Bic lighter no-no?

SpecialEd

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.

0patience

What's wrong with a bic?
Mostly folks don't care for Bic lighters, because they like to toast the cigar.
And that involves, putting the flame to the cigar for quite some time and a Bic would get rather hot.

Zippos are not good, because the fuel can leave a rancid taste on the cigar, unless you have a butane insert.

So, while there may be some reasoning behind some comments, just remember that YOU are the ultimate person who decides how YOU smoke your cigars.

Patrickbrick

I use a bic all the time, right @wylaff?  Soft flame, soft flame, lol that was a good night.

Yakster

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.

skydiverD

raisindot

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/

Bob_Luken

Darin told ya that huh? Welcome to the forum,.... never listen to anyone on the forum except me and,......... me and,.......... well,....... Just learn to V-herf late at night.

jgibv

what's wrong with using a bic lighter? 

Guitarded

^^^ you roll that yourself bro???^^^

GoCards

I was wondering what that was also...

jgibv

Guitarded said:

^^^ you roll that yourself bro???^^^

lol no. 
that is a 100% GEN-U-INE backwoods.
fresh from the gas station.

peter4jc

I assumed it was a close-up of Nish's hand from when you herfed with him last week.

Rhamlin

I miss the old bics that you could adjust the flame. I like a soft flame myself but they suck in the wind. 

dirtdude

Whatever happened to those?

Lee.mcglynn

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

silvermouse

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_Luken

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. 

jlmarta

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....  

silvermouse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidizing_and_reducing_flames

Lee.mcglynn

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

webmost

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.

jlmarta

webmost said:

.......Apply heat, blow on the end, then suck. Easy.

Aw, I'll bet you tell all the girls the same thing.... 

peter4jc

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.

Lee.mcglynn

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 

Gray4lines

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.

Bob_Luken

I'm right. Y'all are right. Everybody's right. It's a matter of opinion. And, if you think someone else's opinion is wrong,... well, that's your opinion. I know how to "not scorch" my cigar. I CAN tell the difference when I DO scorch my cigar. Y'all don't have to believe me. And, y'all can go ahead and tell yourself that lit is lit and fire is fire. But, if you're gonna go outta your way to tell me it's just something I'm imagining,.... you can go suck on the lit end of your favorite stick. See if there's a difference between that end and the other end. And, I'll tell you you're just imagining things. Have a nice day

DrMundo

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.

YankeeMan

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!  ;-)