Fire & Lighting · Best-of list
The best camping lighter is one that keeps working after the first weekend, so this list holds only lighters the maker calls windproof that you can refill or recharge, as the maker or the Amazon listing states. Right now that's two kinds: a rechargeable arc lighter and a refillable wick lighter. Pick the power source first, because that decides your chores at camp. (I'm an electrician. I pick tools by what I can fix in a truck cab with the dome light on.)
How this list is builtWindproof lighters that refill or recharge, as stated by the maker or the Amazon listing.
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| Model | Fuel / ignition | Flame | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|
Black Beard Fire Starter Black Beard Arc LighterLighter More specs
| Electric (arc/plasma)listing | Arclisting | Check price |
Black Beard Fire Starter Black Beard Arc LighterLighter More specs
| Electric (arc/plasma)listing | Arclisting | Check price |
Zippo Classic Black CrackleLighter More specs
| Lighter fluid (wick)listing | Wicklisting | Check price |
Zippo Classic Street ChromeLighter More specs
| Lighter fluid (wick)listing | Wicklisting | Check price |
Good for a Black Beard Arc Lighter that the maker calls windproof and waterproof, rechargeable with an electric arc by the listing.
Skip it if you'd rather carry fuel than remember to charge a battery.
Good for the same Black Beard Arc Lighter on a second listing, windproof and waterproof by the maker, rechargeable per the listing.
Skip it if you want an open flame for a lantern wick or a stove.
Good for a Zippo Classic Black Crackle, a wick lighter Zippo calls windproof, refillable with lighter fluid by the listing.
Skip it if you won't keep fluid, flints and wicks on hand, or you plan to fly with fuel.
Good for the Zippo Classic Street Chrome, the same refillable wick lighter Zippo calls windproof, in a chrome finish.
Skip it if you want a lighter with a waterproof claim; Zippo's data here doesn't make one.
Every lighter on this list does one of two things when it runs low. You refill it, or you recharge it. That's the whole rule, plus one more condition: the maker has to call it windproof. A lighter that does neither ends up in the junk drawer after one season, and a camp lighter that quits in a breeze isn't much of a camp lighter.
Right now four listings qualify, from two brands:
So this page is really a choice between a battery and a can of fluid. Neither one is better. They need different habits, and they quit for different reasons.
Two listings carry the same Black Beard Arc Lighter, and their data matches field for field. The Amazon listing gives the fuel as electric arc (plasma) and says it's rechargeable. The maker calls it windproof and waterproof. It's the only lighter here with a waterproof claim from its maker. There is no flame to set and no fuel to carry. An arc lights what you hold in it, so it suits tinder, a fire starter cube or a candle wick you can reach. For a burner set deep in a stove, an open flame you can tip is easier to aim.
The Zippo Classic Black Crackle is a flip-top wick lighter. The Amazon listing says it runs on lighter fluid and is refillable. Zippo calls it a windproof lighter, and the chimney around the wick is how that kind of lighter is built. It gives you an open flame you can tilt toward a wick or a stove. The trade is upkeep: fluid, flints and wicks are consumables, and Zippo sells all three separately.
The Zippo Classic Street Chrome has the same data as the Black Crackle: wick, lighter fluid, refillable by the listing, windproof by Zippo. The difference is the case finish, not the insert. Pick by which one you'll find faster when it falls in the leaves. (Walt says that's a reason to buy the shiny one. Walt also owns a blaze-orange hat he can't find.)
This is the one decision that matters, and the list makes it easy because each brand sits on one side of it.
Ask yourself which chore you'll actually do. If you charge your phone and headlamp every night anyway, one more cable won't hurt. If your camp has no outlet and the truck is a long walk, a can of fluid is simpler. Walt looked at the arc lighter and said it looked like something he'd have taken off a sophomore in shop class. He then asked if he could try it.
Both makers on this page use the word windproof. That's their claim about their lighter, and it's the reason each one made the list. It doesn't mean wind stops mattering. A wick lighter, per Wikipedia's write-up on lighters, puts a metal enclosure with air holes around the flame, which makes the flame less sensitive to wind. An arc lighter has no flame to blow out; it uses an electric arc to light whatever you put into it. Either way, your tinder is not windproof. Build the fire where Smokey Bear says to, in an open spot without strong gusts, and turn your back to the wind when you light it.
Zippo's own care pages lay out the routine, and it's a short list:
Zippo's troubleshooting page also notes its windproof lighters ship without fuel. Buy the fluid with the lighter, not on the drive up. Wikipedia's lighter article says the closed top on a wick lighter is there to keep the volatile fuel from evaporating. That's the reason a wick lighter left in a drawer since last November tends to be dry. Fill it the night before the trip.
An arc lighter trades fuel chores for battery chores. Black Beard's page doesn't list a charge time, a cable type or a battery size, so I won't guess. Zippo's guide for its own arc insert gives a sense of the category: charge it fully before the first use, use the cable that came with it, and clean debris off the electrodes with something non-metallic, like a toothpick, if the arc won't connect. Zippo's insert also shuts the arc off on its own after 10 seconds. Those are Zippo's numbers for Zippo's insert, not Black Beard's, so read your own manual.
I charge mine on the drive in. Somewhere between the Turnpike and the gravel road, the cable usually works its way under the seat, which is how I know I'm close to camp.
The U.S. Fire Administration says not to charge lithium-ion batteries below 32°F or above 105°F, and to store them at room temperature when possible. A deer camp in November spends a lot of hours under 32°F. So charge the arc lighter at home or in the heated cabin, not on the tailgate at 5 a.m.
The same page says not to leave lithium-ion batteries in direct sunlight or in hot cars. That covers the dashboard in September and the glove box in August. Wick lighters have their own heat rule: lighter fluid is flammable, so a fueled lighter on a hot dash isn't a good idea either. Both lighters ride in a pocket or a kit, not on display.
My one opinion on this page: if your fire kit has room for two lighters, make them different kinds. Here's the checkable reason. They fail differently. A wick lighter runs dry when its fuel evaporates or burns off, and it never needs an outlet. An arc lighter has no fuel to lose, but the USFA says not to charge its battery below freezing. A dead battery and a dry wick rarely happen on the same morning. Two of the same kind tend to quit together.
I know what Renee would say. She'd say I've found a reason to buy two lighters. She'd be right, and I'd still pack them.
For hiking, the lighter that matters is the one in your pocket every mile. For camp, it's the one in the fire kit by the ring. If you drive to camp, any lighter here works. If you fly to a hunt or a trailhead, TSA's rules decide for you:
So a wick lighter can fly, but its fluid can't. Plan to buy fluid where you land. An arc lighter can fly in your carry-on if you lock it.
Fill a wick lighter away from any flame, close the fluid can, and wipe up spills before you light it. Zippo says a lighter with fuel on the outside shouldn't go in your pocket, and to wash fluid off your skin right away.
Use only the charging cable that came with an arc lighter. Stop using any lithium-ion battery that smells, swells, leaks, changes color or gets too hot, per the USFA.
At the fire ring, follow Smokey Bear's basics: at least 15 feet from tents and brush, a 10-foot cleared circle, water and a shovel nearby. Drown, stir, drown again, and feel the ashes before you walk away. Check fire restrictions before you light anything.
Keep any lighter out of kids' reach.
If you only light a gas grill or a cabin stove with a pilot, skip it. A lighter with a longer reach suits that job better, and the electric lighter page covers the rechargeable kinds beyond the pocket arc. If you want butane and a hot, focused flame, look at the torch lighters page instead; that page covers the jet-flame kind in depth.
Skip it too if you want a lighter as your only way to light a fire on a long trip. A ferro rod has no fuel and no battery to run out, and it belongs in the kit next to whatever lighter you carry. And if you need a waterproof claim on a wick lighter, neither Zippo here makes one in our data; the windproof lighter page covers sealed designs.
A lighter makes this list when two things are stated. The maker calls it windproof, and the maker or the Amazon listing says it refills or recharges. Missing either one, it's out. The order follows the data, not a brand I like better, and nothing here is ranked by ratings.
Values come from the maker's own product page first. Where the maker is silent, the Amazon listing fills in, and the table marks those values. On this page, the windproof and waterproof claims are the makers'; fuel, flame type and refill or recharge come from the listings. A blank in the table means neither source states it.
The list is checked again every week. Listings drop out when they stop being available, new lighters join when their data qualifies, and the order can change. Price shows only as a tier, never a number, and every lighter here sits in the same tier right now.
For the brands themselves, see Zippo and Black Beard Fire Starter. For how the wind-blocking designs work in general, the windproof lighter page goes deeper.
Charge the one that charges, fill the one that fills, and put both back in the kit when you're done. The lighter you can find in the dark is worth more than the one you can't.
One you can keep running all season and that suits the jobs you have. On this list that means a refillable wick lighter that runs on lighter fluid, or a rechargeable arc lighter that runs on a battery. Both are called windproof by their makers. Carry a backup that works a different way, like a ferro rod, since fuel and batteries run out for different reasons.
The one that rides in your pocket every mile, plus a backup. The rule here is the same as at camp: windproof by the maker's word, and refillable or rechargeable. A battery lighter needs a full charge before the trail. A wick lighter needs fuel, a working flint and a clean wick. If you fly to the trailhead, check TSA's lighter rules first.
Zippo's guide says to pull up about 1 cm of clean wick with tweezers when the end turns black, and trim it even with the chimney, once or twice a year. Replace the wick after it has been trimmed two or three times. Use the wick the maker recommends.
It depends on the kind. TSA allows disposable lighters and Zippo-style lighters in carry-on bags; in checked bags, a fueled one needs a DOT-approved case. Arc lighters may go in carry-on with the button locked, a cover on, or the battery out, but not in checked bags. Lighter fluid can't fly in either bag.
Zippo's troubleshooting order is a good one for any wick lighter: fuel first, then the flint wheel (stuck or worn flint), then the wick. A wick that no longer brings up fuel needs pulling up and trimming, or replacing. If none of that works, Zippo points owners to its repair request form.
