Refillable Cigarette Lighters

[W1 Rover]

I remember seeing light brown semi opaque rubber capsules for sale in newsagents. They'd be mounted on a cardboard display behind the counter and contained liquid fuel that could be squeezed into the absorbent fluffy white fabric within the lighters of the time.

[W1 Rover]

I stopped smoking around 35 years ago, but couldn't bear to part with my trusty ancient Zippo.
It still gets used regularly for candles, BBQs and camping.

Top post if I may say so!
I bought my son a Zippo lighter when he was doing his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award. Keep them topped up with fuel, evaporation can be an issue but lovely pieces of kit and they'll serve you well.

At risk of straying off topic Zippo do some decent hand warmers too!

[Cartimand]

I stopped smoking around 35 years ago, but couldn't bear to part with my trusty ancient Zippo.
It still gets used regularly for candles, BBQs and camping.

[Arran]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

I might just have to buy one so I can use one of the many sized o-rings I have in my garage, nothing is more satisfying than replacing an o-ring with one of your spares from the mixed spare tin, just one of the joys when you get old.

There are plenty of Ronson wick lighters from the 1940s and 50s on ebay and they rarely cost much unless they are a particularly rare or sought after model.

For some reason or other there isn't much public interest in them compared with Zippo lighters. They are reliable and easy to service. All consumables (wicks, flints, cotton wool, and lighter fluid) are cheap and readily available.

[George 1978]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

Lol, nah we were supervised mostly. A treat used to be getting to roll my dad's rollies with the rolling machine he had. How times have changed!

I suppose that it has comparisons with playing with sparklers on 5th November or blowing candles on a birthday cake, but I was startled a bit there!

[Mulletino]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

A tip of advice for users of Ronson wick lighters that doesn't appear to be well published. Many models have screw in filler caps for the lighter fluid and the sealing gasket perishes with age, or may even be completely missing. A rubber O ring with a cross section of 1mm and an inside diameter of 6.5mm fits perfectly on the filler cap used on the Whirlwind and circular table lighter inserts like the one used on the Carousel and Richmond – they possibly fit several other models as well.

I might just have to buy one so I can use one of the many sized o-rings I have in my garage, nothing is more satisfying than replacing an o-ring with one of your spares from the mixed spare tin, just one of the joys when you get old.

[Arran]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

A tip of advice for users of Ronson wick lighters that doesn't appear to be well published. Many models have screw in filler caps for the lighter fluid and the sealing gasket perishes with age, or may even be completely missing. A rubber O ring with a cross section of 1mm and an inside diameter of 6.5mm fits perfectly on the filler cap used on the Whirlwind and circular table lighter inserts like the one used on the Carousel and Richmond – they possibly fit several other models as well.

[Mulletino]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

I don't even want to imagine the dangerousness that sort of thing would entail.

You never set the house on fire did you?

Lol, nah we were supervised mostly. A treat used to be getting to roll my dad's rollies with the rolling machine he had. How times have changed!

[George 1978]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

I remember as a kid we used to play with all the different lighters my parents and grandparents had.

I don't even want to imagine the dangerousness that sort of thing would entail.

You never set the house on fire did you?

[Mulletino]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

I dont remember my dad carrying any other lighter than this....

My dad had one of those too! I remember as a kid we used to play with all the different lighters my parents and grandparents had.

Later in life I had one that was the same size/shape as a cigarette with a flip top, that fitted neatly in the packet. Novelty lighters were always something you saw in seaside gift shops, like gun shaped ones etc and laser pointer ones.

[George 1978]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

I thought he was one of the marx bros..

Before my time, I am afraid. He would have been like Harpo when he was zipped up.

There was also a clown act called Zippo and Co which visited various shows in the 1980s.

[tex]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

When I see the name Zippo, I cannot stop smiling without thinking about Zippy's cousin in Rainbow!

I thought he was one of the marx bros..

[George 1978]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

When I see the name Zippo, I cannot stop smiling without thinking about Zippy's cousin in Rainbow!

[Arran]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

That is a Ronson Varaflame Premier.

Refillable butane lighters probably had attractive selling points in the late 1950s through to the early 1970s. Fill them with a shot of butane once a year or so and away you go. There was no longer the fiddly job of having to replace wicks whenever they burnt out and repack the lighter with cotton wool. I have heard rumours that cigar smokers preferred butane lighters to wick lighters because of the clean burning flame whereas burning lighter fluid taints the cigar with residues.

The downside of butane lighters are their long term reliability when valves and seals start to fail. Parts are still available for some Ronsons but I suspect that many were just thrown away rather than repaired when they stopped working properly. In contrast, wick lighters have very few things that can go wrong with them so they can last almost for ever. Zippo lighters carry a lifetime guarantee with the quotation "It works or we fix it for free".

[tex]

Re: Refillable Cigarette Lighters

I dont remember my dad carrying any other lighter than this....