This is the best part about You Tube, learning about things you may never ever have heard of in your life if not for great people uploading simple videos to teach everyone about something new.
The problem I see in this is. There is so much to learn that is actually useful. We shouldn't waste our time with this. A rope lighter has no practical use in today's age
And we get a glimpse of the inner workings of youtube. I'm sure that's very much intended. This new recommended video system is building up quite a good image of youtube for advertisers. Google has crazy amounts of influence over the economy simply by controlling the spread of information. Like most things in the corporate world, I think it's great for us middle class short term, but very bad for everyone long term.
I missedbtje word "because". So I was sitting here and imagined that you meant you would otherwise have done quite some fire based piromaniac stuff lol
Was popular in UK prisons when gas lighters were not allowed. Made with a wick of various material (usually the edge of a blanket) threaded through part of a plastic pen. The spark was usually the wheel and flint of a disposable lighter. This was assembled in a box made out of spent matchsticks. Ingenious and they worked
So wait. The gas lighters weren't allowed but the way you describe them as handmade, potentially by inmates makes it sound like it was a contraband item. Which doesn't make that much sense to me if it were legal to have. Unless it was because of budget. I'm American so I'm not all that familiar with minor subtleties of the laws of the UK, especially regarding the prison system.
@george scott No shit huh? And here I was thinking you were just an asshole that was trying to prove a point on "fuel", but ig you use your brain after all. My mistake, dipshit.
@george scott hes making a joke about this guy saying the lighter doesnt need fuel. It does need fuel. Just not the conventional liquid lighter fuel. In this case the fuel is rope.
I got 4 of those still in the box unused from WWII at an estate sale and they're called "Foxhole lighter" on the box the instructions inside show a GI lighting a smoke. It came with a little glass bottle of Flints (now almost all powder) and a spare rope. It works quite well.
Try soaking the cotton rope in a potassium nitrate + water solution for a few minutes and dry it, you're basically making a slow match (used usually in matchlock arquebus) and I think it'll probably improve the ember and keep it red hot most of the time
If you buy fireworks in the Netherlands you usually get some rope for free. You light the rope with a normal lighter and then you can use the rope to light the fireworks.
@@grimguise I imagine, for the same reason we get what is called a punk (in texas at least) to light fireworks. Just an easy way to keep a light without having an actual flame.
To me this seems like the first and last lighter that will ever exist. If for whatever reason it hit end times or some sort of supply block or even something as simple as off grid living this lighter would be insanely easy to keep running for years opposed to so many other lighters nowadays that range from near disposable to barely lasting a couple months. Its remarkable how simple yet convenient it is, way easier than flint and steel fire starting yet doing essentially the same thing in a clever way
This is ingenious. They take a little metal tube, a piece of cotton rope, a fish hook and sinker, and have some Flint and steel and boom. So simple but fricking genius. I love it
My mother had several of those with original rope. I always thought the soldiers in WWII must have had an unlimited supply of lighter fluid and didnt care about wet, flammable products. 😁 Thanks for the heads up!
Too many comments to read them all, so someone may have already pointed this out: I'm a sailor and a pipe smoker. There is a reason for the slip knot on the rope. After you light, you slide the knot up to secure the rope inside the tube. A little safer to put back in your pocket that way. Also, it is usually (hopefully) windy when you are sailing. This is the only lighter that works better in the wind! Good video though-thanks for sharing!
Not as commonly used as when I was a kid, but you can still find this king of lighters at most tobacco stores in Spain. There are a couple styles and variants. Also specific ropes of several types.
Appreciate the video. I have one of these as it was my dad's. very old and so too the old rope inside. I often look at how cool it was but didn't realise just how practical it would be for bushcraft and for emergencies. I also thought that perhaps they used to douse the rope in kero etc, but obviously not needed. Thanks for the info.
This popped up on my amazon feed and I was really skeptical about it's functionality until I saw this video. This is really cool and I don't have to worry about keeping gas in my bag!
Cool! Never seen a lighter like this before. Great video. Only suggestion I'd say would be showing the lighter lighting things, pipe, cigarette, cigar, campfire etc. Keep it up!
My grandpa carried one of these eversince I can remember fir lighting his smokes. His had a brass lid that flipped over and covered the rope when you pulled it down to snuff it. I have kept several of these in my packs an tackle box for years as a backup ignition source. You have to make sure to get the right kind of rope for it or you'll go through flints like crazy trying to get it to catch. Also, if you can get soft flints, they work better as they produce larger sparks
Yeah, in colonial times they used to keep charred cloth on hand and even use their flint rifles to ignite the ember, same principle. Thx for showing this. I'll have to pick one up!
We used to make something along the same lines using a clipper lighter flint holder and a length of floor mop as a wick. Encase it in a matchstick frame and voila! It was a standard lighter in prison when I was there 35yrs ago. Forgot all about them until seeing this, thanks 😎
This reminds me when I lit a dry mop leaning against the wall and thought I blew it out. Just a handle left in the morning, lucky the house was brick..
My Dad had one when I was a kid and I was constantly messing with it. I could never figure it out. And of course he never gave me a demonstration probably because he thought I'd be lighting stuff on fire. 35 years later, now I know. Thanks!
@@kiryls1207 well yeah, not necessary, but I'm worried about moisture making it hard to light the rope. It's pretty humid and cool where I live, so having water resistant fire starters while camping is a must.
@@fredjackson8408 I would suggest a magnesium fire starter kit tbh. It's way better. costs about the same don't get wet and you don't need timber for it to work.
@@optidalfprime3904 oh yeah definitely, I always camp with multiple fire starting devices anyways. Just pack lighters and matches, starters, and tinder all over the place so ones always available no matter the situation 😂👌
OMG! This is the lighter my pap use to have!! I only have a brief memory of it and would "keep me up at night" trying to fig out what it was. Just purchased one.... Can't wait till it comes in. Thanks again!
Thank you so much I love technology from that area. And I have a lot of antiques but I never knew about this. I absolutely can't wait to get one. Again thanks for well done video.
Thank you so much for sharing this video. I didn’t know that the rope had to be charred for it to work. My father gave me one of these. I couldn’t get it to work. Thank you so much.
I work for an antique dealer that sells a lot of Russian antiquities from the 1800’s; a lot of imperial objects and interesting items. Occasionally we get lighter cases, and they all have this rope design. Pretty cool!
I love unusual things like this, so simple and smart, its great. I want one, if I cant find one Im sure it wouldnt be too difficult to make. There is so much beauty in the purity of its design. Very nice.
In the Netherlands, where everyone can light fireworks on New Year's Eve, we use a "lont" (fuse) to light fireworks, which is the same as the rope in this lighter (without the actual contraption, we light the rope ahead of time with a regular lighter.
@bubuninja What a great mom you have. Such useful practical knowledge I wish my parents could have imparted on me. Like frugal living tricks such as taking the free ketchup packets from McDonalds, cooking up some spaghetti, and applying hundreds of said packets to make a tasty meal that's on par with the establishment from whence came the sauce packets. "Healthy", and on the cheap. Truly a remarkable woman.
Been watching CutleryLover for years and years and he always finds the coolest shit that isn't gimmicky. I think I might buy one of these just for fun.
Thank you for sharing! Nevermind the negativity in comments as this could be a lifesaver. For survival outings a person shld have a few fire starting alternatives and this is definitely a good one if kept dry.
Thanks for sharing. My dad had a great lighter collection back in the 60s. Of course he was a World War 2 vet that smoked Pall Malls. And of all the lighters he had I don't remember this one.
I found this lighter in a box which contained my grandfather's things, it did not have the rope or the ball and i couldnt figure out how did it even work because the flint was worn out so it wasnt producing any sparks and the hollow tube was making me question everything i knew. Thanks for resolving my mystery.
Got mine today. 3 of them about 12 bucks free shipping. Instructions said fuel ect. No just like this guy said. Used my zippy to char. Works perfect. Happy. about 21 days. Got some flints for zippo 100 for 159 free ship. The zippo flints in plastic with extra wicks for zippo 99 cents free ship Ordered all same time. Flints came in about 14 days
Shipped free from China on e bay. Just type in rope lighter and e bay will come up. Most 7.80 but the one for 4.13 same some show. .99 but that is just a wick. Look close. Also color. I think it was silver was the cheapest
I have one of these given to me years ago by a friend who got it from Spain & said there was a lot of older men wearing vests with a pocket to keep these in & all had burn holes from the lighter not always going out ...
Well, you could probably keep it in a resealable bag to keep the moisture out, only pull it out when needed. Maybe even rig something up so only the lit part is exposed when in use.
Very neat, and new to me! But doesn't the term "trench lighter" refer to the ones that use fluid and have a cap that comes down over the wick when not in use?
In this case I believe that "trench lighter" refers to the simple, often home made, lighters that poor WW 1 troops used in the trenches. There were various types made, such as this rope lighter, or lighters made from spent rifle casings, etc. There are still models of some trench lighters sold today, often using butane as a fuel source, and they distinguish themselves usually by having a separate tube for the flint/spring along side of the lighter body. My Dad made a simple lighter from a .303 brass case during WW2 that used a "Zippo" type fuel...the troops had time on their hands and were quite ingenious.
