Lighter Skills

A lighter is the most common tool used for starting a Fire.  But do you know how to use it to its full potential?

Butane Lighter Limitations

Lighters work great most of the time, but they have a few weaknesses that you should be aware of.

Wet Lighter

It is easy to get a lighter wet in wet weather conditions.  You can drop it in a puddle, your pack or pocket can get wet, your hands may be wet and disable a lighter or you may get it wet trying to light a fire in the rain or under a dripping tree.

You must get your lighter dry to use it.

Turbo Method

Cold Lighter

A really cold lighter will stop working.  This happens around the freezing point of water.  Releasing gas from a lighter also causes the temperature to drop in the lighter, so a light might work for a little bit and then stop.

Use your body temperature to heat up the lighter and store it next to your body to keep it warm.  Your hands might work if they are warm.  If your hands are cold, place lighter in dry armpits or in a pocket in an inner layer of clothing.  If your hands are so cold that they don't work well enough to start a fire, you may need to place hands in armpits to thaw them out before starting your fire.  

Remember to keep lighter dry while warming it up. 

If it is SO cold that you can't get your lighter to make a flame, you can use the Empty Lighter techniques to start a fire. 

Cold and Nonfunction Fingers

Your hands can get SO cold that your fingers just don't work.  If you can't start a fire with Nonfunctional Fingers, you might die.

Empty Lighter

An empty lighter still has the ability to start a fire as long as the "flint" hasn't completely run out.

Method One


Method Two - Turbo

Method Two - Turbo Stick

Similar to using a static stick or your leg, but instead, you run a stick across your wheel

Remove Child Safety

You should remove the Child Safety from your lighter BEFORE heading out on a trip.  Obviously, you will need to keep your lighter away from small children, but you should do that anyways.

The Child Safety makes the lighter difficulty to use with gloves one or with cold hands.  You also may not be able to use the Turbo Methods of drying out or starting tinder if the Child Safety remains in place.  In the Wilderness, if you can't use your lighter, your fate may be to die of hypothermia. 

The reason your remove the Child Safety BEFORE you head out to the Wilderness is that if done wrong, you can damage your lighter.  You DON'T want a damaged lighter when you really need it.

For a Bic lighter, removing the Child Safety is pretty easy.  You can use a small screwdriver or awl between the Child Safety and wheel and pry it off.  Child Safety mechanisms used on some other lighters are MUCH more challenging.  If you have a different type of lighter or need help, bring these to our Wilderness Survival Team and we will show you how to perform this vital task. 

Wilderness Lighter Setup

A lighter can be set up for for survival use.  The most important setup is Knowing How to Use a lighter.  If you know how to use the full potential of a Lighter, you are more likely to survive in the Wilderness.

Backup Lighter in Tinder Tin

Zippo Style Lighter

Zippo type Lighters are problematic since they tend to dry out around a week.  They are also larger and heavier than a butane lighter.  They do work better in subfreezing temperatures and are very popular likely due to nostalgia.  This fire starter's utility can be improved with Wilderness Mods.