Ye humble dumb-pumpkin here, chiming in to give my 2 bits in hopes of helping an honest Brother make the same mistake I did:
Never buy an OldBoy on some crazy sale price unless you've convincingly verified that the vendor is ALL ACES, I got burned literally & figuratively when I first set forth on the tinderpistol quest... tired of my Bic-burn & sore thumb I decided I gotta find a more well-suited lighter come underwater or hellfire & after deliberation (much of which involved "investigative espionage" by lurking here amongst the Very Good Brothers drop the knowledge on my un-knowing head, which ultimately led me to join on up & get greasy with the chickenwings, as it were)...yeah, you can trust me, totally right? I sound like a well-weathered veteran of all pipology do I not?
= )
...pardon, I', still gettin' my horn green, but for real, I've found the OldBoy to be a rocksolid investment especially considering the lower prices they're going for right about now, with a fairly recent overhaul to address any failings inherent in the older model ( newer bulletproof seals etc), you can't go wrong...I've been amazed at the lifespan capacity tank of one refill, the butane just keepsa comin' & yet the downside with OldBoy is wind, it ain't no scratch even onna whisper & as well, as much as I dig the OldWorld lift-arm design, the actual lift-arm is actually a bit awkward for bottom-o-bowl relights especially -- all that said, it is a freakin' tank! I got the matte black which also was appealling cause I can't handle all those froo-froo goldilox luxury trimmings...have you seen what they want for a DuPont lighter?!?!? Egads! I thought aa $100 lighter was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen, but really, it truly is a faithful tool, always there for you like a Snap-On wrench to get the simple job done...
...eh, but such simple jobs are usually full of complexities, strangely enough & the eccentricities of engineering either FAIL or pass...
...avoid the cheap eBay O.B. knockoffs, they are tossing away $20 you coulda spent onna O.B., plus, there's an Austrian webshop that sells all the spare parts for O.B. if needed & the IM Corona has been in production for so long they've got it going good onna evolutionary scale like a Porsche 911 typa deal...
...FLINT is the only option I can live with, any p-clicker will cluck in the end.
Of course, this is not to say I don't wanna nother flame, I dig Zippo like everybody else but was turned off by the wet-fill fuel...I've had my eye onna Vector Thunderbird that looks like a Zippo but butane, as available from Walker Briar Works etc...any hurrahs for that design? It seems pretty good.
An easy alternative for the 90-flame might be a Prince Pipette --- it's a great design I think, but I've also wasted money on eBazy thinking an an old junkdrawer Colibri Thunderbird done the same style would well suit my needs...all the negative stuff you hear about Colibri lighters is absolutely true, they is dimp squibs fersure!
I've been trying to nab an old classic Maruman pipe-lighter cause theirlift-arm design is more conducive to easy lighting access, yet the trade off may be less butane capacity & crummy seals...
...something that drove me bonkers for a few ill-fated days was trying to hunt down a Sarome PSD12 pipe-lighter, those things are sexy but nearly impossible to find! Uless you can navigate with ease thru the Japanese language it is a massive task! If indeed you are familiar w/ J-lang, then Amazon.jp got all them goodies!!!
...on a final note, the Tsubota may well be a fine lighter, I've come close to gettin' the lil one sans tools in gunmetal it looks sharp & I didn't know about the dual-flame thang, so that's all in the plus box too...but in essence, the IM Corona rip-off of the classic Unique Dunhill Petrol Lighter is a well-tested designed which has been improved upon in true pedigree of pride from the manufacturer & its elegant yet brawny mass is a reassurance to have in hand...
...or of course, them big kitchen matches works good too, just let the sulfur burn first son, let the sulfur burn...
The IMC OLdBoy remains the undefeated heavyweight methinks!
