this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
629 points (97.3% liked)
Asklemmy
43806 readers
1436 users here now
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy ๐
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- [email protected]: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Lighters were invented before matches! 1823 vs 1826
So why did anyone use matches then? Was it just more economically viable?
If you've ever played around with an old-style lighter (think classic Zippo) you'd get it! They're fairly expensive, and aren't airtight so they need to be refilled every few days/weeks. If you fill them too much they need to be kept upright or they'll spill lighter fluid on you. Super cool and can hold flames for a while but not nearly as conventient as a matchbook for quick fire lighting
It just occurred to me that zippos are basically the same type of oil lanterns that we've been using for thousands of years
Although, if you use them a lot (like, a couple packs a day "a lot"), you get good at filling them the right amount, and it's just something you do.
Zippos are pretty fantastic for cigarette smokers. They're horrible for someone who just want to carry fire around in their pocket "just in case."
Back when I was smoking I got a Zippo because it was cool. Refilling fuel and replacing flints got old, but the taste of gas in your mouth was just the worst.
Every weed smoker had a zippo they didn't use because it tasted so bad. They're fidget toys more than anything. And the "windproof" feature doesn't work all that well compared to a bic lighter. Who cares if it keeps a tiny flame alive if it's not going to ignite anything else. You have to shelter it anyway.