Bushwalk Australia

A friend is not able to use a cigarette lighter with arthritic fingers, and on her last walk, found that the quality of Redhead matches has gone down the toilet. It took her about 8 matches each time, with half the (now smaller) head breaking off on the striking surface of the box, sticking to it, and burning that, while not igniting the actual match. Soon destroys the striking surface.

Soooo, I'm looking for a handheld piezo igniter that's cheaper than the MSR $17+ one, but still smallish and not too heavy. I used one for a while, but it was less reliable than I hoped, and ended up giving up on it. If there's a cheaper one out there that's at least as good as the MSR one, I'd love to hear where I can get one. A couple I found from China are cheap, but there's no indication of size & weight - I imagine neither is very good, as it's not marketed to bushwalkers.

Failing that, is there a good brand of ordinary matches these days? I'm not keen on the super-dooper all weather, burn for ages matches, which are generally overkill for the need.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Not so compact but what about the gas lighters used for BBQs?
https://www.bunnings.com.au/firemate-fl ... r_p3180329
Not so hard for funny fingers

Readily available are cheap push button (ie piezo) disposable lighters. This one is about as long as my thumb. If you can drive a match (or msr igniter), you can drive these.

Moondog55 wrote:Not so compact but what about the gas lighters used for BBQs?
https://www.bunnings.com.au/firemate-fl ... r_p3180329
Not so hard for funny fingers

Thanks, MD. Price and mechanism are right, and they look smaller than the one I got for car camping. I suspect still too bulky and heavy, but I'll take a look.

bernieq wrote:Readily available are cheap push button (ie piezo) disposable lighters. This one is about as long as my thumb. If you can drive a match (or msr igniter), you can drive these.

Thanks, Bernie. Never seen those. Wonder if they've made it to Tassie?! Will definitely check that out.

I have kept my eyes open looking for the peizo version but they have eluded me.

Another possibility is to remove the curved metal arch that sits between knurled bit that you rotate with you finger. This I believe is meant to be a safety thing but I find lighters are much easier to use if it is removed especially with cold hands. I pry up the two thin bit on the guard around the jet. Once the bent end of the metal arch is free bend it a bit so it sits high enough to get a grip on it and then pull up. It will pull the tiny barb on the arch free of the plastic and out it will come. Then push the thin flaps back into position. The image below may make more sense.

I think I bought them from a supermarket - either in Victoria or in NZ.

Search 'clic disposable lighter'.

Kovea is the OEM for the MSR lighter, so not that its helpful, but just so you have an idea should one come up.

A small firesteel will light most stoves, outside of kero. The key is a good striker, the ones from firesteel.com are the best, although its the sort of thing that you kinda need to amortize shipping over a bunch of items. Two handed is a plus and minus.

The Sparklite is basically the guts of a bic, but they are small so arthritis would make them hard to use. Plus, around the same price as the MSR.

I'd try to get some clic lighters, two mini ones wouldn't weigh much.

Try the local tobacconist for the piezo mini bic lighters if you have one.

Waterproof/windproof matches, available from camping shops, light easily and burn fiercely. The downside is that you can't blow them out, you need to hold them until they go out by themselves (or plunge them in water). I certainly wouldn't want to drop one on any of my gear.

I'm beginning to have problems with my own hands, work related damage + old age; and a miniBIC is almost impossible for me now but if I take off that childproof spring I have no trouble with a normal BIC butane lighter. Almost everybody I know who uses a BIC removes that silly spring