Honest Torch Lighters

What Honest makes for hunters and campers

On this site, Honest is one type of gear: lighters. Nearly every one in the grid is a refillable butane torch lighter, and the lineup splits into a handful of groups:

• Single-jet torch lighters, the bulk of the lineup, in several finishes
• Double- and dual-flame torches, two jets or a switchable flame
• A larger torch sold for kitchen and small workshop jobs, per its listing
• Multi-tool lighters with a built-in V cutter, punch or holder
• Metal pocket lighters, including a mini with a fuel window
• A two-pack of single-jet lighters

The grid changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the groups and what separates them, not about how many are listed this week. Most specs come from the Amazon listings, and the grid marks those values. Where a listing doesn't say, the grid shows a dash. I didn't fill gaps. Renee says I fill enough gaps in the truck with headlamps.

This site doesn't list Honest's accessories or anything outside lighters.

What a torch lighter is, in plain words

A regular lighter makes a soft yellow flame that bends with the wind. A torch lighter, also called a jet lighter, pushes butane through a small nozzle, so the flame comes out blue, narrow and pointed. That's the reason people carry one at camp: it lights in places where a soft flame keeps folding over.

The trade is fuel. A two-jet lighter feeds two flames from one tank, so it empties sooner than a one-jet lighter of the same size. That's not a flaw. It's arithmetic. The torch lighters page explains flame types across brands.

Lineup notes: the Honest torch lighter groups

Single-jet torch lighters

Most of the Honest lineup is single-jet. The listings describe butane fuel, one jet, a refillable tank and, on several models, an adjustable flame. The Single Jet Torch Lighter shows up in more than one listing and finish, along with the Single Jet Butane Lighter, the Single Jet Torch Lighter Gold and the Butane Windproof Torch Lighter, which its listing calls windproof.

One jet is the simple option: one nozzle to keep clean, one flame to aim. For lighting a stove, a lantern mantle or a fire-starter cube, one jet does the job. (Real talk: the color is the only hard decision. I picked one in camo once and lost it in the leaves in four minutes.)

Double- and dual-flame torches

The Mini Metal Double Flame Lighter lists two jets and a refillable butane tank, and its listing mentions a visible fuel window and an adjustable jet. The Dual Flame Butane Torch Lighter and a dual-flame model with a built-in cutter list torch flames too.

Two jets make a wider flame. That helps with damp tinder or a stubborn charcoal pile. It also empties the tank sooner, for the reason above. If you refill at the cabin every night, that's fine. If the lighter rides in a pack for a week, carry the butane plan with you.

The larger kitchen-style torch

The Dual Flame Butane Torch Lighter with the ABS gas tank is sold, per its listing, as a kitchen cooking torch and a micro torch for jobs like heat-shrink tubing. It's the biggest lighter in the group. It's a camp-kitchen tool more than a pocket tool, and it lights a charcoal chimney without you leaning over it.

Multi-tool lighters

A few listings add tools to the lighter: two torch lighters with a built-in V cutter, the dual-flame model with a cutter, and the 5-in-1 Windproof Torch Lighter, whose listing names a punch, a holder and a draw tool along with an adjustable jet flame. This site covers the flame, not the extras. If you don't need the tools, the single-jet models do the same lighting job.

Metal pocket lighters

The Metal Butane Lighter lists a butane torch flame with one jet, and its listing says it ships without gas. The Butane Refillable Lighter lists butane and a refillable tank but no flame type in the fields this site reads, so read the listing for that one. The DynaTorch Single Flame lists butane, and the listing title names a single flame.

The two-pack

The Single Jet Butane Lighter 2-Pack is two single-jet, refillable lighters in one listing. Two is a good number. One for the fire kit, one for the camp stove box, and neither for your coat pocket where it goes through the wash. (Ask me how I know. The lighter survived. The pocket did not.)

How to choose within the Honest lineup

Pick the flame type first

Almost every Honest model lists a torch or jet flame. If you want a soft flame for candles, read the listing carefully, because that's not what most of this lineup makes. For the other options across brands, the refillable butane lighter page and the electric lighter page cover them.

Then the jet count

One jet for fuel economy and aim, two for a wider flame on tough jobs. The grid's jet count field shows it where the listing gives it.

Then the size

Pocket lighters ride in a fire kit or a jacket. The larger kitchen-style torch lives in the camp kitchen box. Decide where the lighter will live before you decide which one.

Then the extras

A fuel window tells you when to refill before the flame quits. An adjustable flame lets you turn it down to save butane. Built-in tools are extras, not fire-lighting features.

Then remember it ships empty

Several listings say the lighter ships without gas. Butane is a separate purchase. Put it on the list before the trip, not at 6 p.m. at the campsite.

Refilling a butane torch lighter

Honest lighters are refillable, and the steps are close to the same across butane torches. Colibri publishes a clear version for its own lighters, and the shape of it applies broadly:

• Ventilation first: refill outside or in a ventilated spot, away from heat, sparks and flame
• Purge the air: lighter upside down, press the fill valve with a pen tip until the hissing stops
• Flame adjuster to minimum before filling
• Fill upside down: press the butane can's nozzle straight onto the valve for a few seconds
• Wait: Colibri says to warm the lighter in your hand for 10 seconds and wait 2 minutes before lighting
• Hissing after filling: don't light it

Colibri also notes a full tank holds only about 85 percent liquid, so a small bubble in a fuel window is normal. Valve locations and fill times differ by model, so follow the instructions that come with your lighter.

Never light a lighter while refilling it or near a butane can.

Care between trips

A torch lighter has a small nozzle, and a small nozzle clogs. Colibri's care notes are short and apply to any butane torch:

• A flickering flame in normal use usually means the tank needs a refill, not a new lighter
• Clean the burner now and then with compressed air: three short bursts, the can held at least an inch from the burner
• Hands off the inside parts: Colibri says never to touch the catalyzer spring or the spark wire
• Long storage: Colibri suggests setting the flame adjuster to maximum

Colibri also warns that butane of unknown quality can clog a lighter's feed system. Buy the refill can from a maker that lists its butane for refillable lighters, and read what the Honest instructions say about fuel.

Then give the lighter a home. In our cabin, the fire kit is an old cookie tin on the shelf by the door: lighter, ferro rod, a bag of fire-starter cubes. The rule is the lighter goes back in the tin when the fire is lit. Walt follows the rule about half the time, which is about how often he finds the lighter. The fire starters page covers what else goes in the tin, and the best torch lighter list compares torch lighters across brands by a stated rule.

Cold weather and butane

My one opinion on this page: on a November morning, warm the lighter before you need it. The reason is chemistry you can check. The CDC's NIOSH guide gives butane's boiling point as 31°F, and below that it's a liquid sitting in the tank, not much gas to burn. Colibri's instructions say to let a lighter reach room temperature before lighting.

So the lighter rides in an inside pocket, close to you, not in the outside pocket of a pack that spent the night in the truck. A torch lighter that won't catch at 25°F isn't broken. It's cold. Same as me before coffee.

For a backup that doesn't care about temperature, see the ferro rod page and the fire starter sticks page.

Fire safety at camp

Keep a lit jet pointed away from you and away from anything you don't mean to light, and let the nozzle cool before the lighter goes back in a pocket.

Smokey Bear's campfire guidance says to check for fire restrictions before you build a fire, keep the fire at least 15 feet from tents and vegetation, light it with a match or lighter only, never with flammable liquids, and have water and a shovel at hand. Put it out by drowning, stirring and drowning again, then feel for heat with the back of your hand.

Keep lighters away from kids. The Consumer Product Safety Commission's child-resistance rule covers disposable and novelty lighters; a refillable lighter can fall outside it, so don't assume a refillable torch has a child-resistant mechanism.

Honest facts

This page sticks to what the listings show, so there's no founding year, owner or factory here. For warranty terms, read the listing of the exact model and the papers that come in the box.

One lighter in the fire kit, one in the stove box, a can of butane in the truck, and the cold one in your pocket warming up. That's my whole system. It fits in one sentence, which is more than I can say for my ice math.