Zippo : I Don't Have Lighter Fluid...What Else Can I Use?

[patangan]

who has lamp oil, but not lighter fluid

[twistdshade]

The smoke you're seeing is essentially vaporized lamp oil. The vapor ignites easily, the liquid has a lower flash point, so it won't ignite when it's cool. Cool trick: light a candle, blow it out, you can light the smoke, and it will trail all the way down to the wick to re-ignite it.

[SINxWARLORD]

Soldiers used to tie shoe strings around their lighter and dip them into gas tanks (of military vehicles) to refill their zippos. I've tried gas and it works just fine.

[asmodeus]

"No reason to be that impatient"
-Me at 3 am, with half a pack of luckies, and my zippo running out of fuel disagrees strongly with that statement xD

[TheInfiniteMag]

The reason people ask is because 90% of people watching this are teens who can’t get lighter fluid

[WitchidWitchid]

Lamp oil (i.e. kerosene) is no good in a Zippo type lighter. It it not volatile enough and has too low a flash point.  You need a lighter petroleum distillate with a  high flash point. I just use ordinary naphtha. It's the exact same thing as "lighter fluid" but you get a lot more for less money.

[bakerboy]

How to clean out inserts for Zippo / wick lighters

Step one: Open lid of lighter case
Step two: Remove oil soaked insert
Step three: Remove flint screw and flint
Step four: Remove fill lid
Step five: Remove and discard oil soaked fiber fill with tweezers or any small pointed object and check wick
Step six: Completely clean insert with cotton ball
Step seven: Shred 3-4 cotton balls and replace fiber fill
Step eight: Reverse engineer steps 1-4 to assemble lighter again
Step nine: Fill with fuel of choice. I use Coleman camp fuel with good results.

There you have it. Now instead of saying that the insert is useless and can never be used again with anything but oil, you now essentially have a new lighter.

[mountaingamer]

Why would you use alcohol or lamp oil anyways? If you're trying to save money go to the hardware store and buy a gallon tank of Naphtha for less than $10.00.. And it will work just fine in your Zippo lighter because IT IS lighter fluid.. the exact same stuff they sell you in tiny 4oz or 12 oz bottles. Only the gallon jug is going to be marketed as "Paint Stripper" but it's the same but people just don't know that anymore because they've gotten used to buying the brand name containers that are sold and marketed for that one specific purpose.. Just like many brands of solid drain cleaner are simply lye... for the price of a few tiny bottles of "Drain Cleaner" you could have bought a 5 gal bucket of it.. But people just don't remember what it actually is, They don't know so they go to the store and buy the product specifically marketed for that one purpose they intend to use it for.

[lokiofspirit]

The reason it lights irregularly is because the flash point of lamp oil is higher than that of lighter fluid. This means that sparks alone do not generate enough heat that lamp oil vapours ignite, but the heat of an actual flame will light it.

Edit: I have a feeling something with high enough alcohol content would light in a Zippo

[meaneydanielp]

Congratulations! You made the worlds smallest oil lamp.

[TesserLink]

btw i just found out you can use the flint from disposable lighters for the zippo

[vitopetre]

Nice idea! Thanks Jeff!

When I was still in school and some of my classmates started to have lighters to play around with, all the guys that had zippos were just using gasoline or white gas for their zippos (I never did that because zippos always smell so strong - until now I stick to gas lighters...) - only years later I realized that there is something like "lighter fluid".

The lamp oil doesn't work because it doesn't evaporate quick enough (unlike gasoline-like fluids)!

[Hobypyrocom]

in zippo you light the fluid fumes, lamp oil have higher temperature of evaporation and thats why will not work in zippo, you got it working only after you heated the wick with the match and you close the lid and when you open it the wick is still worm thats why its working... leave the wick to cool off and you would not be able to light it without match...

[mariovidmar]

You could use mixuature of ethanol (rubing alcohol and /or acetone ), pretty much anything flammable to spark with that oil lamp to stop evaporated alcohol to quickly Ive personally used rubbing alcohol and acetone mixuature in my Zippo when I've been out of lighter fluid .

[beerdrinker]

Go to a paint supply store and buy a can of NAPTHA, it is all that Zippo, Ronson and other lighter fluids are. Get a gallon for almost the same cost as a large bottle of licensed lighter fluid.

[Brandywine]

I guess as long as you have matches, it would work great.

[jheetman]

zippo fluid is primarily naptha, I used to be able to get it from my old job where we used it as an industrial solvent. I ran it in all my lighters and it worked as good as any store bought wick lighter fluid.

[rednecksasquatch]

I myself have used denatured alcohol in a Zippo that has previously been used with lighter fluid and has suffered no ill effects for the past 4 years, and I have switched between the two fluids. When I run out of regular lighter fluid I just add the denatured alcohol (this usually happens while I am out in the woods and do not have access to lighter fluid) since the stove I use is the triangia. 
I also saw an episode of man woman vs. wild where Mykel Hawk used 100 proof vodka to power a Zippo lighter. So I believe if it is flammable enough and burns clean enough that  you should be ok but these are my experiences and you should take care and be careful no matter what  you decide to do.

[dstrappazon]

Whenever I was out of Zippo fluid at the house I would use charcoal lighter fluid. It burned pretty good but sometimes it took a little extra when striking the lighter. It was pretty great because for the price you would get like 10 times more fluid. But again I only used it when I absolutely had to.

[DinnerForkTongue]

Hey, I do live in a city with no availability of lighter fluid (when we do find it, it's 30 coin a can). Not all of us live in the US, you know.