I picked up this Zippo emergency fire starter when I was at the Outdoor Retailer show a few weeks back and since I am doing a fire starting workshop this week I thought this would be a good place to start the gear reviews.
Right out of the package this worked just as pictured on the package. I can see keeping this in a tackle box on canoe trips or just in a general emergency kit. Zippo makes metal and plastic versions of this and I had the plastic one for testing. It's lightweight and the plastic one even floats. Since it is a striker only there is no lighter fluid involved so you don't need to be worried about keeping it refiled for when you need it. It can sit in your emergency kit for years and when the time comes when you actually have to start a fire it will just work.
