How a Zippo Armor lighter should have been made

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers
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I decided to look for a replacement for my old zippo lighter and having heard of the new (to me) armor range I thought I would check them out.

On first look I thought great I’ll have one of them but then I remembered about the zippo’s weakest link – the hinge.
After searching various reviews it came to ‘light’ that although the cases are are made of thicker sterner stuff, the hinges are not

Major fail there in my opinion.

I like petrol lighters, always have used them so my search continued until I found these on AE.

Zorro War Armor lighter.

I got the stonewashed brass version.

I just thought wow, that looks like real quality and just what I’m looking for regarding the enhanced hinge & body, not much chance of breaking that unless I mean to.

What also caught my attention was the case appears to be CNC machined from a solid block and has a raised lip on the body which fits nicely into the lid so no more misaligned top & bottom, a pet hate of mine with zippo lighters.

It has a groove in the lip to seat a rubber o-ring to seal and help stop evaporating fluid. (comes with spare o-rings)
These are the same price I would have to pay for a quality zippo here.

It is a fair chunck of brass, larger and a lot heavier at 150g versus the zippo’s 55g but very nice.

I put a little JB weld in the hinge cut out to stop the lid flipping too far open.

Compared to brass Zippo.

Compatible with gas inserts.

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Titanium Version.

I really like the design of these so I also bought a Titanium version with Ti fuel tank which I have been carrying with no real sign of any wear after prolonged use.
The fuel tank works great by not letting the fuel evaporate.

This weighs 109g all in.

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Plasma-X

Couldn’t help buying one of these too, a Plasma-X lighter to play with, I really like this too.
I modified this to turn on when the lid is opened which is cool but I’ve zapped myself a couple of times when using it, gives a fair little belt – might be able to stun a spider or something with it

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Isn’t it dangerous to cross the streams?

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:laughing:

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Do you have a link to the plasma lighter? Looks interesting…

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That one is the Elementium Plazmatic X

There are lots of different cheaper types, search double arc lighter

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AE says it can’t be sent to the USA. Bummer.

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The plasma lighter is sweet, what batt powers it, guess I could hit the link and find out for myself lol

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It’s a little 250mAh lipo. I had it to bits and potted all the internals with silicone in case i drop it in a puddle. :wink:

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You didn’t happen to take any pictures while you had it apart?

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Although I am not a smoker, i am thinking of getting one just to light up birthday candles.

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The link looks choss……

Can’t see your pics as the works PC somehow doesn’t allow most photo’s on BLF to be shown but I’ll check it out at home later.

Wish I actually needed a lighter……

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Hi CRX, thanks for taking time to publish your post about that Zorro lighter.
Can you please tell me if you can.
Is the lighter insert made from real brass, or is it plated brass?

Reason being, I have been searching for a real brass insert for a costom brass Zippo like lighter of mine.
The original Zippo brass insert are not brass, they are plated brass.
If the insert in the zorro is brass, I will buy one for the insert and if the body is also real brass I will by 2 then engrave to it.

Please let me know.
Kind regards

Here is a pic of my costom lighter.

[Album] imgur.com

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Ah, the constantine, nice.

The zorro insert does seem to be coated brass although I cannot say 100%.
It is non magnetic and brass coloured under the coating, i scratched some off for a look.

Right click, view for larger image

The brass zorro war armor is a nicely made solid heavy lighter, too heavy for some but you’ll be used to that carrying the constantine replica. I carry the Ti version war armor.

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Ohh my. Sorry to make you sand your insert.
I am truly happy it does looks like brass.
I’ve been searching for a brass insert for many years now.
Thanks very much for your help.
I’m now off to buy 2.
Thanks again.
Yep’ I like them heavy, the weight serve as a nice lil defensive tool if someone tries to mug me here in London. save by the heavy lighters.
Regards

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Another marvelous mod CRX.

I always enjoy your thread s and mods.thank you for sharing them.

Bob

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I don’t smoke, never have, but I do love lighters. I have several including 3 Zippo Armor Lighters. I think they’re great except for the weak hinge. Since I’m careful with them, it really hasn’t been a problem for me. That said, I wish Zippo would improve them.

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I’ve purchased several zippos in recent years for gifts and for myself. I got lucky and found two solid copper at local smoke shops where I buy tobacco and tubes. Both marked B 09 (Feb 2009) purchased in 2012, one showed signs of handling which is used regularly and the other pristine in the box. I’m amazed by the prices copper zippos are going for on ebay and consider myself fortunate to have found them. Anyway, I agree about the hinge being the weak link. No problems with the ones I’ve purchased except for a Blu 2 that won’t stay closed properly. It’s going back to zippo if I can’t resolve it myself.

I wish they had made a solid copper armor lighter.

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Yeah the hinges on mine always wear both from the inside pin and from the outside, I used to install ever increasing diameter pins until the hinge failed completely after a couple of years of 20-30 operations per day.
The warranty is good if you live in the US but not really worth it living elsewhere.

I was in a club once with a well used zippo and a girl came up to me, asked for a light then asked if she could do a couple of tricks, (with the lighter) she was cute so I said sure.
Next thing the lid of the lighter is on the floor with the rest still in her hand. I got her number… :smiley:

The copper zippo’s look nice, I always fancied a Titanium version, which is what led me to my EDC lighter today, very happy with that instead.

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As much as I like Zippo’s, they are bad luck for me. Every one I’ve bought or been given, which is at least 2 dozen, has disappeared within 2 months of my getting it. And I don’t lose things ever, nor do I forget to get my lighter back when someone borrows it. I don’t set them down. they stay in pocket if they are not in my hand. I’ve lost them on jobs where nobody else was around and I back-tracked and searched an hour for a lighter I just had 15 minutes before I noticed the loss to no avail- once they go they’re gone forever with me. They evaporate as if they had never existed :frowning:

I’ve learned to accept fate- there’s no point in fighting a lost war and I have nothing to prove to anyone pushing me into that. I’m not destined to have a Zippo no matter how much I want one. So be it. May your luck be better than mine :smiley:

Phil

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https://www.goldundmesserschmiede.de/gear/zippos/
Those look very nice too but I don`t smoke anymore :slight_smile: