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Bic lighter no-no?

SpecialEdSpecialEd Posts: 1
Ive smoked cigars periodically for 20 years but I'm just now starting to develop an affinity for regular smokes. I've spent time reading and researching but one thing I don't understand is the mentions of cigarette lighters being a poor choice for lighting your sticks.

Years ago I remember learning that zippo lighters were bad but Bic lighters were ok, but that's changed?

Great forum here, tons of info.

Answers

  • PatrickbrickPatrickbrick Posts: 7,891 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I use a bic all the time, right @wylaff?  Soft flame, soft flame, lol that was a good night.
    "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give".  Winston Churchill.
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  • YaksterYakster Posts: 27,332 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm stuck using a BIC equivalent as the triple flame cigar lighters I have are on the no fly list (along with the Galaxy Note 7) and it's harder to toast the cigar and the flame is blowing out all the time when I'm lighting up outside, but it does the job.  I'd rather have a good cigar lighter here to fight the wind, but I'll live.
    Join us on Zoom vHerf (Meeting # 2619860114 Password vHerf2020 )
  • skydiverDskydiverD Posts: 2,713 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Welcome aboard SPecial Ed.  I'll pretend like I don't know you, which will do better for your longevity here. (I tend to irk most folks here)
    LOL


    Make sure to pop into this thread and intro yourself. 
    http://forum.cigar.com/discussion/3027/the-newbie-welcoming-thread/p161
    Inquire about the newsletter there.  It is a great resource for guys learning the ceegar world.  Its old school, paper and must be mailed, so be prepared to PM your address.  Lots of real generous folks here willing to share information and an occasional cigar... 

    And yeah, I get it, this Bic thread was a direct challenge to what I told ya.....  a$$hole!  LOL 
    How do you like my profile pic Taborski?   @matkn293          
  • raisindotraisindot Posts: 1,294 ✭✭✭
    Welcome to the group. Nothing wrong with using a Bic, but once you join this community we'll all convince you to ditch Bics and spend more money to get a better quality refillable torch lighter. With that in mind, the Bugatti advertised on today's Daily Deal is a great choice. I have one and I tend to use it more than almost all of my other lighters, most of which cost more. It's reliable, single flame so it doesn't eat up fuel so much, and has a hole punch built in. And it just looks cool. 

    http://www.cigar.com/promotions/daily-cigar-deal/


  • jgibvjgibv Posts: 9,244 ✭✭✭✭✭
    what's wrong with using a bic lighter? 



    * I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *

  • GuitardedGuitarded Posts: 4,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    ^^^ you roll that yourself bro???^^^
    Friends don't let good friends smoke cheap cigars.
  • GoCardsGoCards Posts: 146 ✭✭✭
    I was wondering what that was also...
  • peter4jcpeter4jc Posts: 16,280 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I assumed it was a close-up of Nish's hand from when you herfed with him last week.
    "I could've had a Mi Querida!"   Nick Bardis
  • RhamlinRhamlin Posts: 9,010 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I miss the old bics that you could adjust the flame. I like a soft flame myself but they suck in the wind. 
  • dirtdudedirtdude Posts: 5,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Whatever happened to those?
    A little dirt never hurt
  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    Lol when I pull out a st DuPont soft flame people look at me funny! Fire is fire bic is a great lighter and I own many of them. I do like single flame torches but above that well then your a 60/60 fan and your point is well I get more lol
    Money can't buy taste
  • silvermousesilvermouse Posts: 20,564 ✭✭✭✭✭
    yellow flames are loaded with unburned carbon, blue flames not so much. I don't know if that makes a difference in taste, but they do have a stronger odor and more carbon monoxide.
  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,591 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Whether you use a soft flame or torch, you can violently force a cigar to burn. Or, with the same tools, you can gently coax a cigar to burn. Go gently. It tastes better IMO. 

    As for the unburned carbon as mentioned by @silvermouse ,...... I'm curious as to the science of this situation and, I wonder about the taste differences this may have on my cigar. 
  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I've tried both but, for cigars, I much prefer a torch. In my opinion, a soft flame is just too 'wussy'. I like the 'balls-to-the-wall' acetylene torch properties of a torch lighter - especially in windy conditions. 

    I currently favor the Xikar Forte. Interestingly (or not) one of my previous torch lighters advertised that it could melt a penny. Naturally my curiosity wouldn't just let that challenge slide by so we tried it. Yep - it worked. Yay for our side....   :o
  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    Being in hvac I've seen blue flames put out more co then yellow. It's all about the adjustments and ratios. I've seen 90+ furnaces burn with a higher co then a 80% furnace. Don't go off what the flame looks like until you can actually measure its out put. Plus well we are smoking cigars and if you can see smoke then you have co! There is more co ppm's in a puff of smoke then you know
    Money can't buy taste
  • webmostwebmost Posts: 7,713 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Used to use strictly big wooden kitchen matches, cause they're so cheap. Then Bearswatter gave me a four jet butane last Christmas. Now I use matches, four jet, bic, whatever's handy. I don't see any diff whatever with the taste. How would you? If all you do is heat up the end, then blow up the ember, before you ever draw, then what you fire the end with ought not count. Apply heat, blow on the end, then suck. Easy.
    “It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)


  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    webmost said:
    .......Apply heat, blow on the end, then suck. Easy.
    Aw, I'll bet you tell all the girls the same thing....  :p
  • peter4jcpeter4jc Posts: 16,280 ✭✭✭✭✭
    webmost said:
    I don't see any diff whatever with the taste. How would you? If all you do is heat up the end, then blow up the ember, before you ever draw, then what you fire the end with ought not count. Apply heat, blow on the end, then suck. Easy.
    This is something I often wonder about...  once the cigar is underway, I'd like to know what the temp of the cherry is.  I don't see how that can be any cooler than what it was when the cigar was being lit, even if it was a torch.

    I see this "don't overheat the cigar when lighting" thing the same as when I hear coffee geeks or hi-fi geeks discussing the finer points of their obsession, and my question is always, "Can you taste (or hear) the difference?"  They'll want to adjust their brewing, or install $****.00 speaker cables... but can you tell the difference?  I propose it's much the same with the cigar lighting; there's obviously a best method, but can someone taste the difference, and/or are they fooling themselves because some 'expert' said this is the right way to do it.
    "I could've had a Mi Querida!"   Nick Bardis
  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    Torch is about 1800 degrees a cigar ember/cherry is close to 1000 degrees. Only know that because a the embar is hot enough to ignite propane 
    Money can't buy taste
  • Gray4linesGray4lines Posts: 4,691 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If you've ever scorched a cigar then you know how it can affect the taste.   I don't mean for the whole cigar, but for a few puffs you get a bitter flavor, much like if you just smoke too fast. 

    I doubt the method of lighting would influence how a cigar burns after the light.
    LLA - Lancero Lovers of America
  • DrMundoDrMundo Posts: 24
    Currently I'm using torch now, but I had no problem with smoking cigars with that doller Bic lighter. Oh you can't use Bic for heavy windy day, that's the only problem for Bic.
  • YankeeManYankeeMan Posts: 2,654 ✭✭✭✭✭
    DrMundo said:
    Currently I'm using torch now, but I had no problem with smoking cigars with that doller Bic lighter. Oh you can't use Bic for heavy windy day, that's the only problem for Bic.
    You can, but it burns the living heck out of your thumb holding down the latch!  ;-)
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