Articles

After an absence of less than a month, we enthusiastically welcome our repair clinic Zippos back into the fold.

An Old Beater And A Loosey-Goosey Lossproof

The lossproof Zippo was one of those late night or early morning Ebay bids. Chump change for a beat up old lighter with a ton of character and oodles of potential. It still had most of the paint in its depiction of the USS Camden and its shield, along with some interesting engraving for good measure.

To have tried to carry it as intended would most definitely have resulted in more damage and perhaps even the loss(even partial) of this lossproof Continue reading “Sending Lighters To The Zippo Repair Clinic: A Mixed Bag(Or Padded Mailer) Review From A Happy Customer”

This week’s recap has me thinking it’s time to focus on acquiring some new lighters.

Blemished Park Lighter

At the beginning of the week, I was just wrapping up a four video series looking at and comparing four vintage Park Industries slim flip-top petrol lighters. I’m not sure the audience enjoyed the subject matter as much as I did but I think it is fascinating to look at all the varieties and component options available from just this one segment of the Park catalog.

I don’t have any real Park lighter ephemera other than a few boxes and a handful of the guarantee papers that typically came along with them. I have Continue reading “Vintage Lighter Diaries Vol. 8: Tinkering With Some Old Favorites As We Await Some Zippo Repairs”

As I shift away from accepting lighters through the mail for repair, this article will enumerate some of the reasons. I share my thinking on the matter as our mission at DependableFlame.com continues to evolve. Our goal has always been to help folks get their petrol lighters back up and working again, the only question is how best to achieve that.

I Want To Help

I was a rudderless ship when the foundations of DependableFlame.com were being built. I have been somewhat coy about it in the past and it’s not for theater or hijinx. If I thought I knew what I was doing then, the facts wouldn’t bear that out. I was broken and foundering and grasping for anything that might possibly give me footing.

I had some ideas about what I was doing and where I might be going with it. You might even be able to say the basic framework hasn’t changed at all since our very inception. Our focus, however, has changed often. Continue reading “Why I No Longer Repair Other People’s Lighters”

As spring settles in I learn a lesson or two this week that will hopefully be useful in the future.

Valuing Old Lighters

Joining another Facebook lighter group over the weekend, the number of questions I was subjected to seemed ridiculous. I can only assume this particular group has been inundated with the same questions constantly which I understand all too well can be exhausting.

It’s sort of how I feel answering questions about butane lighters. I want to help. I have also made myself clear about what I do and don’t and I absolutely DO NOT Continue reading “Vintage Lighter Diaries Vol. 7: Proper Planning And Something I Haven’t Seen Before”

A look back at some of our older videos reveals an obvious evolution as new friends inspire growth I hadn’t previously considered.

Looking The Part

Nostalgic images are always popular. Taboo subjects can be appealing as well. I put much thought into the images and themes going on in the background of the YouTube videos we produce at DependableFlame.

They are designed to elicit certain emotions or reactions. To transport the viewer, if only for a moment, to a different time or Continue reading “Vintage Lighter Diaries Vol. 6: Making Friends As The YouTube Channel Evolves”

One of the first articles I ever wrote for this website was about a Park Industries lighter made in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I didn’t know much about them back then and was mildly impressed but have since come to believe the older Park lighters made in Springfield, Illinois are legitimate hidden gems in the cigarette lighter hobby, both for collecting and putting to use.

Upon Further Review

My first encounter with a Park lighter was a brand new slim model with scotch whiskey advertising printed on the case. The lighter

was still in the box with the original paperwork but the flint had degraded and clogged up the flint tube.

I was pretty green at the time and somewhat ignorant of how the “hobby” would view the condition of the lighter. Considering a tool had been employed upon it, I reasoned the lighter as no longer “new” so filled and lit it up! Today I would have simply noted the repair, left it unfueled and conditionally sold it as Continue reading “Are Storm King And Park Industries Petrol Lighters The Same Quality As Zippos?”

With spring surely breathing down our necks, work continues at DependableFlame as a friendly arrival or two remind us where we’ve been and offer a glimpse to where we’re headed.

The Chicken Or The Egg?

My affinity for Cygnus petrol lighters leads to many long searches and rabbit holes. With the majority that I have owned having been purchased unidentified in a group of a few or many lighters, they aren’t easy or many to come by. Oh sure, you can hop on Ebay any day and pay a premium for a few interesting designs or models that someone else found but if you really want to find the interesting lighters before all the other collectors, you need to find them before someone else who knows or has the wherewithal to figure out what they really have.

Visual recognition plays a huge role as one painstakingly sifts Continue reading “Vintage Lighter Diaries Vol. 5: Seeing Cygnus In The Shadows & Making Friends On the Internet”

Historically, The Zippo Manufacturing Company may have been hesitant to highlight the cannabis plant and at times, it still seems the word may be viewed as somewhat taboo but a handful of new designs for 2022 gives “leaf” lovers plenty to shop for.

Delivered To My Inbox

If you’ve ever been to the Zippo website, like many other sites you were probably greeted with the opportunity to supply them your email. I think the first time I was presented with this option, there was a discount offered on your first order from the site.

The discount is a nice enough enticement but if you are a Zippo fan then buckle up and get ready because let me tell you, they have a lot more going on with their email list than just some paltry one time discount! Be prepared to receive a steady flow of emails chock-full of your favorite collectible lighter and news about special events, new releases, and limited Continue reading “Marijuana Leaf Design Zippo Windproof Lighters: Then And Now”

From an item I have had in my possession since at least the 1980s to some others more recently acquired, accumulated relics can be difficult to categorize.

Family Heirlooms

The Leavens Manufacturing Company watch fob advertising CATERPILLAR and the Hoover Equipment Company of Oklahoma City, Altus and Woodward is an item I am glad to display along with some related lighters and other paraphernalia that are linked to and remind me of precious family members, many whom have now passed.

My Uncle Dave(my Dad’s brother, closest to him both in age and life) gave me the watch fob some time during my adolescence and I have treasured it Continue reading “Vintage Lighter Diaries Vol. 4: Heirlooms And Hidden Treasures”