Ronxs Lighters

What Ronxs makes for hunters and campers

On this site, Ronxs is one type of gear, lighters, in two kinds:

• Gooseneck electric lighters: a long, flexible neck, an electric plasma arc, a rechargeable battery, no butane
• A butane torch set: a three-jet torch lighter sold with a cutter

The Ronxs grid is short, so the theme adds "Alternatives to Ronxs" under it: an arc lighter from another brand and a run of butane torches with two, three or four jets. I'll cover the Ronxs models first, then the alternatives by group, so you can see which job each one is shaped for.

The specs come from the Amazon listings, and the grid marks them. Where a listing doesn't give a figure, there isn't one on this page.

Ronxs lineup notes

Gooseneck Electric Candle Lighter

The listing describes a flameless plasma arc, a rechargeable battery, a Type-C charging cable and a battery display, plus a safety lock and a flexible neck. The variants include several colors and a 2-piece set.

A battery display is the feature I'd read first here. A rechargeable lighter without one tells you it's empty by not working. With one, you find out on Thursday at home, not on Saturday at the stove.

Gooseneck Electric Arc Lighter

The second Ronxs gooseneck lists the same fuel type, the same plasma flame type and the same rechargeable battery. Its listing title adds a hook, an LED battery display and USB charging.

The hook is a small thing that solves a real camp problem. A lighter hanging from a nail by the stove is a lighter that's where you left it. A lighter set down on the picnic table is a lighter that's under a paper plate.

Cigar Lighter and Cutter Set

The third Ronxs product is a different animal: a butane torch with three jets, per its listing, sold in a set with a stainless steel cutter and a gift box. The listing says the flame is adjustable and that butane isn't included, so plan on a can of fuel in the same order. It comes in black and in gold.

The cigar torch lighter page covers this style of multi-jet torch across brands.

Plasma, arc and jet: the words on the box

Lighter listings use three words that sound alike and aren't:

• Plasma: the word Ronxs listings use for their electric lighters
• Arc: the word other brands use for the same kind of lighter, including the alternative in the grid
• Jet or torch: butane forced through a small nozzle, so the flame comes out blue, narrow and hard to blow sideways

Plasma and arc lighters both make a spark jump between two small metal tips. Nothing burns until you put a wick or tinder in the spark. The TSA treats arc and electronic lighters as one group for air travel, which tells you how alike they are where it counts.

A jet torch is the opposite approach: it burns fuel on purpose, and the flame reaches a little past the nozzle. More jets mean a wider flame from the same tank.

Why the gooseneck matters at camp

Here's my one opinion for this page: pick a lighter by the reach the job needs, and give the stove box its own long-necked lighter instead of borrowing the one from your pocket.

The reason is in how grill makers tell you to light a burner by hand. Weber's instructions for lighting its gas grills with a match have you open the lid, light the match in a holder on a chain, and lower it through the grates to the burner before you turn the gas to start. If a burner doesn't light within five seconds, Weber says to turn it off and wait five minutes for the gas to clear before trying again. The holder is there so your hand doesn't go where the gas is. A gooseneck lighter is the same idea with a battery.

At deer camp, the reach helps in a few places:

• Camp stove burners, especially on a stove that sits low on a table
• Lantern wicks behind glass
• A wood stove you'd rather not lean into
• A tailgate gas grill, where the burner sits under a grate and a hot lid

The bend helps too. A straight long-neck lighter has one angle. A gooseneck lets you hook around a pot handle or under a burner grate without turning your wrist into a pretzel.

Alternatives to Ronxs in the grid

The alternatives under the Ronxs models come from other brands and split into groups by power source and jet count.

Another rechargeable arc lighter

The Black Beard Arc Lighter from Black Beard Fire Starter is the other electric lighter in the grid. Its maker describes it as windproof, waterproof and rechargeable, and its product page says it gives 300+ ignites per charge. It's a compact fire-kit lighter, where the Ronxs goosenecks are reaching tools for the kitchen box. Same power source, different job. The Black Beard brand page covers that lineup.

Double-jet torches

Two-jet butane torches in the grid come from Xikar (the ELX Double Jet) and Guevara (a Butane Torch Lighter with Punch and a 2-Jet Cigar Torch Lighter). All list a refillable tank and a punch. The Xikar brand page has the rest of that maker's lineup.

Triple-jet torches

Three jets, like the Ronxs set: the Tomolo Triple Jet Torch Lighter 2-Pack, whose listing gives a zinc alloy top and an ABS plastic body, the Vertigo Cyclone Triple Torch in two 3-pack listings, and Guevara's Triple Jet Cigar Torch with Punch. All list refillable tanks.

Quad-jet torches

Four jets: the Tomolo Quad Jet Torch Lighter, single and as a 2-pack, with a zinc alloy body on the single per its listing, and Guevara's 4-Jet Torch Lighter with Punch. Four jets make the widest flame in the grid and empty a tank the fastest. Four burners on one small tank is like four guys on one bag of chips: it goes quick.

How to choose between a Ronxs gooseneck and a torch

Start with where the flame has to go

• Down into a burner or behind glass: a gooseneck arc lighter
• Under a stacked fire: a torch, because the flame reaches
• Into a pocket for the stand: neither gooseneck; a compact torch or a compact arc lighter rides better

The electric lighter page explains arc lighters across brands, and the torch lighters page covers jet counts and flame types.

Then the power source

A gooseneck runs on a charge. A torch runs on butane. Both run out, just differently. Butane boils at 31°F, per the CDC's NIOSH guide, so on a hard frost a cold torch has little pressure behind the flame. A battery lighter isn't bothered by butane physics, but a lithium-ion battery shouldn't be charged below 32°F, per the U.S. Fire Administration, so the charging happens in the cabin, not the truck.

Then the jets

For the torch side, one jet is precise, two to four jets are wider and thirstier. A refillable tank is what keeps a torch in your kit past the first can. The refillable butane lighter page covers refilling across brands. Note that the Ronxs set's listing in the grid doesn't flag a refillable tank, though it says butane isn't included, so read the current listing before you count on a refill.

Charging and caring for a gooseneck arc lighter

A gooseneck lighter is a lithium-ion tool first and a lighter second. The U.S. Fire Administration's battery page says to charge between 32°F and 105°F, to store batteries at room temperature away from anything that can burn, and to stop using one that smells, swells, changes color, leaks, runs hot or makes odd noises. A dead one goes to a battery recycling location, not the cabin trash can.

Zippo's instructions for its own rechargeable candle lighter make a point that fits the Ronxs cable setup: check the charging cable regularly and don't charge through a damaged one. They also say batteries slowly lose charge on a shelf, so a lighter stored from spring to fall wants a top-up along the way. Your Ronxs manual decides the details for your model.

Bend the neck gently, the way the listing intends. A gooseneck is built to flex, but it's still a set of wires inside a sleeve. I've pulled enough cable through enough conduit to know that a wire bent the same way a thousand times eventually picks a day to stop.

When the arc won't jump, Zippo's arc lighter guidance says debris on the electrodes may be the cause. Clear it gently with a non-metallic item, such as a toothpick, with the lighter off.

Filling and cleaning a multi-jet torch

For the cutter set and the torch alternatives, the refill steps in Xikar's how-to page are a good picture of the job, though your own lighter's instructions decide:

1. Bleed the tank with a small screwdriver on the fill valve until no pressure is left.
2. Set the flame adjuster to the lowest setting.
3. Fill upside down, pressing the butane can firmly onto the valve for about 5 seconds, without shaking the can.
4. Wait 3–4 minutes so extra butane evaporates and the gas reaches room temperature.

Xikar says to use premium butane, because low-grade fuel has been known to clog lighters, and not to run a continuous flame for more than 10 seconds. For a weak flame or uneven lighting, its troubleshooting page suggests cleaning the burner with a soft cloth and alcohol, letting it dry for 2–3 minutes before lighting, or clearing debris with short bursts of low-pressure air. Keep the alcohol off any fuel window.

Fill outside or in a well-ventilated spot, away from the stove, the lantern and the fire ring.

Safety around a lighter that lives by the stove

Keep every lighter, arc or butane, out of children's reach. The U.S. Fire Administration says to keep lighters and matches locked up and up high, and points out that kids copy what they see adults do. A gooseneck on a hook by the stove is handy for you and, at kid height, handy for them too. Hang it high.

Use the safety lock the listing describes, and don't defeat it. Keep fingers away from the arc and the jets, and let a torch head cool before it goes back in a box.

When a burner won't catch, follow the stove maker's own steps rather than holding the arc in the gas longer. Gas that hasn't lit is still gas.

Where a Ronxs ends up at deer camp

The goosenecks belong to the camp kitchen: the stove, the lantern shelf, the wood stove door. The triple-jet set belongs in the fire kit or under the tree as a gift, with a can of butane bought alongside it. For a stand or a day pack, the compact alternatives in the grid ride better than any long neck.

Nobody should have to stick a hand into a stove at 5 a.m. Walt will still try. Old habits, short arms.