The Zippo lighter was first introduced in the 1930s and reigned supreme in the pockets of smokers until the early 1970s (when the disposable butane lighter was introduced). Butane lighters did everything that Zippos couldn’t; they offered more lights; they were much less expensive; their fuel didn’t evaporate when the lighter was sitting unused in the pocket; they didn’t leak lighter fluid into the owner’s pocket, giving his or her leg a nasty red chemical burn. Given that much better modern technology exists for lighters, why do Zippos persist in both public consciousness and even survial circles?
The answer is partly the form factor (Zippos are cool, many movies have reinforced that, and Zippos produce a powerful flame that works in rainy, windy conditions. It’s that powerful flame that clinches it; having a fueled Zippo in your pocket is like having a small heater or lantern at your disposal. There simply is no better pocket flame, and if you ask anyone who has carried or is carrying a Zippo, they cannot praise the quality of that flame (or the sound the lid makes when it is snapped open) enough. There’s just one problem, though, and that is the outdated fuel that Zippos use. That fuel is at the heart of what makes Zippos less than ideal for survival purposes.
Zippo fuel is “white gas,” a petroleum distillate that is flammable and readily evaporates. It works great in a Zippo that has just been filled… but it evaporates, and does so quickly. A Zippo that has been filled will work for about a week and a half, tops. A Zippo that has been filled and left to sit, untouched, will light after about a week and a half… if you’re lucky. Beyond that, it won’t, because the fuel will have evaporated even though the lighter is not being used.
This, as you can imagine, is a problem. A lot of survival preparation is about setting things aside for when you need them, storing them and stockpiling them for later use. A lighter that won’t light when you finally need it isn’t much good to you. Only those who regularly carry and use Zippo lighters, and commit to filling them every week, get much use out of them. Otherwise you are simply a collector of Zippo lighters, or a prepper who won’t have a working lighter when the moment comes that you need it.
If you insist on storing a filled Zippo, you can extend the useful life of the fuel by sealing it. Electrical tape or a rubber gasket can help, but no lighter can be made truly airtight this way, so the best you can hope for is delaying the evaporation.
Another option is to choose a lighter that works on the same technology, but which has a slightly different feature, and that is a kind of wick damper that encloses the wick. These types of lighters don’t seal airtight either, but having that metal tube down over the wick makes a big difference, extending the useful life of the Zippo fuel inside before it evaporates. The lighter shown here lights automatically when a button is pushed to raise the stopper. It’s a cool design that also dates back to the 1930s.
Yet another alternative that lets you use the same Zippo lighter fluid, but which seals up much more airtight, are “permanent matches.” These aren’t matches at all. They’re little reservoirs that hold Zippo lighter fluid. Inside each one is a “match” that consists of a handle, a wick, and a striker. The match is kept inside the reservoir (screwing down over top an o-ring seal to help keep the fluid from evaporating) where the wick soaks in the fluid. To light it, you remove the “match” and draw the striker down a strike plate on the side of the reservoir. This creates a spark that lights the wick.
The flame produced can be quite powerful, larger even than that from a Zippo. It’s not as controlled, and the wick can become frayed from repeated inserting and removing from the reservoir. There’s another downside to these permanent match reservoirs, too, and that is that when you remove them and strike them, fluid tends to splatter everywhere. In the field this would not be a huge problem, but it might be an issue if you just want to light your “permanent match” when you’re indoors and you don’t want stray white gas droplets everywhere.
Yet another option is kind of a hybrid of the two. It is like a tiny Zippo with a striking wheel and wick, but with a screw-on top that is meant to make the whole affair much more airtight. This does help reduce evaporation considerably, but like the permanent matches, it doesn’t last forever. You can expect a permanent match or one of these hybrids to hold fuel for much, much longer than a Zippo (exactly how long varies from unit to unit)… but if you’ve kept one of these in storage for months, don’t expect it to light when you finally open it. It’s fuel supply may well have evaporated by then.
Your only REAL option is to make sure you have lots and lots of Zippo lighter fluid on hand. The good news is that Zippo fuel, as a petroleum distillate, doesn’t really “go bad.” There’s nothing to break down, really, so as long as the cans are stored in a cool, dry place, there’s no reason you can’t store THOSE for long periods of time. Then you can fill your Zippo lighters, or other ligthters that run on the same fuel, for those times when you need them.
I’ve heard of a number of options for substitute Zippo fuel. I would stick to the real thing, but you don’t necessarily have to buy “Zippo” brand. As long as it’s meant for Zippo lighters (sometimes referred to as “oil lighters” in a generic sense), you should be fine. And if you’re going to accumulate some Zippo lighters, there is no reason you shouldn’t enjoy collecting them along the way. Good luck out there.