Military Lighters - All eras all brands

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Numbah 1 score, yokota57! Here’s another Thai lighter with a Senior Aviator wing:

 

[yokota57]

3 minutes ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

Numbah 1 score, yokota57! Here’s another Thai lighter with a Senior Aviator wing:

 

Ichi-Ban !!!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thank you, yokota57! For all of you Zippo collectors out there I wanted to post an excellent reference site, Glen’s Zippos:

 

http://www.glenzippo.co.uk

[mtnman]

4 hours ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

Glen’s Zippos

That is one of my favorite reference sites! Excellent reference info Cobra. 👍🏻🎯

[Cobra 6 Actual]

A 1969 Zippo with a beercan emblem with the unauthorized (UA) version of the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MACV) DUI:

 

 

I bought this when I was in a MACV Advisory Team, but since I had several other lighters I never bothered to get it engraved. The UA insignia pretty well expressed my attitude at the time.

[mtnman]

2 minutes ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

The UA insignia pretty well expressed my attitude at the time.

Lol! Thanks for sharing Cobra! Awesome beer can insignia!

[yokota57]

45 minutes ago, mtnman said:

Lol! Thanks for sharing Cobra! Awesome beer can insignia!

+1

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, guys. I sometimes reflect that if I had spent $100 while in Vietnam just buying beercan unit insignias I’d be a rich man now!

[mtnman]

11 hours ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

I sometimes reflect that if I had spent $100 while in Vietnam just buying beercan unit insignias I’d be a rich man now!

Ain't hindsight just Grand!? Lol!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

So true, mtnman. Of course back then $100 was a huge part of my monthly pay. Plus, curiously,  I wasn’t really a collector at the time.

[yokota57]

US Army / 245th Transportation Company (Army Aircraft Heavy Maintenance & Supply). Finthen Army Airfield, West Germany. Personalized Japanese-made "Vulcan". 

[mtnman]

17 minutes ago, yokota57 said:

US Army / 245th Transportation Company

Yokota, I absolutely love it! The stylized wings to the upper left of the stylized name is just splendid! That is one of my favorites of yours in a while, beautiful work finding that one Yokota, well done sir 👍🏻💥🎯

[yokota57]

34 minutes ago, mtnman said:

Yokota, I absolutely love it! The stylized wings to the upper left of the stylized name is just splendid! That is one of my favorites of yours in a while, beautiful work finding that one Yokota, well done sir 👍🏻💥🎯

I'm with you on the engraving. Could have been done by someone in the 245th maintenance shop or perhaps at a local watch/engraving establishment. 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

+1 … what mtnman wrote. I really like that DUI too!

[yokota57]

5 minutes ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

+1 … what mtnman wrote. I really like that DUI too!

Yes, that is a great DUI. Excellent bald eagle!

[yokota57]

20 hours ago, mtnman said:

Yokota, I absolutely love it! The stylized wings to the upper left of the stylized name is just splendid! That is one of my favorites of yours in a while, beautiful work finding that one Yokota, well done sir 👍🏻💥🎯

Engraving close-up eye candy for you.

[JohnK83882]

Is this a WW2 zippo? The ones Zippo made for the army had a rough dark covering. https://www.ebay.com/itm/167044157716

[Cobra 6 Actual]

JohnK83882, it sure looks like a WWII “crackle finish” Zippo that has been worn somewhat smooth. Here’s the “backstory” on those lighters from Zippo’s site: “World War II had a profound effect on Zippo. Upon America’s entry into the war, Zippo ceased production of lighters for consumer markets and dedicated all manufacturing to the U.S. military. 

 

But, all the grade one steel & brass was needed for the machinery of war & the Zippo Mfg. Co. had to use what was available, a secondary grade of steel for their production instead. As for chrome or nickel: it was impossible to obtain to use for plating the steel cases. By early 1942 Zippo lighters made with this secondary quality steel started to corrode from humidity.

 

Born out of necessity in order to keep quality standards the cases were then coated with a heavy black paint & baked for curing what resulted in a crinkly surface structure, later on know as black crackle finish, circa mid-1942.

 

The fact that millions of American military personnel carried the Zippo lighter into battle was a significant catalyst in establishing Zippo as an icon of America throughout the world. Supplying the military market resulted in full production for the plant. This enabled Zippo to be strong financially and made it a viable company.” 

 

(By the way, date codes weren't stamped on the bottom of Zippo cases until the mid-1950's. Also please note that Zippo made replicas of this lighter in the 2014-2018 timeframe, but the bottom of the case has a modern Zippo date code in flat black or chrome. These replicas are for sale in the ~$15 to $20 range.)

[JohnK83882]

I don't know if anybody considers it worth bidding on but I thought anytime I see something interesting on ebay, I'll post it here.

 

Manny from Militaria & Varia sold me a Ww2 crackle finish zippo years ago probably for about $5 at the time. Even had initials scratched in.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

I’m with you on that, JohnK83882: I have an old and very beat up crackle finish Zippo that I bought years ago. It has a definite “been there, done that” look to it:

 

 

It also illustrates the corrosion problem on the steel under the baked Crackle Finish. As long as the Crackle Finish didn’t chip off, all was well.

[JohnK83882]

And those guys sometimes carried those lighters for years after the war. Think Grand Torino.

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

JohnK83882, definitely so. Why stop using a perfectly good Zippo? I have several I had engraved in Vietnam and did carry them for many years. In fact, until I started getting older and worrying about losing them, I always had one of them on me as part of my Every Day Carry.

[yokota57]

14 hours ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

I’m with you on that, JohnK83882: I have an old and very beat up crackle finish Zippo that I bought years ago. It has a definite “been there, done that” look to it:

 

 

It also illustrates the corrosion problem on the steel under the baked Crackle Finish. As long as the Crackle Finish didn’t chip off, all was well.

Great original C6A! I've seen WW2 Zippos that have been "enhanced" with Rhino Liner truck bed spray. It resembles the original crackle finish. I prefer yours with all the patina that tells its story. Ichi-Ban !!!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, yokota57! You know, just to be thorough I should have posted the reverse of that lighter. Here it is:

 

[yokota57]

17 minutes ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

Thanks, yokota57! You know, just to be thorough I should have posted the reverse of that lighter. Here it is:

 

Tasty!