Ronson Pipe Lighter

[Fr_Tom]

I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and saw a pipe(!) lighter in the racks with the beef jerky and M&M's and Bic lighters. It was a Ronson and was $7.95. It has a few pipe tools built in. I bought it.



Here is a short review.

The tools are too small to be of much realistic use.
The lighter is heavier than you might expect.
The flame is only barely long enough to be functional and light reliably with the adjustment at the max.
After about 5 uses, the flame was too short to even burn.

I bled the lighter and recharged it with butane.
The flame was really low, but it would light. I never managed to keep it lit long enough to light a pipe.
After lighting it about 5 times, it would not light any more.

I took it back to Wal-Mart and got a refund. They were very nice about it, and there was no line.

My counsel is to avoid these lighters. If you are going to get one, get it at Wal-Mart or someplace similar where they are easy to return.

[Houtenziel]

I have had similar results with The Ronson Jet-lite lighters(for cigars). They work ok the first few times you light, then they rapidly start to diminish.
If you look carefully, some Walmarts also sells Zippos with the pipe insert, usually on the checkstand impulse-buy displays.

[9 Iron]

My own personal opinion after years of wasting money on lighters (including Zippo), there’s high end pipe lighters (Dunhill, Dupont, Old Boy) that work, there’s ridiculously cheap Bic lighters that work, everything in between ain’t worth it in the long run.

[Mrm1775]

My own personal opinion after years of wasting money on lighters (including Zippo), there’s high end pipe lighters (Dunhill, Dupont, Old Boy) that work, there’s ridiculously cheap Bic lighters that work, everything in between ain’t worth it in the long run.

TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!
I picked up a vertigo just like that Ronson and it is very frustrating. Worked great the first day and that’s all I’ll say

[Houtenziel]

My own personal opinion after years of wasting money on lighters (including Zippo), there’s high end pipe lighters (Dunhill, Dupont, Old Boy) that work, there’s ridiculously cheap Bic lighters that work, everything in between ain’t worth it in the long run.

This is why I forgo the whole matter entirely and use matches for pipes. I do use a Djeep to light cigars though.

[MikeDennison]

I use matches, except when I'm on the porch and there's a breeze blowing. Then I use my Zippo pipe lighter. It works well enough, but not as good as the matches.

[Thelonious monkfish]

Have not used anything but matches for years and only smoke outside. Have not had luck with lighters except Zippo but I taste fuel throught the bowl, and not faintly. Also why do people say you can't use matches outside? Seen that comment countless times but can't figure out why.

[Mr Beardsley]

I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and saw a pipe(!) lighter in the racks with the beef jerky and M&M's and Bic lighters. It was a Ronson and was $7.95. It has a few pipe tools built in. I bought it.



Here is a short review.

The tools are too small to be of much realistic use.
The lighter is heavier than you might expect.
The flame is only barely long enough to be functional and light reliably with the adjustment at the max.
After about 5 uses, the flame was too short to even burn.

I bled the lighter and recharged it with butane.
The flame was really low, but it would light. I never managed to keep it lit long enough to light a pipe.
After lighting it about 5 times, it would not light any more.

I took it back to Wal-Mart and got a refund. They were very nice about it, and there was no line.

My counsel is to avoid these lighters. If you are going to get one, get it at Wal-Mart or someplace similar where they are easy to return.

They've gotten even cheaper than when I bought mine. It's been chugging along for 6 months or more with zero issues but the first thing I did was purge the butane it came with and filled it with the good stuff. The tools are pretty useless but will work in a pinch

Edited to add that user experiences seem to vary wildly. For every good one like mine there seems to be 3 total turds that don't function

[Ray Mackessy]

I bought two Ronson's and one has given out. I agree with Fr. Tom's review. I went back to using Bic lighters, matches and Zippos.

[Fr_Tom]

I am really a Zippo guy at heart I think. I usually have a Bic as a backup in a jacket pocket.

I do have a Xikar torch lighter similar to this one. I keep it at the office since it was a gift from someone at church.