Summer VS Winter EDC.

[Fortytwo]

I also have this problem. It holds fuel for about 1 week. I have my edc laying besides my bed when i sleep and i also have the zippo fuel there. Whenever i know that it is almost a week ago since i last filled my zippo i fill it again.

I could carry a regular Bic lighter, but i see a zippo as one of the best SHTF tools that you can carry (beside mt and knife  ) because it is refillable with almost everything that burns. Gasoline, thinner, brake cleaner etc... I also have 8 spare flints underneath the filth and if i run out of those i can always light it with my swedish firesteel.

One of the other main advantages is that i see it as a small working flame. You put it down and it keeps burning for about 10 minutes. After that the whole thing catches fire and you have to blow it out. Wait a couple of minutes and it is good to go for another 10 minutes. This comes in handy when lighting acetylene torches or small gas torches. I also used it for melting old candles in a thin can so i can soak them in cotton and use them for starting fires in the woods.

The only downside a zippo has for me is that it has to be filled every week. But when you have the zippo fuel besides where you put your edc at night it only takes you about 10 seconds.

And you get attached to your zippo after a certain time. I bought mine second hand from a man that carried it as EDC lighter for 25 years. He used it daily for lighting his cigars. He stopped smoking and i bought it for 8 euros.

It is true that as i dont smoke i only use it for about 3 times a month. But it doesn't take up a lot of space nor time and it has saved the day plenty of times.

Good point about the continuous flame, hadn't really thought about that part. Maybe I should get mine back into circulation.

[Aloha]

Thats a great point about the continuous flame  .  I don't carry a lighter on me but have one in my vehicle.  I also have one in my small tool bag.  I'd imagine the steady flame can be achieved with the inserts as well  .   

[anditsgone]

You can also cut a small piece of bycilce tire innertube for about an inch long and put it around where the gap is between the lid and the body of the zippo. This should make the zippo hold its fuel longer because it doesnt evapourrate as fast.

A zippo is much more than just something that can light a cigarette.
You can store small stuf in it if you compress the cotton balls a bit. I have a small fishhook inside it that i pressed between the side of the insert and the cotton balls. I also store all the flints i have underneath the filth and whenever i find an empty lighter i wreck the flint out of it. They work perfectly in a zippo.

I think that a zippo is a great tool. It worked perfectly for 26 years and will probably do so for the next 26 years.
For the long run it probably is much more enviorement friendly as well.

My main uses for it are:
Melting old candles in a can
Lighting acetylene torches
Lighting gas torches
crimping electrical connectors etc..
lighting the stove
use it as a candle in dark spaces
see what the wind direction is for starting camp fires
lighting fire works
used it to unfreeze things in the winter that where frozen like my biceycle lock.
And play with it

Those are the reasons why i carry my zippo all year. The only times when i dont have my full edc with me are when i am in swimming shorts. But even then my knife is not more than 50 meters away from me. And that happens maybe 10 times a year.

[temo]

Did glue marlboro plate years ago while still did smoke. Yes fuel zippo is great. I did not like gas version much. From gas lighter primus is most used what i have had.

[Smaug]

Yeah, I do. Sometimes, I break it down to just a 58mm SAK on the keys, along with one of those button cell lithium LED flashlights. That and my wallet, (and the Surge in my glove box  ) and I'm pretty much good to go for summertime.

[strmliner]

Nope...I have the same EDC rotation year-round.  The only thing that changes the rotation is travel or different types of work/recreational activity.

[kmanct3]

Working at a marina my EDC changes are slight , Fall / Winter I carry a Leek , shrink wrap cutter and razor knife as well as chapstick. Spring  / Summer I switch over to a Scallion and Rambler , also I tend to leave my wallet and other small items in my toolbox.

[pfrsantos]

Working at a marina my EDC changes are slight , Fall / Winter I carry a Leek , shrink wrap cutter and razor knife as well as chapstick. Spring  / Summer I switch over to a Scallion and Rambler , also I tend to leave my wallet and other small items in my toolbox.

Strange... I thought it would be the other way around... Leek in the Summer, Scalion in the Winter...

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Since heat dilates and cold shrinks...

 

[kmanct3]

I find it easier to carry a Scallion in the summer when I'm wearing shorts , doesn't seem to be as heavy . Also my heavier cutting chores seem to be in fall/winter.