Meiruby Lighters

What Meiruby makes for hunters and campers

On this site, Meiruby is one type of gear, lighters, split into two families that work in completely different ways:

• Electric arc candle lighters: long necks, a USB-rechargeable battery, no fuel
• Butane torch lighters: a blue jet flame, most with a refillable tank, in several body styles

That split is the most useful thing to know about the brand. An arc lighter makes a tiny bridge of electricity at its tip and lights only what touches it. A torch lighter burns butane and pushes the flame out past the nozzle. One is a reaching tool for wicks and burners. The other is a fire-ring tool.

The specs on this page come from the Amazon listings, and the grid marks them. Where a listing leaves a field out, I leave it out too.

Meiruby lineup notes: arc candle lighters

The USB Arc Candle Lighter

This is the Meiruby model most people have seen in a gift bag. The listings describe an electric arc, a rechargeable battery and the long neck of a candle lighter. It comes in several finishes, plus a variant the listing calls "small and slim", which matters if the lighter has to fit in a narrow kitchen drawer rather than a camp box.

At deer camp, a long neck earns its keep in three places: the wick of an oil lantern behind its glass, a stove burner you'd rather not lean over, and the pilot on an old cabin heater. It's not a pocket lighter. A long neck in a coat pocket is a long neck that pokes you every time you sit down.

The LED Electric Arc Candle Lighter

Same idea, same fuel type, same rechargeable battery, per its listing, with one addition the listing names in its title: an LED light. A small light at the business end helps when you're hunting for a burner in a dark stove box at 5 a.m. Walt asked why a lighter needs its own light. Then he dropped the stove knob in the dark, and the question went away.

The listing doesn't give lights per charge, charging time or a water rating, so I won't either.

The electric lighter page compares arc lighters across brands.

Meiruby lineup notes: butane torch lighters

The torch side of the Meiruby lineup is the larger part of the grid. All of them list a torch or jet flame. Most list a refillable tank.

Lightsaber torch lighters, full size and mini

The Lightsaber Torch Lighter listings describe a butane jet flame in a long, tube-shaped body. The Mini Lightsaber Torch Lighter comes as a 2-pack and adds two details in its listing: a refillable tank and a visual window, a small clear panel that shows how much fuel is left. That window is the feature I'd look for first on any torch. It turns "is it empty?" from a guess into a glance.

The mini listing also says it ships without fuel. Buy the butane can in the same order, or the first night at camp you own a nice-looking tube.

Torch Lighter with Safety Lock

Four listings, four colors: gray, black, red and blue. Each lists a refillable torch, and the listing titles call it a kitchen tool with a safety lock. That's the closest thing in the Meiruby lineup to a plain utility torch.

Color is a real spec at camp, whatever the listing thinks. Gray and black blend into a cluttered stove box; red and blue jump out of it when you open the lid in the dark.

5-in-1 Butane Torch Lighter

The 5-in-1 lists a refillable butane jet flame, and its listing names four extra tools built into the body: a V-cutter, a punch, a holder and a draw tool. The grid flags the punch. Those extras are aimed at a hobby other than deer camp, so for hunters the part that counts is the torch itself and the refillable tank.

Shake Ignition Jet Lighters

The Shake Ignition listing describes refillable butane jet lighters that light by a shake rather than a button, with an RGB light, the color-changing kind. The listing says fuel isn't included.

It's the most gift-shaped thing in the lineup, and it's the one I'd keep farthest from small hands. More on that below.

How to choose inside the Meiruby lineup

Pick arc or butane by what you light

This choice settles most of the grid in one step.

• Lantern wicks, candles, stove burners: the long-necked arc models reach them without your knuckles following
• Fire starter cubes, a twist of dry tinder you can lift: arc or torch both work
• Kindling stacked in a fire ring: a torch, because the flame reaches under the stack
• A cold, damp morning: a torch you've kept warm, or a battery-free backup

The torch lighters page covers jet counts and flame types across brands, and the best torch lighter list shows how the site picks among them.

Check the fuel side before the looks

For the torches, read three things in the listing: refillable or not, fuel included or not, and whether there's a window to see the tank. The refillable butane lighter page explains why a refillable tank changes how long a lighter stays in your kit.

Count the lighters you need, then add one

One for the fire kit, one for the stove box. That's the minimum for a camp with a wood fire and a gas stove. A 2-pack covers it. A third lighter lives in the truck, so the walk back to the cabin for a forgotten one turns into a walk to the tailgate. (I have made the long walk. Twice in one morning.)

Refilling a Meiruby butane torch

Meiruby's own refill steps come with the lighter, and those decide the details for your model. The steps in the care pages of two lighter makers, Colibri and Xikar, line up closely, and they're a good picture of what a refill involves on most torches:

1. Purge first. Hold the lighter upright and press the fill valve with a small screwdriver until the hissing stops, so air and old gas are out.
2. Turn the flame adjuster to the lowest setting.
3. Fill upside down. Press the butane can nozzle firmly onto the valve for about 5 seconds. Xikar says not to shake the can.
4. Wait. Colibri says to wait about 2 minutes, Xikar says 3–4 minutes, so extra butane evaporates and the lighter warms back to room temperature.
5. Set the flame. Turn the adjuster up a little, light it and set the height. Xikar notes that a flame that keeps burning after you let go of the button is set too high.

Fill in a well-ventilated spot, away from heat, sparks and flame, and never light the lighter while you're filling it. Both makers say to use clean, high-quality butane, because poor butane can clog a lighter. A clogged jet in deer camp is a camp with one fewer lighter and one more opinion.

Colibri also says a full tank holds only about 85% liquid, so a small bubble in the fuel window of a full lighter is normal. That's useful to know on a model with a window, like the Mini Lightsaber.

Cold mornings: butane versus battery

Here's where the two Meiruby families split again. Butane boils at 31°F, according to the CDC's NIOSH guide. Below that, a cold butane tank has very little gas pressure, so the flame comes out weak or not at all. Colibri's refill instructions say to warm a lighter in your hand for 10 seconds before lighting it, and the same habit works on a frosty stand morning.

An arc lighter doesn't care about butane, but it has a battery, and batteries have limits too. Zippo lists a design range of -4°F to 120°F for the battery in its own rechargeable candle lighter. Meiruby's listings in the grid don't give a range, so check the manual that comes with yours.

The fix is the same for both: an inside coat pocket, not the dashboard. The truck in November is a refrigerator, and in August it's an oven.

Charging and cleaning the arc models

Treat a Meiruby arc lighter like any small lithium-ion tool. The U.S. Fire Administration's battery tips say:

• Charging temperature: not below 32°F or above 105°F
• Storage: room temperature, out of direct sun and hot cars
• Warning signs: stop using a battery that smells, changes color or shape, leaks, gets very hot or makes odd noises
• Disposal: not in the trash; take it to a battery recycling location

Zippo's instructions for its own rechargeable candle lighter add habits worth borrowing: charge fully before first use, use the cable that came with it, charge at least every three months in storage because batteries slowly lose charge, and stop using a lighter that's been dropped and damaged.

When the arc won't jump between the two tips, Zippo's arc lighter guidance says debris on the electrodes may be the cause. Clear it gently with something non-metallic, such as a toothpick. Switch the lighter off first, and keep metal out of the gap.

A lighter as a gift: what to check before you wrap it

Meiruby writes most of its listings for gift shoppers, so here's my one opinion for this page: a gift torch lighter still belongs in the fire kit, not in a kid's pocket.

The reason is checkable. The U.S. Fire Administration says never to leave lighters or matches where children can reach them, and to keep them locked up and up high. The CPSC's lighter FAQ explains that the child-resistance rule for lighters also covers lighters with features that entertain children, and it names flashing lights and sounds as examples. A lighter with a light show is a lighter a kid wants to pick up. Keep it with the matches, on the high shelf.

For the hunter you're buying for, check three things before you wrap it: arc or butane, whether the butane is included, and whether the long neck fits the way they'll carry it.

Lighting the fire ring

Whichever Meiruby lighter you carry, the fire itself works the same way. The Smokey Bear campfire guide from the USDA Forest Service lays it out:

• Tinder in the middle: small twigs, dry leaves, grass and needles
• Kindling around it: sticks smaller than about an inch around
• Light the tinder with a match or lighter, and never use flammable liquids
• Water, a bucket and a shovel close by before you light anything

A torch goes under the tinder. An arc lighter needs the tinder brought to it. Either way, keep your hand out of the line of the flame and keep the lighter's lock on between uses.

Before a trip that involves a plane, check the TSA's pages: arc lighters ride in carry-on bags only, with the heating element protected from switching on, and torch lighters aren't allowed in either kind of bag. Driving is simpler. Keep the lighter in a closed box, not loose on the seat.

Which Meiruby fits which camp job

• Camp kitchen box: a long-necked arc model for the stove and the lantern wick
• Fire kit: a refillable torch with a fuel window, plus a can of butane
• Gift for a hunter: the plain safety-lock torch in a color you can find in the leaves

Buy the butane with the torch, top up the arc lighter before the drive, and the first fire of the weekend is the easy part. The ice math is still on me.