Week in Smoke – TGT Edition posted on February 9th, 2012
My old beat-up Cigar Lighter
As I sit here puffing on a cigar and staring at an old beat-up lighter, I’m struggling to remember just how long I’ve had this thing. Some time ago I purchased my very first magazine subscription. It was Cigar Magazine and I was impressed with the free free copies given to me by a local shop.
To sweeten the pot, the Cigar Magazine subscription came with a free Colibri “Cigar” Lighter. Before receiving my first issue, my free lighter arrived and immediately became the replacement to my blue LED lighter from eBay.
My new lighter had a black body and white lettering that spelled out the word Cigar. Being all metal, it had a solid feel in the hand. When opening the sprig loaded lid, the tension in the spring made it feel sturdy and well built.
As time went by I began to learn the ins and outs of my lighter. For instance, if it was cold, the lighter would need to be rubbed against a pair of jeans to build up friction and warm the butane inside. Without the little bit of warmth, the lighter would never ignite. I also learned that when the butane level in the small tank began to dwindle down, the flip up lid would get in the way of lighting due to the small flame that was produced.
Over time I slowly drifted away from my Cigar lighter. It hung around as a backup for a while, but was eventually put into a small humidor filled with other things that have long been forgotten.
While digging around looking for a cheap Havana Cutter to give away, I came across my old Cigar lighter. I opened the lid, which was still as stiff as the day I got it, and gave it a spark. Without hesitation it fired right up.
The amazing thing about this lighter is that it has been dropped, kicked, gone through the washing machine, and generally abused for months, and fired right up on the first try. The letters are faded and the body is all scratched up, but today this lighter just earned the title of backup lighter once again.
I’ve gone through a dozen lighters since getting my Cigar lighter and all of them have died a miserable death after relatively little use. The lighter may have it quirks and has probably been discontinued long ago, but it has far exceeded my expectations from a free lighter.
With my recent subscription to Cigar Magazine once again, I can only hope that my free Colibri Cigar II lighter will serve me as my original.
stood the test of time and exceeded your expectations?
That would definitely be my cheap old no-name black plastic double-bladed guillotine cutter. I’ve had this thing for years. The blades are still as sharp as they day I got it (whenever that was).
I’m almost certain, with my luck, if I purchased a brand new extravagant cutter it wouldn’t last six months.
Thank you, cheap old no-name black plastic double-bladed guillotine cutter.
Mine would be my first cutter that I bought in Portugal 8 years ago. I still have it and use it every once in awhile. Still sharp as the first day I bought it.
I have a Colibri Vortex lighter I purchased in either 2002 or 2003. It sits in a cigar box with Colibri Trifecta and my collection of cheap cutters. Both still work to this day. They are both backups or depending maybe a carry lighter The vortex has been taken apart by me and has been somewhat bastardized a bit. Around the 4 year mark it fell apart because the one screw holding the body on the tank stripped out its plastic threads. I was able to take a screw off the name plate from a box of Torano 2004 Tributes and it fit perfect as a slightly larger replacement. That was only done after calling Colibri about warranty work and I was told they’d charge me for repairs.
Walt Just bought a lighter from HE. Humidors ect called the flame thrower for 19.99 and it works better than any lighter i have bought even the Dupont opus x that i paid $200 dollars for and no longer works!
give it a try. I met you at cigar fest and still did not receive by nub shirt or hat. but i got to say hello!
Walter from Franklin Ma
I bought Davidoff double guillotine cutter about 12 years ago. After cutting hundreds of cigars, it is still razor sharp and as good as new. A great purchase.
My trusty Ronson Jetlite butane torch lighter that I purchased 2 years ago for 3.95 at walmart. I bought 3 of these things, 1 for the house and 1 for the car, and a third as a spare when of course this cheap 3 dollar lighter would die. Well, it never has, it lights every time even on the cheap ronson butane. Love it.
I bought 5 little torch lighters for 11 BUCKS! GREAT single flame, clear receptacle lighters, but can’t for the life of me remember where I ordered them! It was a company out of China that sells tons of really cheap stuff…reviews on it were bad (taking forever, never got order, etc.) but they got my order to me within a week! Help me find them again!!!
Famous is selling almost the identical lighter I bought 4/$11 bucks for…47 BUCKS EACH! RIP OFF!