Smoking
Cigar lighter types
Cigar lighters come in four kinds: butane torches, butane soft flames, wooden matches and cedar spills. Torches shrug off wind. The other three burn cooler and slower.
Same gas, two different flames
A soft-flame lighter burns butane as a plain yellow flame, while a torch mixes the gas with air before it burns and throws a hot blue jet. The fuel is identical. The burner is not.
The soft flame is the one you know from a disposable. Lazy, orange, a bit sooty, easy to see. It lights a cigar fine indoors and goes out the moment someone opens a door.
The torch pulls air in through small holes as the gas rushes past, so it burns more completely. The result is a blue cone that's often close to invisible in daylight and far hotter than a soft flame. Most torches fire with an electric arc instead of a flint wheel. That heat is why they handle wind and why they scorch a wrapper held too close.
Single, double or triple jet?
A jet is one burner nozzle, and torch lighters usually carry one, two or three of them, with some newer models running up to five. More jets means a wider flame, not a hotter one.
A single jet is a pinpoint. Good for touching up a run, relighting one dark spot or lighting a thin cigar. It sips fuel.
Double and triple jets spread the heat over a bigger patch. On a 56 or 60 ring foot, that means fewer passes to get the whole face going. They also drain the tank faster, and the wide flame makes precise touch-ups harder.
Some lighters add a punch or a fold-out rest. Handy. They don't change how the flame behaves.
Matches and cedar burn without any fuel tank
Wooden matches and cedar spills are wood flames: lower in heat, slower, and free of anything to refill, bleed or break. Cigar matches are longer than kitchen matches, so one can toast a full foot.
A cedar spill is a thin strip of Spanish cedar, often torn from a box liner or a sleeve. You light the spill from another flame, then use the spill. It burns tall and steady and smells like the inside of a humidor. The catch is that you still need something to light it.
The full toasting drill, with angles and timing, is on the lighting guide.
Lighter types compared
Lighter types differ mainly in flame shape, heat, wind resistance and upkeep.
| Type | Flame | Wind | Fuel use | Upkeep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-jet torch | Narrow blue cone | Good | Low | Bleed and refill; clean the jet |
| Double or triple jet | Wide blue fan | Very good | High | Same, and a clogged jet shows sooner |
| Soft flame | Yellow, gentle | Poor | Low | Bleed and refill; flint or piezo wears |
| Fluid lighter | Yellow, from a wick | Fair | Evaporates when idle | Refill fluid; replace wick and flint |
| Wooden match | Small, short-lived | Poor | One per light, sometimes two | None; keep them dry |
| Cedar spill | Tall, slow | Poor | One strip | None; needs a second flame |
Why does butane quality matter?
Butane quality matters because most commercial butane carries traces of oil, and that oil can leave deposits at the burner and eventually block the gas flow. A torch jet is a tiny hole. It doesn't take much.
Kurt Van Keppel, founder of the lighter maker Xikar, told Cigar Journal that impure butane clogs the burner, and that buyers should check the impurity figure in parts per million on the can. Lower is cleaner. Fifteen beats thirty.
Fluid lighters are a separate story. They burn naphtha from a wick, and Wikipedia's lighter entry notes the industry moved to butane in the 1950s partly for a more controllable flame with less odor. That odor is the reason many smokers keep fluid lighters away from the foot.
Bleeding and refilling a butane lighter
Bleeding a lighter means letting out the trapped air and old gas from the tank before you refill, so the new butane has room to go in. Van Keppel calls it the most important maintenance step. Air builds up with every fill until the tank only takes a splash.
- Turn the flame down. Set the adjustment wheel to its lowest setting.
- Point it away. Hold the lighter upright with the fill valve aimed away from your face, outdoors or near an open window, nowhere near a flame.
- Press the valve. Push the fill valve with a small screwdriver or a pen tip. It hisses. Hold until the hissing stops completely.
- Refill upside down. Flip the lighter, seat the can's nozzle straight on the valve and press in short bursts of a few seconds.
- Let it warm up. Fresh butane is cold from expanding. Wait a few minutes before you fire it.
- Set the flame. Bring the wheel up slowly until the flame is the size you want.
Sputtering or dead after a refill? Bleed it again. Still nothing? Blow a short burst of compressed air into the burner to clear debris, a fix Van Keppel also suggests.
A weak flame in cold weather
Butane boils at around 30 to 34°F, so near freezing it barely turns to gas and the flame shrinks or won't catch. Nothing is broken. The fuel is just too cold to vaporize.
Keep the lighter in an inside pocket on a cold night. Body heat is enough. Matches don't care about the temperature, which is one reason they ride along as backup.
Flying with a lighter
TSA lists torch lighters separately from disposable and Zippo-style lighters, and the exact wording for each is quoted on the traveling with cigars page.
Lighter and butane questions
Why won't my torch lighter light after I refill it?
Usually trapped air or cold fuel. Bleed the tank until it stops hissing, refill, then wait a few minutes for the butane to warm to room temperature before you press the button.
Does any butane work in a cigar lighter?
It will burn, but cheap butane can carry oil that clogs the jet. Xikar's founder advises checking the impurity figure in ppm on the can; lower means cleaner.
Can you light a cigar with a Zippo?
It works, but a standard Zippo burns naphtha lighter fluid, and its petroleum smell can carry into the foot. Butane and wood flames don't have that problem.
How many jets does a cigar lighter need?
One jet is enough for most cigars and for touch-ups. Double and triple jets spread the heat across a wider foot, which helps on thick ring gauges but uses fuel faster.
Where the flame and fuel facts come from
- Lighter: butane, naphtha and torch lighters, Wikipedia
- Butane: boiling point and contaminant oil in lighter fuel, Wikipedia
- Burning issue: lighter maintenance, Cigar Journal