EDC Lighter Fluid Container

[Rick]

Well, gosh, I guess I was told. don't worry about looking at other original containers ... I don't know... like Zippo since their container is made of metal. Your welcome.

[alaskabushman]

Yeah, down inside I know the Bic is the answer.

I'm just stubborn.

And sentimental.

I know several people who carry Zippo's (most are smokers) and they love them, but they don't try to make the case that Zippos are better for emergency situations.

If you wanna carry one just because its cool and a classic, then I honestly have no problem with that. I just don't recommend betting your life on them.

Bic's aren't perfect, but short of a propane torch or road flare...neither of which fit in my pocket.

[hunter63]

...................

Honestly haven't checked the containers for a while... as the whole rig is in a metal box (candy tin") in my truck "Tote".

How it will work for Zippo fluid...not sure....Just checked my stash....found a full container of fluid...and a .5 osz "Artificial tears" bottle ...so filled it...May take a while.
You post made me curious about my 3 - small squirt bottle in the truck.....so trying out the lighter fluid.

Was working in the basement today....checked that eyedrop bottle I had filled yesterday ...seem it is kinda "sucking in" on itself?????

Hope it doesn't "melt down"....as it wasn't made for lighter fuel?....I have put in in a metal container so if it leaks it won't cause a problem..

JohnLeePettimore....Let us know what you come up with.....

[crashdive123]

I have used a contact lens eye drop bottle filled with alcohol (which works well in Zippos) and after a year, all was well with the contents.

[hunter63]

The Heet seems to be OK as well....at least since the last time I set my arm on fire...and that was a few(?) years ago...

[Seniorman]

I've posted this before regarding the question of "ZIPPOS & FLUID" but what the hey?

The small Tabasco bottles, cleaned and filled with lighter fluid, work perfectly for a refill. The bicycle tube "seal" also works perfectly and the fuel lasts a long time, according to some extensive tests I've conducted.

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It also stops any leakage which might "burn" one's thigh ... but then I just let the top stay open for a couple minutes after filling and there is no problem anyway.

I do not go out to the boonies without my old ZIPPO, and it has worked perfectly for me in some really inclement weather in many different areas of the country. Of course, to each his own, but I guess I'll stick with it.

(As an aside, I won the ZIPPO burning in the picture in a Sunday afternoon barracks poker game at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in 1959, when I was in The U.S. Army. The soldier had bought it at the PX the day before. He should not have drawn to an inside straight. )

S.M.

[hunter63]

Tabasco bottles....Great idea......

[JohnLeePettimore]

Well, gosh, I guess I was told. don't worry about looking at other original containers ... I don't know... like Zippo since their container is made of metal. Your welcome.

I'll have to admit that I haven't seen a container of Zippo fuel. I've only seen Ronsonol containers. I jumped to the conclusion that all containers were now plastic.

I apologize for sounding like a smart-*** [not for being one, just for sounding like one ;o)].

[JohnLeePettimore]

I've posted this before regarding the question of "ZIPPOS & FLUID" but what the hey?

The small Tabasco bottles, cleaned and filled with lighter fluid, work perfectly for a refill.
S.M.

I don't think the Tabasco bottles are a dependable solution.

I have a few, and was going to try them, but after I washed them, I filled them with water to see if they would leak, and most of them did.

I think the shrink-wrap "psycho-seal" helps the cap seal against the bottle. I couldn't even close a couple of them firmly without spinning the cap on the bottle thread.

Some may work, some may not. That's why I said not a "dependable" solution.

Then again, if you check them out first, they could work well.

[Seniorman]

I don't think the Tabasco bottles are a dependable solution.

I have a few, and was going to try them, but after I washed them, I filled them with water to see if they would leak, and most of them did.

I think the shrink-wrap "psycho-seal" helps the cap seal against the bottle. I couldn't even close a couple of them firmly without spinning the cap on the bottle thread.

Some may work, some may not. That's why I said not a "dependable" solution.

Then again, if you check them out first, they could work well.

Perhaps the newer Tabasco miniatures leak, but my older ones don't. Never had a bit of leakage.

As I said, "To each his own."

Good luck.

S.M.

[hunter63]

I don't think the Tabasco bottles are a dependable solution.

I have a few, and was going to try them, but after I washed them, I filled them with water to see if they would leak, and most of them did.

I think the shrink-wrap "psycho-seal" helps the cap seal against the bottle. I couldn't even close a couple of them firmly without spinning the cap on the bottle thread.

Some may work, some may not. That's why I said not a "dependable" solution.

Then again, if you check them out first, they could work well.

Let us know when you come up with a solution....

[JohnLeePettimore]

Let us know when you come up with a solution....

I'm working on a couple of things that show promise, so far.

[kyratshooter]

I am sure you will be forced to come up with the solution yourself since none of the dozen or so remedies anyone else has mentioned seem to satisfy you.

Good luck with this search for the solution to the question disposable lighters answered 40 years ago.

[JohnLeePettimore]

I am sure you will be forced to come up with the solution yourself since none of the dozen or so remedies anyone else has mentioned seem to satisfy you.

Good luck with this search for the solution to the question disposable lighters answered 40 years ago.

I don't mean to sound obstinate. I had already tried many of the suggestions before posting, and I had a problem with most of them. If someone told you to use turpentine in your oil cloth or tin cloth recipe, you wouldn't just accept that, would you?

Also, I've had a couple of things in the works during this whole conversation. That's what my last response to hunter63 was about. Just being honest, not difficult. And I've been enjoying the conversation.

I do thank all of you for your input. Obviously, as I noted before, the disposable lighter is the simple, dependable answer for a fire source. If you still want to keep a Zippo around anyway, the metal Zippo Fuel can is the simple, dependable container.

Just to continue this pointless conversation however, ;o)

I tried another mini Tabasco bottle. Thanks to Seniorman for pushing this one. It works perfectly, and looks like the best thing to use for something refillable. I realized that I was damaging the caps when I first removed them. I always just twist caps off with the "psycho seal" still on, then remove the broken seal. The seals on the mini Tabasco bottles didn't break, and I think I stripped the threads on the cap, so they leaked. Little details like that can land you in a Michael Crichton story.

To hunter 63 about the eye dropper bottle is "sucking in". The first bottle I tried (the one with the flip up spout in the lid) did this. It wasn't "vapor tight". The fluid would warm up, evaporate in the container, the increased pressure would force the vapor out around the poorly-sealed flip up spout, then the bottle would "suck in" when it cooled off, and the pressure inside decreased. The seal was good enough to prevent the vacuum inside the bottle from sucking in air. This happened over several days and I could easily see the decrease in fluid level in the bottle every day. Of course, if the bottle was not full to begin with, and the temperature is lower than when it was filled, it could just be the decrease in temperature that causes the vacuum, and not a leak.

For what it's worth, one of the things I had going when I first posted seems to be working. It's a hotel shampoo bottle. It's a 2 oz. clear PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle, Boston Round style (cylindrical, so no bulging problem) with a screw cap. So far, it is "vapor tight" (doesn't leak vapor out when it gets warm), and "liquid tight" (doesn't leak liquid when you lie it on it's side). The only reason it might be considered superior to the Tabasco bottle is that it holds way more fluid.

To make a long story longer, this post was precipitated by my researching homemade lighter fluid (I look into making almost anything myself). Zippo/Ronsonol fuel is (or at least used to be) made from two different "petroleum distillates", which are also common home items:

70% Light Hydrotreated Distillate (naptha) CAS# 68410-97-9 (camp fuel) and
30% Hydrotreated Light Naptha CAS#64742-49-0 (VM&P naphtha)

I just happened to have both of these ingredients in my shop, and my Ronsonol lighter fluid container had just done the bulge and crack thing, so I started looking into suitable containers to store some homemade fluid. Just plain curiosity.

Of course we know what curiosity did to the cat...

[fjrmurph]

This will work


https://www.amazon.ca/Zippo-121503-F.../dp/B000B589JI

[JohnLeePettimore]

This will work

https://www.amazon.ca/Zippo-121503-F.../dp/B000B589JI

That does look pretty cool, and perfect for the job.

I may actually get one, although, as I noted previously, I am a cheapskate, and as kyratshooter noted, rather difficult and would rather make things more complicated and involved than necessary.

;o)

[edr730]

At the thrift stores here, they have a lot of aluminum drink containers for about $1.00. They might be too big for what you want though. I just use them for hot water bottles for my inside coat pocket or bed. I always thought that coleman fuel and lighter fluid was the same thing and was not aware of the two types of naptha or the reasons why the two types, in combination, would make a superior lighter fluid.

[hunter63]

FWIW....Bottle is not an "Eye Dropper" bottle...just an "Eye Drop" bottle...with a cone shaped spout.

Seems to be hanging in there....was filled back out pretty much....although seems less fluid...didn't meter it out, so that just a impression

I'm sure delta T of the basement..has a lot ...to do the expansion and contraction....
With the vacuum sucking it in...takes a lot to hold a vacuum....or expansion accounting for the return to full shape.

[JohnLeePettimore]

I always thought that coleman fuel and lighter fluid was the same thing and was not aware of the two types of naptha or the reasons why the two types, in combination, would make a superior lighter fluid.

Based on what I've read, they add the heavier, and less volatile fluid (30%) as a balance to the lighter, more volatile fluid (70%) for the "proper" flame.

I read it in a forum on the Internet, so it must be true.

[JohnLeePettimore]

FWIW....Bottle is not an "Eye Dropper" bottle...just an "Eye Drop" bottle...with a cone shaped spout.

Oops. I meant "eye drop" bottle. The next one we have that gets empty will be another test.

Maybe I should get out more often.