Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Plasma lighters?

I'll have to get a couple to add to my butane torch collection:




https://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Lighte...h+lighters&qid=1633031055&sr=8-2


https://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Lighte...+lighters&qid=1633031313&sr=8-10

Numerous steels available on hand, triple and quad torches as well as a kitchen butane blow torch.

I'd heard that and tried it but the inner tube lit but wouldn't maintain a flame.

Not truck tube, right?
Heavier tube wall maybe? Try thinner slices?

Mine are about 1/2” wide.

I just went in and lit a piece of surgical tubing and some seat belt webbing quite readily.

Stinks though, next time I shall do it outdoors.

I tried a bicycle tube. It went out as soon as I removed the spark.

If your a zippo fan or already have a zippo they offer both plasma and butane inserts now. Have not tried the plasma but the butane are very nice. Love a zippo but don't use enough to run lighter fluid. Butane solved the problem.

The advantage of fluid in a Zippo is so it will light in the cold and and high elevations. Also, you don't have to keep your thumb on the lever so you can set it down and use both hands to hold tinder to start a fire. The prices I've seen of a plasma insert to use in a Zippo case are higher than just buying a plasma with it's own flip top case. The only advantage of an insert is if you have a designer Zippo that you want to keep using.

I would have thought it for a treasured keepsake. And to be honest, in lean/strife-torn times the ability to use just about any flammable liquid in a lighter would be a boon way beyond plasma.

Agree there are distinct advantages to lighter fluid in a zippo. I have the original insert and still use it when I know the odds are good I will be using a lighter repetitively or in certain conditions. Mainly deer camp. The butane is more the everyday carry insert. I know it won't dry out and it is way more reliable than than a cheap gas station flicker butane lighter. Got so sick of using a butane lighter once or twice before it would refuse to light.

Sorry. Wasn’t clear, I guess. Gotta use a flame lighter or match.

Ah, that would make a difference. The thread is about plasma lighters so I assumed that's what you were talking about.

I have a couple long necked plasma lighters. They're as good as they come for lighting stoves, bbq's, etc. They work at any altitude, temperature, and the wind can't blow them out.
They're also very good for reaching in under a pile of tinder. Tear open a vasoline coated cottonball to expose the dry center and pile shavings on top of it. The lighter will ignite the cotton almost immediately and you're off and running.

I took the off ramp when VCBs were mentioned, and thought we had sequed to tinder.
😁

I'm not much for starting a fire out hunting, but what I like is the Firebird butane cigar lighter that I carry in my pack. It is like a mini blow torch, refillable, hotter than a Bic and wind proof.

In 60 years of hunting, I've never started a fire while out hunting except where I'm camping. But, twist an ankle or fall on your kneecap a couple miles from nowhere and a fire can save your tail. I carry several methods of starting a fire. In an emergency, a waterproof container of hurricane matches is probably the best thing to grab first.

pretty tuff to beat a bic lighter and a tablet of trioxene. I normally always carry a bic lighter. often times it goes through the washer and dryer. lighter comes out working like nothing ever happened.

Since this has come back up……

if you can find them, try out a piezoelectric butane lighter. Usually at smoke shops.

No wheel to spin. Similar “button” to bic lighters that releases gas with a spark. They often have adjustable flames.

The piezo mechanisms rarely fail. If you can see a spark, it's working. The problem is fuel delivery. Butane can be very hard to light in extreme cold or at high altitudes. Many times I've had butane BBQ lighters fail to light when in the mountains. You can carry a lighter in an inside pocket to keep the butane warm which helps a lot.

Coleman has sold bazillions of their 2 burner propane camp stoves with piezo lighters. Many of them won't light every time. You can see the spark so the piezo is working but the propane doesn't always get to the spark. I have yet to figure out why since any kind of other lighter will light it nicely. I have a couple of those long necked plasma lighters and keep one inside my stove for times when the piezo doesn't get it done.

I always used to carry a road flare, or railroad flare for back up to a zippo. Just build your fire, strike the flare and stick it under the wood. Go get some water for a tea, and go get more wood. I still carry the zippo, plus the matches. Now they have ? Triangle shaped pieces of??? You just strike them like a match and throw them under the wood, they burn longer than the matches. Good deal because I can't find any flares up here anymore. Cousin and another close friend used to work for Canadian pacific railway, cousins driving spikes for the Angels and friend is retired. At 70 I don't get to deep into the bush anymore but still can't get my head to think about being old. Was in cabelas the other day looking at a real, lite, waterproof, hooded rain coat. Then it clicked, if it's raining I'm not going out, if I'm out and it starts to rain I'm going home. Bill. 👣🐾👣🐾🇨🇦

There are lots of fire starters on the market now that just need a touch from a match to start an inferno. But will they start from a spark from a lighter?
I have some of those triangle shaped ones. One of the best I've found are these square things from Walmart. Just light the wrapper and they'll burn hot for 15 min. They weigh almost nothing.
One thing I haven't tried is lighting one with a plasma lighter to see if the wrapper will catch readily from a spark instead of a flame.

Those are my favorite too. I got the plasma lighter as a result of this thread and the 1st thing I lit was the wrapper on a Zip, worked great on a windy day.


mike r