A Better Pipe Smoking Community

I second Muddler's comments regarding the Zippo pipe lighter as I use one myself. As long as you put fuel in it every few days, you will not have any problems. You can find them for less then $20 US.

for me used to come from a butane lighter. Matches are cool but messy.
Couple of tricks with a flame:
-adjust the size of the flame to just undet an inch, makes it easier to control
-mositen a finger and run it around the rim of the pipe prior to lighting; the mositure will protect the rim from discoloring.
Zippo never has been my choice due to the aromatic nature of the fuel - do not like the gasoline flavoured tobacco :).
Keep trying...... .

Any zippo can have it's guts replaced free by the factory with a pipe insert.
The new black label Zippo fuel is less nasty in the odor department, I won't claim that it is completely odorless but it comes close.
The temperatures generated by butane in either torch mode or soft flame mode are well above the temperatures of a Zippo flame. The Zippo generates more temperature in the flame than a match. Coolor beginings mean cooler smoking and cooler relights. You want your tobacco to smoulder not flare.

lighter for me. Love matches, but I'll use boxes of the stuff in a day. Also not really practical in my job because I'm outside most of the time. Will try to have my Zippo from way back changed to a pipe-type, seeing that you guys say the taste of the fluid is better nowadays.

... the best is a refillable lighter for about $15.00 made in Austria and uses flints rather than electronic ignition (more reliable).

See it here: http//www.tobacco-barn.com/p-4571-imco-g77r-flint-lighter-from-prometheus.aspx

I do most of my pipe smoking outside on my verandah at home where I have a little table with drawers. For me the best all round pipe lighter are a box of long matches. But that is for when there is no wind. As an all round lighter that won't burn your rim, the Bentley prometheus lighter a pictured above by Vasco is absolutely great. It is good value for money. It gives you and nice angled light. I have two, one at the office and one at home. In two years, they have never given me a moments trouble. (No electric flint to konk in) Lastly, if it is windy, I use a Zippo with the pipe adaptor. I just love Zippo lighters. My wife recently gave me a brushed chrome one with the words "United States of America" inscribed over their coat of arms." The new fluid in the black container is definately better than the old stuff -- virtually odourless. But if I had to chose one lighter, the Bently prometheus -- for sure!

I have a bunch of fire: I like wooden matches but carry a Zippo out of doors and have an Old Boy for home, which is a new acquisition that I enjoy. i also have a "goose neck" Colibri which i got from Boswell's at a good price, since I think they've discontinued the model; the extending neck allows me to get to the bottom of a deep bowl without burning the rim or my fingers. It would figure that Boswells's had them, since my biggest pipes come from there. :) Also -- it might have been Bob who said this -- it's never a bad idea to have backup: nothing more frustrating to find the time and place to smoke and then not have a light. I buy a couple of Bics and toss one in the glove box just so it's there; beats the hell out of trying to start a fire with a couple of rocks.

Cheaper lighters, made of plastic can get too warm and start to melt if used for too long. Between that and the fact that you're using them in an upside down fassion can concievably leave you with a tiny molten butane bomb in your hand (something of a frightening prospect).
I got away with the practice for a long time, but when I started concentrating on flake tobaccos, the time at flame necessisary to get them lit was kind of pushing the limits. That's why I switched to goosenecks (piezo module doesn't last too long) and torch type metal lighters (too hot a flame for best flavor realization). Finally settled on matches and Zippo as the safest and best (for me) combination.

I collect antique lighters and have a lot of them but for my pipe, it has been and always will be a Zippo.

In case you don't know, if you already own a Zippo but it is the regular insert type, if you send it to Zippo, they will replace it with a pipe insert free of charge.