So,

I was just venting in another thread and thought I would move it here. I recently purchased two new lighters to try out. When it comes to lighters, I try keep it below $20 for several reasons, not including the fact that they get lost, scuffed up and also that the most expensive lighter I ever bought lasted the shortest.

Anyway, I started looking at lighters all over the place, and I quickly noted that there are several brands that have identical lighters and very different prices. Some of the brand names I found to have what seem to be identical lighters include Blue Rhino, Nibo, Tiger, Jobon, Jetline, Visol and even Vector!. For instance, I have this very lighter below but it is a tiger, here are the Visol and Blue Rhino versions.

http://www.elighters.com/vlr-200201.html

http://humidorswholesaler.com/products.php/item_id/2765

All in all I found almost no unique lighters. My question is does anyone know if the actual quality is the same. If so, I found $30 lighters for $7 on ebay. If everything besides packaging are the same, there are bargains to be had for those willing to buy lesser brand lighters. I have a Jobon and Jetline lighter on the way, I will be happy to report back on their quality. I think with the price some of these can be had on ebay, these could revival the Ronson... dare I say more:-)

Lu
[Reply]

I use a Ronson Jetlite for the car or windy days outside, they are around $2.95 from walmart. Or I use Xikar for when I smoke in a garage or a B&M. They have a lifetime warranty and will repair anything that goes wrong with it. :-)
[Reply]

:-) on the Ronson. I have this in my locker at the local B&M...great little lighter for cheap. I use a Blazer at home.
[Reply]

Another + for the Ronson...awesome lighter with an incredible price. In my opinion you will never beat it :-)
[Reply]

Guys,

I agree, the Ronson is awesome and a better golf lighter man will never find! The other question here is if there is a dirty little secret that all these mid-level lighters ($30-$60) can all be had for <$10 with a little googling... are Tiger/Nibo/Blue Rhino/Jobon all the same stuff?

Lu
[Reply]

I would say be careful on comparing prices using ebay. One things a friend taught me is that even somewhat cheap items are counterfeited, and sold for even cheaper! He was showing me a certain watch brand that runs about $50...the fake ones sell for less than $10. Just something to think about.
[Reply]

On that same note I found a few very cheap (DIRT CHEAP) lighters from http://www.dealextreme.com. This website is based out of Hong Kong (so I know they are fakes), but have not had any problems with either. And shipping is free.
[Reply]

:-) Some great lighters at very cheap prices. I am amazed at how well some of their lighters work.
[Reply]

+1 I got the disco 3-flame lighter. It holds tons of gas and works well all the time. For less than $3 last year and it was free shipping (which took nearly 2 weeks).

Here it is now at $4.29. Still a damn great deal.
[Reply]

the most expensive lighter I bought was a tiger which I WAAAY overpaid for before I knew better, guess what? now it doesnt work. I now use a xikar plunge and it works flawlessly, I also have a few ronson jet lites and a colibri roller flint dual soft flame that I like to use when inside.
[Reply]

I have a Colibri. I havnt had any problems with it since I got it a year ago.
[Reply]

Ronson when I am outdoors most of the time and don't want to damage the Prometheus
[Reply]

I know you don't want to spend much. But Xikar is amazing, not just their cutters but their lighters aswell.
[Reply]

Dunhill torch lighter is my favorite outside or torch lighter. Does the trick 100% of the time and has the class a Dunhill commands.

For me, it's either something really fancy or something near disposable. Both really suit their need and purpose.
[Reply]

Has anybody used the Zippo torch insert? I have been curious about those, because I'm really attached to some of my Zippos.
[Reply]

That sounds interesting. Would like to see some pictures of that. Sounds like a decent solution.
[Reply]

Here is the pic I found....

Image
[Reply]

Talk to Volt about his Zippo...he swears by it.
[Reply]

Guys, for those interested here is the wrap-up.

The question I posed was not what is your choice of cheap lighter, but more do with the fact that there seems to be multiple manufacturers with identical lighters at very different prices. So what I did was buy a couple of these lighters and tested them all. I have come up with some general rules for buying lighters:

1) No name knock offs are terrible (the one I ordered from ebay did not work).
2) If a lighter has a researchable brand (i.e. has a website, online retailers stock them -- no including ebay), I cannot find any difference between the same lighter made by different companies (i.e. Jobon looks/feels/works like vector for 1/3 the price).

So, if you find a lighter you like, lets sat vector, and you find the same thing made under blue rhino, chances are it is the same lighter with a different label. I cannot confirm this, but from my limited experiment, Tiger, Jobon, Nibo, Vector, etc, etc... if the lighter looks the same, I think it is the same.

Hope this helps some guys looking at lighters.

Lu
[Reply]

I've used a $3 Ronson Jetlite for about 2 years and it fires up everytime, its ugly but it works. The wife bought me a Colibri years ago and it has not lit one single cigar no matter what $20 fluid I use for it. The Z-PLUS zippo insert is the best idea if you want a personalized or one of a kind lighter theres a million zippos out there. I've used the zippo insert but my main zippo I've had for 15 years and I don't like carrying it daily at work anymore just because I'm afraid to lose it.
[Reply]