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Silva Helios windproof lighter

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 6:28 pm
by corvus
As mentioned in previous posts I am a bit of a gear freak so I would like to share this one with eveyone.
Just Google the above and check out the best lighter you will ever use bushwalking which you can refill from your left over cannister gas using the kathmandu fill adaptor.
corvus

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 6:42 pm
by Joe
do you have one? Are they as good as they are talked up to be? Can you flick that cover on the top open using one handed click method used with zippos? (as seen done by james dean) 8)

I have a flick a bic in my first aid kit and a half empty pack of redheads...generally unused. The self ignitor on the kovea never fails and elsewhere (ie huts) the flic a bic suffices :)

Helios lighter

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 7:19 pm
by corvus
We have two one from USA marketed by Brunton and the Silva yes they are as good as the hype :) and really touchy feely clicky onny :D

Blasphemy only a ZIPPO does this I could snap my fingers and flick and ignight my Zippo as cool as JD 8) still have the origional one I bought 43 years ago ,had the guts replaced under lifetime warranty about 5 years ago and it still rocks but no good for long walks as they dry up :(

Told you I was a gear freak just wait for my next post :)

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 7:36 pm
by Joe
Yeah I love my zippo too (throwback from my smoking days) its in the shed somewhere. Every kid should have one.

What makes the silva stand out from the usual crowd of butane fired refillable windproofs (the mini blowtorch kind i mean)?

I reckon you should post your next gear related thread in the equipment forum though...i have a feeling this one will get moved as soon as a mod realizes it exists ;)

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 7:55 pm
by tasadam
OK, a bit of searching has been done.

Here is a big photo of the lighter you mention...

Below is an offer to anyone that might be interested in purchasing a rip-off of the original for what is likely to be around $10... Read on!

The most expensive I found - Here...

EDIT, er, no,hereis a more expensive one - $220 if you can believe that!

The cheapest I could find in Australia -

Here they have it for $39.95 but they are out of stock.

Here, same, but out of stock...

Here they have one for the same price but $5.00 freight

Here's the same one, from the same store, but $7 freight

Here's one from the UK - cheaper, but not to Australia...

Here's another from the UK but the freight is £6.50 which is a bit much

This one looks the same as the rip-off one at the bottom but twice the price... Still cheap.

Here's a different one again...

And, finally, the cheapest... with an offer.
Here is a rip-off of the original at a fraction of the price, I have sent them a message to ask how much for freight.
If there is enough interest, I may do a bulk purchase for anyone that expresses interest so PM or email me.

Lastly, I found these.
They look like they'd be good in the first aid case or something...
So if I can get 9 other people to spend about $13.50, depending on exchange rate, I will do an order of 10 on these. Delivery, well, you can collect at Devonport, or I can post at cost to other areas. Again, PM or email me.

Of course, you are welcome to use this info to get one yourself...

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 8:11 pm
by tasadam
taswaterfalls.com wrote:i have a feeling this one will get moved as soon as a mod realizes it exists ;)
Done...

Helios lighter

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 8:26 pm
by corvus
Meant to post in the equipment page but old age jumped in and I used the wrong one :oops:
Helios stands out for many reasons as stated in their sales blurbs but they are really well made with a" gear freaky "design, the Brunton model is slightly different to the Silva which costs less ,it wont last as long as a Zippo but will get a lot less use as I dont smoke now.

Helios Lighter

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 8:45 pm
by corvus
Bought the Silva from http://www.boatingstore.com.au total price paid $36.25

Re: Helios Lighter

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 8:50 pm
by tasadam
corvus wrote:Bought the Silva from http://www.boatingstore.com.au total price paid $36.25
I was close...
That's where I found the link to the big picture but I didn't locate their price...

Helios Lighter

PostPosted: Tue 23 Oct, 2007 8:55 pm
by corvus
Gone up a tad since I bought mine but still the cheapest in Australia

PostPosted: Wed 24 Oct, 2007 9:29 am
by Penguin
Got to get one of these lighters. Tried the cheaper butane refillable with high temp flame but does not work well in teh cold and hard to refill - only $7.50 though and widely available as they are used for some illegal activities. How easy are they to refill?

PostPosted: Thu 25 Oct, 2007 7:37 am
by Joe
that mini zippo is great. It and one of the survival kits he sells with them would be great for the first aid kit. The flint wheel looks a bit small for the old JD click-flick-light trick though...which would be the only reason i would get one :lol:

who can argue with this logic:

ebay seller wrote:In fact, with one of my emergency lighters, and one of these newfangled canisters, plus the extra flints and gaskets, I estimate that you could start fires for more than a million billion years - (yes, that's million billion with an "m" and a "b")

Helios Lighter

PostPosted: Fri 26 Oct, 2007 12:39 pm
by corvus
Penguin wrote:Got to get one of these lighters. Tried the cheaper butane refillable with high temp flame but does not work well in teh cold and hard to refill - only $7.50 though and widely available as they are used for some illegal activities. How easy are they to refill?



They are really easy to refill

PostPosted: Mon 12 Nov, 2007 8:54 pm
by Penguin
Just bought the helios lighter. Very happy with it. Good heat in flame and will light in fair wind.

PostPosted: Mon 12 Nov, 2007 9:00 pm
by tasadam
tasadam wrote:...If there is enough interest, I may do a bulk purchase for anyone that expresses interest so PM or email me.
.......
So if I can get 9 other people to spend about $13.50, depending on exchange rate, I will do an order of 10 on these. Delivery, well, you can collect at Devonport, or I can post at cost to other areas. Again, PM or email me.

Only one other interested, so I have decided not to go ahead with the bulk purchase.
Cheers!

PostPosted: Tue 13 Nov, 2007 11:11 am
by walkinTas
Before long you will be able to tell a "Bushwalk Tasmania" forum member by the gear they carry - I bought a lighter, and they are good.

PostPosted: Tue 13 Nov, 2007 11:43 am
by walkinTas
Son of a Beach wrote:Would be a shame if two forum members met up on a track, said a casual "g'day, how are ya?", then kept walking without knowing they'd just met another forum member. We gotta have some way of knowing who each other are, but everyone using the same lighter might not be enough.


Yes, I would think "g'day, how are ya? Can I see your lighter?" would be more at home at a pyromaniacs convention. Maybe we could make Taswaterfalls happy by issuing everyone with a bright yellow Legionnaires hat!

PostPosted: Tue 13 Nov, 2007 2:58 pm
by Son of a Beach
I've split off the discussion about badges, hats, T-shirts to a new topic in the 'Forum Forum'

(But I stuffed up the split, so one of my own posts is missing and another remains here that should have gone... never mind... you get the idea).