Primitive Lighter

[urbanwoodsman]

Hello everyone. I'm a long time reader, new poster here. I've already thought of something quite crazy such as the idea of a primitive zippo-style lighter, however after hearing some other opinions on it, the urge to build one has eased. I basically thought that melting animal fat and pouring it into the foam in the zippo lighter would work just as well as pouring in butane. However I was told something about the octane number of oil and how it isn't high enough to catch fire from a spark. This makes some sense, but now I have another idea.

I didn't read all of the wine making post(s) here, however I noted of the topic. I now wonder if it is possible to almost completely primitively make something of at least 50% alcohol. I know that vodka burns, but I don't think it is sufficiently alcoholic to burn properly in a Zippo. Therefore I think more distillation would be necessary to make something of a higher proof.

What do you all think about primitively distilling THINGS to acquire a flammable liquid that would be able to substitute Butane for a Zippo?

My initial thoughts were about turpentine in pine resin and birch tar, however I know absolutely nothing of the key substance in birch tar that makes it burn so well. Same goes with turpentine as I do not even know if turpentine is the actual substance that makes resin burn so well.

Anyway, it would be nice if everyone who knows a thing or two about this whole deal could contribute some information so that maybe I could finally make this primitive lighter happen.

 

[Mike Ameling]

The big problem with the "zippo" type lighter is how well the liquid you put in it vaporizes. That "butane" lighter fluid was formulated/refined to balance well for the specific purpose of not evaporating in storage in the cotton wicking material in the lighter, but also to flow up through that wick material - and vaporize enough that a spark can ignite it at the burner top.

Gasoline is too ... volatile. But GI's in WWII quickly found out that it would work if necessary, but that diesel fuel worked better. Thus it is with the petroleum products.

Alcohol will vaporize/evaporate way too fast in use. It would only be a short-term solution. Plus, the heat given off by burning alcohol would be different. It would take time to get used to using it, and to not see that burning flame (that blue flame is too easy to not see).

The vegetable oils would have their own problems. They would not easily vaporize enough to catch fire with that initial spark, and expand into full flame. You could try som experimentation with olive or corn or soybean oil, but I don't think you would have much success.

The strongest "wine" that you can make naturally would be Mead - honey wine. All the others usually require the addition of extra sugar. But the yeast that produces the alcohol is then also killed by it. Most wines end up around somewhere between 12 and 18 or 20% alcohol by volume. So distilling would be require to get a higher alcohol content.

The January/February 2008 issue of Backwoodsman Magazine has an article where a guy converted his "zippo" lighter into his self-contained fire kit. He pulled all the wicking material out, plugged the little hole at the top for the burner, and cut the extra metal "chimney" off leaving the striker wheel and "flint" mechanism in place. He then put cotton balls soaked in vaseline inside the body of the lighter. When he's ready to start a fire, he flips the lid open, pulls the lighter body out, pulls out a vaseline soaked cottonball out, and slips the body back into the case. He then puts that cottonball up where the burner was and spins the wheel to strike his sparks and catch the cottonball on fire. He states that he can get 4 of the vaseline soaked cottonballs inside the base, but usually cuts them in half - as that's all he usually needs to start his fires. He also carries a couple extra "flints" in the base of the lighter wrapped in plastic - in case he wears one out and needs to replace it. From the pictures, it looks like a pretty neat and compact fire starting kit - although far different from the original cigarette lighter functionality. And it keeps those vaseline soaked cottonballs in a compact little container without having to use a plastic baggie.

I hope these humble thoughts help.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[urbanwoodsman]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. That vaseline idea sounds like a great one, however it is just another temporary portable survival fire starter. What I was going for with this zippo mod is to have an endless source of lighter fluid either from animal fat or plant oil or primitively derived alcohol. I now realize that this isn't really possible. In my mind, the firesteel seems to be the longest lasting, most reliable firestarter which would probably last a person all his life if he were to walk into a forest and live there forever.

Thanks again.

 

[Draven]

Mike - Your mention of Gasoline in Zippos reminds me of my dad telling me that when he was in Viet Nam (He was an airplane mechanic, served in Nam 66-67 I believe..) he used Aviation fuel in his Zippo - 115/145 I think. He did mention that it was much more volatile than lighter fluid and would run out pretty quickly

As for traditional/bushcrafty lighters, why not try something like a firepiston? While you could make a zippo more "bushcrafty" by doing the mods Mike suggested, it'll never be a traditional method of firelighting. Your best bet for something that can be used indefinitely without leaving the wild would undoubtedly be something historically used.

Peace!

 

[perpetualelevator]

The one Fred Flintstone used looked like a Zippo made of stone, and inside were two sticks crossed on an angle that he rubbed along each other. Seemed to work well enough for him, maybe give something like that a try?

 

[Ben Trout]

At a bit of a tangent, I tried fueling a Zippo with R/C car fuel. It gave white/grey flame and looked kinda cool, but it didn't work well for long. I suspect the fuel was good but the oil content (two stroke...) didn't burn off and saturated the wick. It took me a little while to nurse the ligther back to full health. I did wonder about distilling the fuel but haven't got around to that little experiment.

Anyway, my vote would be keep the Zippo as is and play with some traditional technologies. I can't think of any suitable fuel that you make whilst out and about.

Have fun.