Jump to content

Zippo Fluid?


devilstoothpick
 Share

Recommended Posts

devilstoothpick

How exactly did that work - Cigarettes are in rations and matches - why are Zippos so prevalent from the 40's on how could they possibly be used in the field?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

General Apathy

How exactly did that work - Cigarettes are in rations and matches - why are Zippos so prevalent from the 40's on how could they possibly be used in the field?

 

.

Hi, here's a quote from the internet regarding Zippo lighters, lots of people will agree with it, lots will call it fantasy, try speaking to Viet-Nam vets they might tell you from the horses mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . ;)

 

Cigar pipe Insert[edit]. The article doesn't mention that there is a cigar insert for making lighting ... I have a new lighter whose case is marked "B 08" and the internals are marked "C 08", which are both only a few months old in terms of production. ... tie a shoelace around the insert and dip it in the gas tank of a Jeep to refill it.
regards lewis.
.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

devilstoothpick

Seems like every film of infantry be it hollywood or news reels guys are using Zippos - I have a few that I've owed from the 70's at least - and like the old half and half tins

it's the same old shinola - the fluid is the same like the pocket warmers - no way heating oil or gasoline were used in these - who the heck used these?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not quite sure what you're saying. Zippo fluid is just white gas - the same thing used today in Coleman lanterns and stoves - and is essentially just unleaded gasoline without all the additives. Ordinary unleaded gasoline can be used in place of white gas, though it will gum things up more quickly. Older forms of gasoline didn't have as many additives as we have today, so this may not have been as much of a problem in World War 2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our CG cutter spent most of its Market Time patrolling in Area 9 that covered the south tip of Viet Nam and up the west coast to the Cambodian border. This area was very shallow and the draft of our class cutter made it the correct choice for the area. The cutter had a small ships store that maintained its inventory with the weekly supply ship run from Subic Bay.

 

Each morning we would be hove to and our USN Swift Boats would come along side for breakfast, fuel, ammo, crew change, and ships store run for the local US Army special forces outposts that the swift boats had contact with. The SWIFT crews would swap crews that would overnight on board to get a days rest up. Cutter crewmembers would often take up a USN crew spot on the boat. Was always a plentiful supply line for those life basics even in some crappy neighborhoods.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In one of Ernie Pyle's books, Ernie states that the president of Zippo sent Ernie a case of Zippo lighters..Ernie stated he passed the Zippo's out to troops as he made his rounds...as Zippo lighters were highly sought after by the troops overseas....

 

as far as fuel...I gotta guess they used what was available..regardless of what people use today

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've burnt gasoline in mine in the day and my father in law was a WWII B-24 crew Chief and he used av gasoline in his zippo during the war.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In one of Ernie Pyle's books, Ernie states that the president of Zippo sent Ernie a case of Zippo lighters..Ernie stated he passed the Zippo's out to troops as he made his rounds...as Zippo lighters were highly sought after by the troops overseas....

 

 

Were these the ones with Ernie's name on?......Or were those given out posthumously?....Bodes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Bodes

 

 

After Ernie's death, the president of Zippo sent "In memory of" lighters overseas...according to the net...to the USS Cabot....

 

I am not sure if the lighters sent to Ernie while Ernie was in Europe, were engraved ...they might have been...now that gives me a good reason to re read his books...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

The Jeeps we drove in the 1980's, when you opened the gas cap, there was a little basket in there you could pull out. Must have been a strainer of sorts. You could put your zippo in there and dip it into the tank.

Pull it out put it back together wipe it off and good to go.

The only problem with zippos is if you leave em in a pants pocket, they leak and the gas, fluid or what ever can burn your skin. Speaking from experience with that one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

The only problem with zippos is if you leave em in a pants pocket, they leak and the gas, fluid or what ever can burn your skin. Speaking from experience with that one.

 

When you get that last light out of your Zippo;

 

Pop it open and squirt. Count to 5. Stop squirting.

 

You'll NEVER burn you tender bits and the front of your thigh again! :D

 

As for fuel I've always heard that ALL field lighters be they Zippo or Ronson or all of those snazzy "trench lighters" could burn the same stuff as the Shermans! Gas!

 

As mentioned white gas was a supplied item but was probably more scarce the closer you got to "the sh*t".

 

I had an old M51(?) stove and the directions said (paraphrased of course) "use white gas but in an emergency use gas".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Suppose you can use what you want but smell Zippo fluid and smell Naphtha

 

 

What's the difference?

 

I've never used VMP naptha. Used Zippo and Ronsol and tried lawnmower gas back in the day in a pinch now that I think of it! (Really stinky and very dirty black smoke)

 

I personally like the Zippo fuel better than Ronsol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suppose you can use what you want but smell Zippo fluid and smell Naphtha

 

And thats what it is - not gasoline:

 

Naphtha is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture.

Mixtures labelled naphtha have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of our local veterans, Dr. Mark Gordon Hazard, fought as an Infantry Officer in the ETO in the 79th Division. In his book "World War II as I Remember It", he stated that they used Snapps in their lighters. He said it was plentiful and worked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ironsights66

I don't mean to jack anyone's post but I thought this would be related to the topic. I was just about to post about this item and ask if anyone knew how old it was. Its obviously a gas can, but judging by its small size (3 pints-2 quarts maybe, i put a boot next to it for size comparison) its too small to be useful for anything with an engine, so I assume it is for white gasoline. Anybody know how old it is? I got it at a antique store in Mitchell SD. The tag said "WWII gas can" but that's probably not worth the paper it was written on. I would love for it to be true though so I could display it with an M-1942 field stove.

post-180172-0-07428900-1585616873.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ironsights66

Was there anything special for the gas powered lanterns fuel?

The "milspec" Coleman 252 lantern and the off brand manufactured lanterns of the model were basically civilian Coleman single burner lanterns modified to run off of gasoline, kerosene, aviation fuel, ect.. in addition to regular white gasoline, according to the Coleman collector forum I just visited. I might have to get one. Although it did say that the Army used commercial Coleman lanterns that they already had in the inventory early in the war (which only work on white gas) and converted them if they broke down. Seems like the Army might have used white gas when they could, but wanted everything to work on engine gasoline if possible. https://classicpressurelamps.com/threads/coleman-mils-pec-why.6724/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

A couple drops of a flammable liquid on the wick will allow it to burn long enough to light a cigarette. Zippo fluid, and others are mostly a light petroleum distillate and 30% naptha. https://certification.zippo.com/Documents/Safety Data Sheet/English/Zippo Lighter Fluid - North America.pdf

Most white gas, often used in lanterns and cook stoves, is a type of naptha. 

I'm sure people used everything from mogas or avgas to lantern gas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
General Apathy
On 10/19/2019 at 11:10 PM, devilstoothpick said:

How exactly did that work - Cigarettes are in rations and matches - why are Zippos so prevalent from the 40's on how could they possibly be used in the field?

 

.

Opening up this topic again with some WWII footlocker and grouping finds . . . . . . . . . 

 

There were various other cigarette lighters besides ' Zippo's ', these three are ' Park ' lighters two used and one NOS still in its original carton. The unused one and one of the used ones are o.d. crackle finish, and the second used one black crackle finish.  Also out of a footlocker a half filled bottle of lighter fluid,  note that although there's no date on the bottle it predates a zip code. I do wonder why the maker is shown as ' Authorised Brands ' I can't find anything on Google search regarding this company .

 

Park-Sherman lighters were made in Springfield,  Illinois., Interestingly on the side of the lighter box it states ' SURE FIRE . . . .when you are on the SPOT ', and on the bottle it states ' SPOT-LITE lighter fluid ' . . . . . . . . . These two items were in the same footlocker. 

 

cheers lewis

 

.fullsizeoutput_8a36.jpeg.1630097f24a9607d66bd42e0979ad7df.jpeg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get burnt thigh through the pocket with just plain old zippo or ronson fluid can't imagine gas or carrying lighter fluid in a glass bottle

and stinking like gas wild stuff. Simple dry matches must have been coveted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Elspaniel said:

get burnt thigh through the pocket with just plain old zippo

I've had that happen when I over-filled it - serious diaper rash from that! I did a lot of ocean sailing and a Zippo with properly trimmed wick would light even in very strong winds - in fact I used to say that ZIPPO's only light in the wind :) In windy damp conditions you pretty much need to duck inside some good shelter to get the matches lighted. The Zippo also could be used as a screw driver and hammer.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Bob Hudson said:

I've had that happen when I over-filled it - serious diaper rash from that! I did a lot of ocean sailing and a Zippo with properly trimmed wick would light even in very strong winds - in fact I used to say that ZIPPO's only light in the wind :) In windy damp conditions you pretty much need to duck inside some good shelter to get the matches lighted. The Zippo also could be used as a screw driver and hammer.

 

 

that is cool info they were a multi use tool - with the old flathead screws lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...