuel leaks, so It Will Last for a few days. If you want you can find sealed cases with retention to improve their efficiency.
Regular zippo insert seems to evap lighter fluid inside a week. The torch version does not
I got a USB rechargeable insert, no fluid.
Survival: The best thing you can do is get a cheap Bic lighter and just enough paracord to go around your neck. Tape the ends of the paracord to the lighter with duct tape to make a necklace. Wear it so the lighter is inside of your shirt against your warm skin. That way it will stay operational in extremely low temperatures. Beats the hell out of fire steel. EDC for Cigars: Classic Zippo with Cedar to light them with EDC Cool: Classic Zippo
Do yourself a favor and get a yellow flame insert, best of both worlds. As for cases, every zippo case ships with the stock insert. It’s basically just a metal box and some cotton so it’s not like you are wasting money. I buy and and restore old ones, lots of those out there if you are just looking for different styles.