The wind was blowing a few miles per hour at the time of this photo. Without some sort of windscreen, a BIC is hard to light in even a slight breeze. The flame is difficult to light in even a slight breeze. The BIC’s main drawback is how poorly it holds up in windy conditions. (To dry it out quicker you can also run it up and down a piece of wood or your pants leg for 30 seconds.) After performing 3 “Soak Tests” with it - submerging the lighter in water, shaking it out, and then trying to light it in 1-minute intervals - it took an average of 2 minutes before it started lighting again consistently. The Mini BIC is also decently water-resistant. When I struck the BIC 200 times, it lit a perfect 200. ![]() Supremely affordable and available everywhere, the Mini BIC earned our Top Pick award because of its reliability, value, and ultralight weight. The 5 lighters we tested Top Pick: BIC Mini Lighter ![]() It isn’t as easy to find in the US, however - you’ll likely have to pick one up online or at a head shop. The Clipper Mini Lighter is an excellent alternative. It was the most wind- and water-resistant lighter we tested.Īlso, it’s important to point out the Mini BIC earned the top score in our tests by the slimmest of margins. If you need a lighter for backpacking in extremely wet or windy conditions, we recommend the UCO Stormproof Torch. A simple windscreen can usually solve this problem though. The Mini BIC’s only downside is it’s not wind-resistant. It is ultralight, reliable, decently water-resistant, and a great bang for your buck. Our tests confirmed what backpackers have long known: the BIC Mini Lighter (commonly called the “Mini BIC”) is the best lighter for backpacking. We bought 5 of the best backpacking lighters available and set about testing their water-resistance by soaking them in water, their wind-resistance by trying to blow them out, and their reliability by striking them until we got blisters.
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