Thoughts? Soto Pocket Torch

Saw this, Thought I'd post it up for ridicule



REI : Soto Pocket Torch

While IDK about how "clean" the butane in a .50 cent lighter might be to light a gar with, I do on occasion like to start other fires, as well as light the grill and go camping of course...

Thought I'd post this up and see what you guys might think about them? how safe do you think it is to have a "torch attachment" to a .02 cent gas station lighter?

do you think they are Bic compatible?

[The Poet]

Hmmm. Interesting. I don't know how it works, or if it can "upgrade" a cheap drugstore lighter into an actual torch, but I will say that, unlike too many torches, a cheap drugstore lighter is a reliable source of flame that doesn't die until it's dead.

Hell, I likely have close to 50 useless torches stuck in drawers somewhere.

Oh, and good morning Rob.

[the nub]

looks like a more compact version of the Solder-It torch that a lot of Canadian gusy used to use. If the mechanism is dependable, then it would be worth a look depending on price. It's a great idea for travelling when you can't bring a can of butane. Buy extra refills and you are good to go for a long while.

BTW nothing wrong with the butane in a gas station lighter.

Originally Posted by the nub

BTW nothing wrong with the butane in a gas station lighter.

can anyone scientifically put this to rest once and for all please? I have heard both... and with the added x3 or more filtering some offer I wonder if its worth it or im am paying more for nothing?

[ky70]

Originally Posted by the nub

BTW nothing wrong with the butane in a gas station lighter.

Originally Posted by Robulous78

can anyone scientifically put this to rest once and for all please? I have heard both... and with the added x3 or more filtering some offer I wonder if its worth it or im am paying more for nothing?

Not scientifically, but I can share my personal experience (I have gone through dozens of butane lighters with many different butane fuels over the past 14 years).

Some of my lighters do not care what butane you feed them. For instance my Ronson lighters and the Power lighter pictured above will run on anything. So fuel quality doesn't much matter for them (that I have noticed).

Now my non-cheap lighters do not play well with the cheap fuel, in fact, they weren't playing well with good fuel. I noted a definite difference between the best fuels and everything else. I recently was half way through a can of xikar fuel. The xikar was fine for several months but then I started noticing some performance issues (lower flame heights, not lighting as consistently) with several of my lighters...so much so that I ordered a can of Vector fuel (old reliable) as I started to suspect the xikar butane may have been the issue.

The below pics show lighters (set at the same hi flame levels) on both fuels. After xikar fuel was bled out, vector fuel was pumped in and after about a 2 minute wait, the lighters were fired up (without adjusting flame height). I have more comparison pics with other lighters but these 4 pics tell the story good enough.

[the nub]

Originally Posted by ky70

Not scientifically, but I can share my personal experience

thanks for the side by side comparison pics.


FWIW my comment was regarding the suitability and affects on a cigar and it's taste

[jledou]

I am wondering about this for flying?

You can take disposable lighters on the planes and then with this attachment... thoughts?

[Dude Here]

Hmmmm, those are the lighters that you can pop the flame adjusters off of to make the crack torches. Wonder if the huge flame would shoot out of the attachment?

[The Poet]

For those who didn't click the link, it says it fits rectangular lighters and not "round" ones such as Bic. Out of 68 listed reviewers, 43 said it was easy to use, 35 said functional, and 10 said easy to set up. But 5 said it was difficult to use, and 19 said it doesn't work.

Before shipping (free with $50 order) it runs $19.95. Add in some coin for the lighter . . . hmmm, I can buy 4 Jetlites for that.

As I said earlier, interesting. Worthwhile? Your call.

appreciate the input Thomas, and now that someone brought up the airport question I am interested in the answer...

[ky70]

I think you'd be better off just grabbing a cheap "Power" jet torch lighter from Ebay.

This torch has the best torch flame I've seen (I have over 25 torch lighters), has a huge fuel tank, runs on any fuel AND you have the ability to lock the flame on to use this lighter as an actual torch.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by ky70

I think you'd be better off just grabbing a cheap "Power" jet torch lighter from Ebay.

For what you pay for one of those on eBay, you can get five of them delivered from Hong Kong. Make sure you use the "bulkrate" code.

http://dx.com/p/jet-1300-c-butane-lighter-1320

[AdamJoshua]

Originally Posted by T.G

For what you pay for one of those on eBay, you can get five of them delivered from Hong Kong. Make sure you use the "bulkrate" code.

http://dx.com/p/jet-1300-c-butane-lighter-1320

Thanks for this link, my secret santa hit me with one of these and quickly has become my go to lighter and has a large enough reserve to where it's perfect for large herfs.

Will be ordering.

Edit: Damn there a lot of cool "cheap" little dodads on that site, it's like the devil site of cool crap, that being said I probably won't be ordering a knockoff iPhone charger from them

[T.G]

Originally Posted by AdamJoshua

Edit: Damn there a lot of cool "cheap" little dodads on that site, it's like the devil site of cool little crap.

Yeah, and sometimes a few of them even work on arrival.

[AdamJoshua]

Originally Posted by T.G

Yeah, and sometimes a few of them even work on arrival.

A friend here has a "smart stand" for the iphone, it was a kickstarter project, mass produced in China, they have the exact same stand on that site, minus the name printed on it, for about 1/10th the kickstarter price, looks like they are pretty fast on the ripoffs.

[ky70]

Originally Posted by T.G

Yeah, and sometimes a few of them even work on arrival.

LOL! Well said.

[ky70]

Originally Posted by T.G

For what you pay for one of those on eBay, you can get five of them delivered from Hong Kong. Make sure you use the "bulkrate" code.

http://dx.com/p/jet-1300-c-butane-lighter-1320

If time is no issue, DX will be tough to beat on price. But I got my couple from ebay for around $4 each as I was willing to pay a $1 or 2 more since I wanted the lighters within the week and DX shipping can take a month or more.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by ky70

If time is no issue, DX will be tough to beat on price. But I got my couple from ebay for around $4 each as I was willing to pay a $1 or 2 more since I wanted the lighters within the week and DX shipping can take a month or more.

$4-5 isn't bad, when I looked on eBay a minute ago, all I saw was some sellers trying to get $14.95 (but it comes with FREE shipping!) for one. But I'll also admit, I didn't look too hard.

Yeah, DX packages do take time.

[AdamJoshua]

Originally Posted by T.G

$4-5 isn't bad, when I looked on eBay a minute ago, all I saw was some sellers trying to get $14.95 (but it comes with FREE shipping!) for one. But I'll also admit, I didn't look too hard.

Yeah, DX packages do take time.

There is a local artist that had some "art" on ebay, I believe the bidding started at $1, the shipping and handling was $800, it takes all kinds.

[T.G]

I had an ECO brand version for years. Overall, they work fine, but don't deliver as strong of a flame as a dedicated torch lighter.

How they work is that the top half has a collar/piece of hose that self-aligns and fits over the nozzle on the lighter when you snap the halves together, this hose carries the gas to the torch head. The trigger lever on the outer shell pushes down on the trigger of the lighter to dispense gas and sparks a piezoelectric at the torch head. The spark wheel is not used, in fact, the refillable cartridge that comes with some of them won't even have a spark wheel.

The ECO, and from the looks of it, the one posted also, only take flat scripto-style lighters and won't hold a bic. Also, you have to disassemble the outer shell to make adjustments to the flame height lever on the lighter.

As for air travel, according to a friend who is a chief mechanic at American Air, the reason you can't have torches on a plane isn't the gas, it's the high temperature flame and "welding" capability, so it's anyone's guess how TSA will react to one of these if they recognize it.