Brunton Firelight

Date of Review:	March 28, 2004
Reviewer:	Bryan Hansel
Product:	Bruton Firelight butane lighter
Cost:	$39.99
Construction:	Combination of anodized metal, durable translucent plastic, and an LED light.
Manufacturer:	Brunton
Testing Conditions:	Normal backpacking conditions used for starting stoves and fires.
Familiarity:	two weeks
Best Suited For:	campers and expeditioners who want a reliable lighter but don't care about the price
Quick Rating:	Q9 - V3 - U7 What do these numbers mean?

Testing the Hype

On the attractive clam-shell packaging, Brunton claims:

The Firelight combines the convenience of a small, compact, windproof lighter with a bright white LED flashlight. The light is located on the bottom of the lighter, and with a simple twist you’ll be able to find the trail or search for your dropped car keys in the dark. Need to start a fire? The lid opens 180 degrees so you can get the flame where you need it. The gas flame can even withstand winds up to 80 miles per hour. Truly a unique tool you would want to have in the mountains or in the glove box of your car for emergency use.

In simpler terms, the box claims that this is the lighter of all lighters. This is what I set out to discover during the testing period.

Low on Fuel, High on Price

Since the Firelight doesn't come filled with lighter fluid, you have two options—both of which involve spending more money. Either you can buy a bottle of butane fluid with a standard-sized tip for filling butane lighters (about $5.99 at any tobacco store), or you can buy the Brunton Fuel Tool ($14.99). I choose to purchase the Fuel Tool, a slick little gadget that screws onto a standard iso-butane fuel canister and allows you to inject fuel into the lighter through a small port located behind the Firelight's LED flashlight. To get at this port, you have to remove the LED flashlight, thus turning it on. Press the lighter down onto the Fuel Tool and in a matter of seconds, the lighter is filled. Although during testing I didn’t need to refill the lighter, I could see how owning a Fuel Tool would be nice on an extremely long expedition if I were also packing iso-butane canisters. Even so, it seems hard to justify spending another $14.99 for a Fuel Tool right after dropping $39.99 for a lighter. If Brunton packaged the two items together for $39.99, it would be a much better value.

Flipping the Lid

Pushing a black button on the side of the Firelight releases a latch and the lid flips back to reveal the lighter. Aside from protecting the flame element from dirt and debris, this feature is also surprisingly fun to play with—enough to provide me with many minutes of entertainment. On top of the lid is a mirror, which is almost usable enough to check your hair, but not quite. I suppose that if you were extraordinarily lucky the mirror might be used to signal someone halfway across the campsite, but more likely it will provide several minutes of fun as you try to blind your paddling partner with a piece of the sun. Pushing down on a black button until you hear a click starts the lighter. This action produces a blue flame that is difficult to see in the daylight. The flame jets straight out of the lighter regardless of what direction you hold it (even upside down), which makes it an ideal tool for lighting fires and stoves. Occasionally, the lighter would misfire, and I would have to click the button twice or more to produce flames. The flame is very difficult to blow out, and seems to stay lit in the light winds that I encountered with it. However, I was able to blow out the flame when I tried hard. The flame is controllable, but I found that the unit wouldn’t light unless the flame was turned close to maximum output.

Light from a Lighter, Who Would Have Guessed?

I found the flashlight portion of the Firelight to be less useful. I’m not a smoker, so I don’t carry a lighter on me at all times, so there was never a time that I actually would have used this flashlight. Even when cooking dinner after the sun went down, I didn’t use the flashlight, because I always had a headlamp on.

The Firelight also ships with a plastic lanyard. This is easily removable, and I recommend removing it because it is very awkward.

Final Comments

Overall, I found the lighter portion of the firelight well worth the weight of carrying it. It made starting fires easy, it stayed lit in winds, and it started reliably—only misfiring occasionally. If you have the extra $55 to spend on the Firelight and Fuel Tool, it makes a great lighter. Unfortunately, after this goes back to Brunton, I will go back to using a Bic disposable lighter.

[Editor's Comment: Thanks to Brunton for loaning us the equipment for this review.]