I haven’t carried a Zippo lighter in several years, mostly since I stopped smoking in 2006. Carrying a Zippo at that point was sort of overkill, since I wasn’t using it every day and it was still evaporating fuel. I couldn’t count on myself to remember to refill it periodically, and thus it never worked when I needed it to. I went to carrying a regular Bic, and then to a mini-Bic in a metal case with a spring loaded top very much like a Zippo. That way I still had a lighter I could play with if I needed to fidget with something and also always had fire when I needed it. The metal case for the Bic also kept its trigger from getting pressed and discharging all its gas in my pocket.

Recently I have been sorting through a bunch of my old crap and I found my old Zippo. I put it aside and kept using my Bic in its case. Today, however, I watched an episode of How It’s Made and saw their piece on Zippo lighters. That got my interest rekindled in carrying one again, so I got my lighter, refueled it, and tried to light it. Nothing. Investigation revealed that there was no wick. *facepalm* No problem, though, since I also found a replacement wick when I was cleaning up my crap. Used my EDC blade and my multitool to replace the wick and re-refueled it. ET VOILA. Let there be fire!

I’ll try to remember to let you guys know if I decide to stick with the Zippo or go back to my old Bic in its case again.