Anyone use a pipe lighter insert for a Zippo?

Brothers of Briar

Help Support Brothers of Briar:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Brewdude

Brewdude

Broken Pipe
B of B Supporter
Joined
May 4, 2011
Messages
13,861
Reaction score
456
Location
Arid-zona
My late Pap used one of these IIRC, and I've been curious about them. Have me a Zippo I seldom use, but no pipe lighter insert.

Any advice gratefully received, and thanks for your consideration. And where might I pick one of these up?


Cheers,

RR

Edit: just saw a thread below that might educamate me. But please chime in with any advice good or bad.
 
A Zippo with a pipe insert has been my principal lighter for many years. Burns cooler than butane, so chances of charring the top of a pipe are reduced. I do not think that they sell the inserts by themselves; I believe that you need to buy a Zippo with the pipe lighter insert already in it. Use Zippo fluid; it was reformulated a few years ago to remove traces of chemical tastes due to complaints by cigar smokers; the new fluid is excellent.
 
If you have a regular Zippo, you can send it to their factory and request a Pipe insert, which they do free of charge, I believe, and then send back your old insert too.
 
I have a bunch of Zippos with the pipe insert. They're all I use.
 
tiltjlp":kuqcxbbi said:
If you have a regular Zippo, you can send it to their factory and request a Pipe insert, which they do free of charge, I believe, and then send back your old insert too.
Click to expand...
I'll be sure to check that out. Thanks for the info.

And it looks like a few others of you endorse the Zippo thing. That's good enough for me to go in that direction.

I've been mostly using one of those inexpensive soft flame butane lighters for my pipes. Don't know the name of the brand but it has a pipe on one of the sides and I think they're made in the German Republic. They work reasonably well but seem to remember my Pap and his Zippo and the wider flame it produced.

Thanks for the info everyone.


Cheers,

RR
 
Yeah, send them in and ask. I have done that several times. Any repairs needed, just ask. They might even do it automatically. I use matches if possible for the initial light. But then the Zippo works great after that. This new Zippo fluid only has a smell for a very brief time. Just let it burn a second and it's clean. The older fluid you need to light, wait a few seconds and then light your pipe.

I have four Zippos kicking around now. They do add to the tar buildup on top of your pipes. Just keep them clean or don't worry about it.
 
loneredtree":ldce21o6 said:
The Vector butane insert works good for me.

http://www.wannalight.com/zippo-lighters---accessories.htm
Click to expand...
+1 on the Vector pipe insert. I've been using mine for about a week now and it is a nice light. I had some Ronson butane in the garage and it lit fine with that. I stopped at a cigarette store a few days ago for a new can and they did not have the Zippo brand. So, I bought a can of "Jet Line" butane and it works like a champ. Lights on first strike.

The insert is a tight fit in my old lighter, but is getting easier to pull out.

The flame is adjustable and goes better into my deep Boswell craggy pipe better than the Zippo pipe insert.

Downside: It is not windproof and blows out easily. I'll definitely keep it in my travel kit as I wont' have to worry about the fluid drying out.

For $10 = genius!
 
I have a pipe zippo...I got it with a Peterson Dunagal....It has a beautiful Peterson case on it...looks great. The pipe insert? Eh. Tilt the zippo and it works the same. Bics work great as well.
 
Carlos":a6sa8duf said:
Yeah, send them in and ask. I have done that several times. Any repairs needed, just ask. They might even do it automatically. I use matches if possible for the initial light. But then the Zippo works great after that. This new Zippo fluid only has a smell for a very brief time. Just let it burn a second and it's clean. The older fluid you need to light, wait a few seconds and then light your pipe.

I have four Zippos kicking around now. They do add to the tar buildup on top of your pipes. Just keep them clean or don't worry about it.
Click to expand...
Well, I sent the Zippo back for conversion. Will report back on the results.

Thanks for the advice all.



Cheers,

RR
 
I have 2 zippos with the pipe lighter insert they work very good but im always filling them. This week I bought a vector thunderbird from walker briar works with the pipe insert and it works great. You can also just buy the lighter insert that will fit in your zippo. It was filled when it came on Tuesday and its still going no refills yet my zippo I had to fill almost every day so +1 for the vector.
 
I have read that you can slow down the evaporation of the nampa ( sp) fluid by
coating the pipe insert with a ring of vasoline. I have not tried it.
 
Just got my Zippo back from the conversion to a pipe insert. Well, yesterday actually.

Tried it out last night and the light had much kerosene character from the fuel!

:x

Tonight it's all gone, and the light is free from this altogether. And I'm very impressed with the quality of the light. Looks like this is gonna be my go to light from here on!

Zippo did me proud too. Made the conversion, sent the old insert back, gave me a couple flints, all for n/c.

I couldn't be happier!

Count me as a new Zippo fan.

:cheers:


Cheers,

RR
 
I guess it's true what they say, "They don't make 'em like they used to". I just bought a Zippo pipe lighter cause it seems like many folks here like them and boy was I disappointed. It was manufactured in July of this year so it's about as fresh as could be.

I remember having a Zippo when I was a teenager about 15 years ago and it was a nice lighter with a good hefty weight to it even when it was empty. The one I got is thin and almost weightless and there is about a 1/32" gap along the lid on both sides which I'm sure will aid the fuel in evaporating. Even the pipe insert is real flimsy and cheap; my Dad had one years ago and it was much nicer and more heavy duty. The last thing I noticed is that the hinge on this thing looks like something you'd find on a Chinese knockoff. I'm really disappointed, I might just see if my Dad still has his old one or try to find one on eBay or something. What a bummer.
 
Top