Why Bic lighters suck and butane torches 0wn

[Truthman]

Hm, I bought one of those cheapo "turboflame" lighter thingies off e-bay a while back, and it's absolutely brilliant.
Is that the kind of thing you mean by "butane torch"?

PS. It cost like £7 IIRC

Yeah, that's what I was talking about. I'm not sure about the thread starter and others.

The only thing I didn't like about that kind(straight neck) was that when you turn it to burn the bowl, it will give a slight annoying burn. That's why I stated get the bent neck kind because it's easier to focus the heat on the bowl.

Just google bent or adjustable jet blue flame lighters for cigars.

The post above gave a link to a device which have the bent neck.

 

[Pythagllio]

I've got a propane torch designed to weed my lawn. Just burn the fuckers where they grow, zap, no need to bend over, no nasty Roundup or other herbicides into the groundwater.

http://www.amazon.com/Propane-Weed-Burner-Torch/dp/B001NDK8C8

 

[Backward_Z]

Hm, I bought one of those cheapo "turboflame" lighter thingies off e-bay a while back, and it's absolutely brilliant.
Is that the kind of thing you mean by "butane torch"?

PS. It cost like £7 IIRC

I'm talking about something more like

or

But NOT so much like this:

Gert Lush's picture of a butane torch shows one that is perfectly adequate but prone to break. One day, you'll click the starter and nothing will happen.

Of the three I linked, mine is most similar to the first but actually made by BernzOMatic like the second. Models vary over time--they're all essentially the same thing. The third picture I linked is a type you'll want to avoid--they're made more for cooking Crème brûlée and have larger flames that are less focused.

 

[Gert Lush]

Thanks for the clarification, Backward_Z, mind you since it costs as much as two refills of high quality butane (Colibri, etc), I am quite happy to treat it as a disposable...

If I find it breaks, I'll buy five. Still costs less than 50 bucks! LOL.
It's been fine for the six months I've had it.

-----

@Truthman

I've found that if I lock the flame and hold it like a pen it is very precise and have never got a burn from it.

 

[EatMoGrass]

Colibri makes dozens of torch style cigar lighters. They are made to light cigars that sometimes cost more than the herbs we smoke.
I have been using these cigar torches for over two years and sparked thousands of bowls with them. The only problem I occasionally have with them is the burner gets a little funky from time to time and should be cleaned with a shot of compressed air.
Also you must empty the fuel completely every time before refilling or air will become trapped in the fuel tank. This is all stated in the instructions that most people never read and most problems are caused from not emptying the fuel before refilling or from using cheap butane refills.
These things work great and herbs definitely taste better when lit with a torch vs a Bic.

 

[John Deere]

Just a bump for those that are interested in torches. Definitely check out the Ronson JetLite. Less than $3 at WalMart and if you do a google search you'll find that all the cigar forums around absolutely RAVE about these things! If you search a bit you'll find lots of tips, too, if you have any trouble. Heck, most of them even say they burn best using the cheap Ronson or Zippo fuel. Love mine, especially outside in the wind.

http://www.ronsonusa.com/JetLite.aspx

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

cool thread and all, but a bic lgihter does not reach 1900 degress. The hottest clay kilns only reach 2350, and you can feel the heat from like 20 feet away, even though it has 2 feet on insulation.

I just dont want anyone thinking that the can go head and put somrthing that is 1900 degress next to their face.

 

[John Deere]

Most resources I can find say it's that hot or hotter.

http://www.derose.net/steve/resources/engtables/flametemp.html

http://www2b.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/archives/archive65/newposts/645/topic645790.shtm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_hot_does_a_bic_lighter_flame_get

http://www.webanswers.com/misc/how-hot-does-a-bic-lighter-flame-get-21e705

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter

Not saying this is 100% true, though, it's just the first several links I found that answered the question. I'd be interested in seeing reports where it's listed lower.

 

[catcherintheye]

I just wrote out this post in another forum/thread (on flushing) and figured a wider audience may appreciate it.



There's nothing wrong with the fire... until you interrupt the flame.

Try this: get an old coffee mug you don't particularly care about (you may end up cracking it) and a bic lighter.

Spark a flame and hold it under the mug as if to heat it where the flame is positioned so the tip is just not touching. You'll notice the mug gets hot and stays clean. Now, move the flame so that it's touching the mug in the middle of the flame. Notice it's pouring carbon black all over the mug.

Butane is H10C4, 10 atoms of hydrogen and 4 of carbon. When you light your bic, the bottom blue part of the flame is where all of the hydrogen burns up. The remaining yellow/orange part of the flame is where the carbon burns. Carbon cannot burn until it joins with oxygen, therefore if you interrupt the flame the unburned carbon will precipitate.

Whenever you bury your bic lighter in your bowl/end of your joint, you're effectively pouring carbon black all over it. This is what dirties the bowl/gives me headaches. I'm sure you're familiar with the "ass hit" or last hit of a big fat pass-it-around bong bowl. The "ass hit" can be made much, much more pleasant by igniting the bowl through non-combustive means such as a heated glass rod or a magnifying glass solar hit.

Furthermore, using a butane torch alleviates the problem of carbon precipitate. It will introduce a 30% oxygen mixture before ignition, resulting in a much more efficient burn that doesn't leave anything behind. If you take a butane torch to your same mug, you'll notice that not only does it not leave a residue when you interrupt the flame, but it will even burn off the excess carbon the bic left behind!

Useful to know: the torch will burn about 200ºF hotter than the bic, but as the bic is already burning at about 1900ºF, I don't see it as a big deal.

Finally: some advice on properly lighting joints. It kills me to see people sucking on a fresh joint with a bic flame engulfing the end. I've appropriated my technique from cigar connoisseur books I read back when I still had an interest in tobacco.

Use a butane torch and heat the end of the J until it is glowing. You can blow on it (like a birthday candle) and if it glows then it's ready to hit. If not, flame it longer. Now, this is the most important part: WHENEVER YOU LIGHT OR RELIGHT THE J, BEFORE YOU INHALE THROUGH IT ALWAYS BLOW OUT THROUGH IT FIRST. This is the same concept as the carbon mug: when you light the J not only will there be butane carbon if you're using a bic, but there's the carbon that results from simply burning organic material. This will be sitting at the end of your J and when you inhale, you pull it all into the J so it gets lodged in the fresh clean bud and more and more as you pull through the J it will taste like ass. If when you light/relight the J, you blow THROUGH it first, it will dislodge some/most of that nascent carbon so the subsequent drags are clean and delicious.

OH NO this is fucking godly information. If your bowl hole(lol) is too small and there isnt adequate bowl hit airflow your a thousand times increasing the chance of carboning up your bowl hit, Ive been there, shitty glass makes it easier to do this. With bubble hash ripped with a bic, it almost always carbons up.

BEST way to get the optimal hit, is a hotstick greevo or a TI plate with some fire BHO. nothing compares.

 

[catcherintheye]

I'm talking about something more like

or

But NOT so much like this:

Gert Lush's picture of a butane torch shows one that is perfectly adequate but prone to break. One day, you'll click the starter and nothing will happen.

Of the three I linked, mine is most similar to the first but actually made by BernzOMatic like the second. Models vary over time--they're all essentially the same thing. The third picture I linked is a type you'll want to avoid--they're made more for cooking Crème brûlée and have larger flames that are less focused.

FUCK....40 dollars later and a vector torch richer,nowww you tell me. It was marked at 60 bucks but i got a deal on it, it literally says good for creme brulee on it. And it takes alot of vector butane to get a rod red hot.... FUCK again....nice bernzomatic wish i saw that.... anyone wana trade? lol. if youre sick of smoking and feel like making some brulee haha.

 

[SacredTHCRitual]

BIC lighters aren't so bad but you have to learn how to use them...a noob will always torch a bowl sucking the flame through essentially over burning...what you want to do is use the heat from the tip of the yellow flame about and inch or so away from the bowl depending on wind conditions.. the heat from the flame slowly lights the bowl..take your time lighting the bowls and it will burn smoother....

or just say fuck it and burn indoors with the sun using a mag glass if you are bong hit purist or some shit.....

 

[supermanlives]

i like propane bernzomatic torches with piezo ignition my ts4000 will kick your torches ass

 

[draco]

i use a blazer micro torch (pb207)...best torch on the market @ $50.

will cut your nose off though... you can't see the flame in daylight...

http://www.blazerproducts.com/tools/pb207.html

 

[rick shaw]

thank you Sacred Ritual.Nothin suspicious bout toting around a cracklighter.