h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just popped down to the corner shop to buy the Guarniad and another disposible lighter.

In common with corner shops the length and breadth of this land, it's run by an extended Pakistani family.

As the weather today is nice and hot, three of the family's kids - lads aged about 6 to 8 years old - were outdoors playing outside the shop. They were running up and down the pavement shouting their heads off in Urdu. They were having a great time of it.

One was wearing a Rooney shirt, one in a Beckham shirt, and for the third one it was John Terry. Sweet

Any fractured metatarsals in evidence?

Just think 3 years ago you could have fractured your metatasul and 90% of the population would have been ignorant of where they X-rayed.

Nowadays........ The power of the popular press....

I know preview is your pal - metatarsal.

I think, given your history with disposable lighters, you should've bought a proper Zippo.

B

But as I've said before: zippos fall apart after a while, and everything when you're carrying one stinks of petrol.

Then buy a proper gas lighter!

I never had a problem with gas odor unless I was using one of the cheap Zippo knockoffs that leaked. My problem was losing the Zippo, since I was used to just setting the disposables wherever and not paying attention to who pocketed them. That or I'd run out of flints.

Of course now I know exactly where my Zippo is, since I no longer need it.

Ah, we may have a trans-Atlantic problem here. By a 'gas' lighter I mean a wind-proof lighter that burns butane gas, producing a steady blue flame, not gas as in gasoline, the stuff Zippos and cars run on, that produces a yellow flame.

I've had both, like the Zippos infinitely more.
But yes, a butane lighter would eliminate the fuel smell. Less messy to refill as well.

I never had luck refilling the butane venturi type lighters. I loved them, especially when cruising in a boat at 40 knots plus. But I never could get much fuel in and usually ended up freezing part of my hand. I'm sure there's a trick that makes it easy. I gave up and stuck with my zippo.

The small zippos suck, no doubt, but the standard size is hard to beat.

I have quite a collection including one that is as old as I am. It's the only standard size one I have that leaks. It has the porous stone inside it rather than the wad of cotton.

"I never had luck refilling the butane venturi type lighters. I loved them, especially when cruising in a boat at 40 knots plus. But I never could get much fuel in and usually ended up freezing part of my hand. I'm sure there's a trick that makes it easy."

Having the right adaptor nozzle fitted, rather than assuming that the standard one fits. That's the mistake I used to make.

Could be... the cans of butane claimed a "universal tip"... yeah, right.

Traveller in Time with a pipe lighter
"I used the universal nozzle too, to stick up the dedicated one, needed for the lighter. At the tobacco shop the sold these dedicated, one for each type or brand of refillable lighter. "