Military Lighters - All eras all brands

[Boy Howdy]

Nice Lejeune lighter.

A good friend of mine was stationed at Lejeune in the very early 70's.

He is now part of what the VA is calling "The Lejeune Group".

 

The only other pseudo Vietnam War lighters are a couple of plain Penguin brand lighters.

They were cheap and they work.

Penguin put out some beautiful lighters in the 60's.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

As long as a lighter makes fire, BH … it’s a good one! It’s true that Zippos have a certain ‘something’. But, as a way to make fire, even just with a comparison to other lighters, the ol’ Zippo has been outclassed. It has never gotten the butane insert to work quite as nicely as other commercial examples. It has replaced its fine custom engraved logos with glued on design plates. The company made a solid titanium lighter from ~2001 to ~2006, then stopped. It’s external hinge has been superseded by this style:

 

 

And yet Zippo endures. Go figure.

[Boy Howdy]

Good Grief! 

I'll stick to my plain old '67.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

1 hour ago, Boy Howdy said:

Good Grief! 

I'll stick to my plain old '67.

I’ll do both, BH. This is not strictly a military lighter, but it is one that ”resonates” with military folks:

 

[Boy Howdy]

Cool beans!

Tactical "Stuff"

[Salvage Sailor]

Tiny uniforms with tiny pockets require tiny lighters

 

US Navy Waves

 

 

 

 

Made by Hilborn-Hamburger, NY

 

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Lighters which "glow in the dark" - Joint Task Force Seven - Eniwetok Atoll Atomic Blasts

 

 

 

 

 

 

NAVY LIGHTERS TOPIC ON USMF

USN LIGHTERS Zippo, Penguin, Vulcan, Prince Rocky, Ronson, etc.

 

 

[jmd62]

Very nice lighters Salvage Sailor!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Ditto, Salvage Sailor. Here’s an authentic Marine Zippo from Vietnam:

 

[Boy Howdy]

All great lighters! Keep 'em coming!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Army MP Zippo

[jmd62]

Great looking lighter! You seem to have an endless supply of these great examples :)

[Boy Howdy]

Just one more. 2007 vintage.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Got this one as a “freebie” at this service club in 1968:

 

 

Di An was the First Infantry Division’s headquarters basecamp.

[jmd62]

1 hour ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

Got this one as a “freebie” at this service club in 1968:

 

 

Di An was the First Infantry Division’s headquarters basecamp.

The fact that you got it at the Service Club yourself during the war, really adds a nice backstory to a great looking lighter. Thanks for sharing that!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, jmd62. Here are a couple of Vietnam-made sterling silver lighter covers that I picked up in a ville there:

 

 

I don’t remember where I got the Zippo, but the idea of the lighter covers was that you could put any no-big-deal lighters inside them and then you’ve got yourself a nice lighter. Dragons, as on the lighter cover on the middle right, were a common design.

[Boy Howdy]

I have never seen those before C6A.

Thanks for the education.

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

42 minutes ago, Boy Howdy said:

I have never seen those before C6A.

Thanks for the education.

 

Sure, BH. Here’s what one … on the right … would look like on a lighter:

 

[jmd62]

Very nice Cobra 6!

[Quartermaster]

Here's most (I think) of my collection of WW2 lighters -- several black crinkle Zippos, several off brand crinkle finish lighters, Dunhills (note one is in Navy gray!), 2 foxhole lighters (never have seen another with the orange wick) plus a couple of lighter fluid containers & pack of wick and flints and some low tech .... matches! Two trench art 50 cal rounds converted to lighters too --- the head stamp on the loose one shows a 43 date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Nice collection, Quartermaster. I should explain about the WWII Zippo’s: Since brass and high grade steel were needed for the war effort Zippo had to use a lower grade steel which tended to quickly rust (although your’s look in pretty dang good condition). So, the company painted and then baked the lighters, creating a crinkled or crackled finish.

 

And here’s a steel lighter, on the left, that is similar to the two you have:

 

 

On the right is a modern made-in-China version. So, this style lighter continues … sometimes quality design becomes almost never-ending.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Here’s a good comparison of an authentic Vietnam engraved Zippo versus a fake. The graphics are starkly different. Here’s the real one:

 

 

Here’s the fake:

 

(Sorry about the small size of the fake. I don’t own it so had to use the pic from the Internet. When I tried to enlarge it more the fake was practically impossible to see.)

[jmd62]

Very nice to see a comparison, thanks!