The lengths and diameters of their hinge pins have shrunken through times. Likewise with gaps between barrel getting wider outta the box. Its kinda disappointing. Thanks for the sharing!
If you have Victronox spirit or a Swiss Tool you can tighten and help curl the hinges around the hinge pin and repair the tightness . I plan on making a loss proof triangle shaped hinge pin that you can put a nylon rope on and never loose your Zippo attaching it to your belt !
I emailed Zippo about "loose hinges", specifically on a Replica lighter. The lady said prior to '96.. they used a "center punch" method that put dimples in the pin & slightly bent the pin. After '96 they started using a "double crimp" method that no longer put a bend in the pin and caused excessive hinge ware & tear. They call it a "relaxed fit" and claim it extends the life of the hinge. Personally, I prefer the older, tighter hinges. And obviously newer Zippo's are of lesser quality as far as hinges, lid wobble, lod to case line up and insert tightness.. compared to older ones.
My zippos after 2022 suffer poor quality, multiple factory defeat insert. I have over 500 zippos from 50s to 2023…. All poor quality are noticed from 2022-2023 made ones
My Zippo tumbled brass armor case is perfect on my ZORRO Fuel Saving Insert. The weight of the Zorro insert actually prevents it from rising. It so happens they just both accidentally match perfectly. I didn't do any tricks, just got lucky that the armor case seems to be built for the particular Zorro insert.
Sometimes we get lucky & receive a case that is perfect for it's insert, like my Zippo High Polished Chrome 250 case is perfect for it's original insert. No matter how many times I close & open the lid it just stays in place. It rise a tiny bit but doesn't affect anything. My other Zippos they seem all wanna get out of the case if you keep opening & closing the lid. My 2 Lucky case insert combination are my EDC. My High Polish vintage look with slash also fits perfectly with my Zippo Torch insert but since I don't like my single torch they just stay home since I bought them.
I will try that paper trick you showed here in the video, I think it will stop the insert from sliding compared to plastic. I tried the plastic trick but the insert will eventually rise in the end. Plastic is slippery against the metal. Although paper seems better but it won't help prevent evaporation that's why in the end people will buy the Zippo yellow flame insert.
Hey I really like your collection of zippo and there is one design particulary is the white matte with the word "Slay" in it.If you get a chance to show case it. I'd be appreciated, Nice video bro!
Their quality has gone down immensely, I had a scrimshaw gold Zippo lighter bought for me in 1996 and it was perfect, my others after that where too , I've bought one recently 2022 and the lid play is terrible and the weight is way off , from what they used to be around 60grams or less
while their quality has definitely gone down slightly, it’s not drastic. and super tight hinges are no good cause they wear out faster anyways, but super loose ones aren’t good either. a bit of play is perfectly normal imo. and zippo. has that lifetime warranty so if anything breaks they’ll fix it so you don’t gotta worry too much about it
My new one feels light and cheap, maybe it's a fake .. but the hinge play is annoying the old scrimshaw lighter only had the hinge fixed once in 20 years, only my opinion but I definitely favour the older models, assuming mine is genuine
