Light a Zippo and Look Cool

For as casual as it looks, learning how to flick a Zippo lighter—and maintain your cool while doing so—takes effort. You’ll also want to ensure that you’re presenting the proper context for this move through your dress and attitude. After all, while the patented Zippo flick is a crucial ingredient, true, all-over cool is a full-body ideology.

Steps

Looking Cool

1. Define cool. Your concept of “cool” will depend immensely on your own aesthetic tastes, themselves informed by the culture or subcultures you count yourself a member (or simply an aficionado) of. If you think that flicking a Zippo has a place in looking cool, there are several classifications which might feel appropriate.
   • Rockabilly
   • Punk
   • Look Like a Greaser
   • Grunge
2. Dress the part. Consult a style guide appropriate to your idea of cool if you’re drawing a blank here, or think of pop culture icons that appeal. Don your leather jacket, skinny jeans, studded denim, or oversized flannel, and express your coolest self.
   • If you’d like to embody the 50s greaser ideal, for example, look to James Dean for inspiration, or Grease’s Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John).
   • You can’t ignore the coif! Your hair needn’t adhere to the trendiest cut, but it can’t be ignored. You need to consider your appearance from head to toe.
   • It’s a good idea to bone up on some basic facts appropriate to these subcultures. Dressing punk and then not knowing where to take the conversation when someone mentions Sid Vicious is most assuredly uncool.
3. Rock the attitude. The particular ‘tude you present to the world will depend on your personality and what you, personally, aspire to be. Presenting oneself as aloof is a way to cultivate an aura of cool, but take care not to mistake disregard for others for aloofness. Instead, try to avoid become bogged down by negativity and minor concerns, and present a calm, collected exterior to the world.
   • While aloof is often synonymous with cool, others may find true passion to be cooler. You can’t fake passion—and really, you’re never be as cool as you can be if you feel like you’re faking who you are—but maybe don’t be so cared of expressing and pursuing your passion, whether it’s music, drawing, computer programming, scriptwriting, performing comedy, automotive repair, or anything else! You can be trendy in addition to everything else you are.
4. Rise above peer pressure. If you’re old enough to decide for yourself, it’s certainly your own right to decide whether you smoke or not. Know that you don’t need to smoke to carry and cooly use a Zippo, however—providing a light for others, especially those you’re romantically interested in, can make quite a mark.
   • If worst comes to worst, you can always light candles with your Zippo, though we’ll make no claim that you will look cool in any capacity while doing this. But hey—you do you.

Mastering the Technique

1. Equip yourself with the appropriate gear. You’re decked out in cool apparel now, but there’s a pretty integral piece of gear you’ll need to look cool while lighting a Zippo. That piece of gear is—you guessed it—a Zippo.
   • The flip-top and wind-resistant flame are what make a Zippo unique among lighters. You have plenty of options when it comes to lighters on the market, but for our purposes you’re specifically trying to look cool with a Zippo, after all.
2. Ensure your Zippo is fueled up. Lighter fluid will evaporate after a week or so of non-use, so you’ll likely need to refill your lighter if it’s been more than a week since you used it. If it’s new it will likely be full, but it’s a good idea to pick up some Zippo lighter fluid ahead of time—you’ll be replenishing it often.
   • Take care to wash your hands after handling fluid, and ensure that lighter fluid didn’t soak into any of your clothes before lighting your Zippo.
   • The wick can also require occasional maintenance. If all you can see is charred and black, pull it up with a pair of tweezers and trim the scorched part.
3. Hold the Zippo appropriately. Grip it with your index and middle finger on the top and your thumb on the bottom, with the hinge away from you.
4. Snap your fingers. Both index and middle finger should move down towards your thumb, then take its place so that they’re holding the lighter on the bottom. Your thumb, meanwhile, will slide around to the Zippo’s frontside, near the flint wheel.
   • This is the tricky part, so don’t be discouraged if you send the lighter flying a few (dozen) times in the process. It will take practice and some intense snapping, but if you do it right it'll open.
   • With practice you’ll be able add a little more flair to the motion, flicking your wrist as flip open the lighter.
5. Ignite the flame with your thumb. Quickly spin the flint wheel with your thumb. You’ll eventually be able to work this all into one, smooth motion, where the flame seemingly sprouts out of the open Zippo instantaneously.
6. Light up. Zippos can produce a hotter, bigger flame, so take care if you’re accustomed to other lighters. Their wind-resistant nature also means you won’t necessarily have to cup the flame to protect it, but whether you want to still do this or not is up to you. This is about image, after all.
   • When lighting a cigarette for someone else, take care not to press the flame too close to the smoker’s face. Hold the flame out close enough so that it’s convenient for them, but allow the smoker to comfortably lean in toward the flame themselves.
7. Flick it closed. You have two options available to you for closing the lighter, but the slickest method is undoubtedly to flick it closed. Take firm hold of the lighter’s base with the hinge away from you, and snap your wrist toward you. This should snap the lighter closed without requiring you to touch the top.
   • The other option available is to simply push it closed with one finger. Simply place your index finger against the Zippo’s hinge, then thrust it upward to snap to top back into place.
8. Practice in the mirror. Yeah, yeah, practicing in the mirror doesn’t feel cool. But the goal of looking cool will take a little legwork—direct your attention to the makeover montage in any movie for proof of this rule. Besides, taking the time to really put in the work to achieve something you want, even something as slight as “looking cool with a lighter,” is undoubtedly cool.
   • In order to become an actor, Henry Winkler worked hard to overcome his dyslexia. This eventually led him to portray an enduring icon of cool, Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli of notable ABC 70s sitcom Happy Days.

Showing Off Without Showing Off

1. Don’t be overeager. Whipping your Zippo around indoors, or idly flipping it on and off without any need for it won’t make you cool: it will make you look obnoxious. So stay calm! The opportunity will arise, and when it does, demonstrate your new skill without drawing particular attention to it. Appearing cool requires the appearance of effortlessness, regardless of how much work you put into it.
   • The term in Italian is “sprezzatura,” a word that refers to the “studied carelessness” one exerts in order to allure and appeal. Embody sprezzatura.
2. Be ever prepared. The motto of the U.S. Coast Guard is Semper Paratus, meaning “always ready,” and guess what—it’s your motto now, too. If you don’t keep your Zippo lighter on you at all times, you won’t be able to display your proficiency with it! Make it a part of your routine when you’re readying to leave your home, and keep it near your keys or wallet to help you remember.
3. Keep your Zippo clean. Not just cosmetically clean (though that’s a fine idea for pretty much everything a person owns) but mechanically. The flint wheel in particular can collect little bits of debris and flint, which will make it more difficult to light. Periodically clean the wheel with a small, soft brush.
4. Ensure you’re quick on the draw. Without being overeager, keep that Zippo in an easily accessible pocket. If a friend, new acquaintance, or stranger whom you’d very much like to leave an impression upon needs a light, patting yourself down for fifteen seconds before producing it isn’t exactly the smoothest move.
5. Don’t take up smoking to show off. Smoking is an addictive, health-adverse habit. If you’re of age (18 in most U.S. States) then the decision whether you’d like to smoke is up to you, but know that your decision shouldn’t be informed by a desire to look cool. There’s nothing cool about the myriad cancers which smoking contributes to.

Tips

This is one cool way to light a Zippo, but there are a multitude of tricks available to Zippo-users. Youtube is overloaded with how-to videos for the more advanced methods.

Warnings

• Always exercise caution when using a lighter. Any open flame can be dangerous and start a fire.

Related Articles

• Replace a Zippo Wick
• Keep Friends from Stealing Your Lighter
• Blow Smoke Rings
• Smoke a Cigarette

Sources and Citations

See also

• Change the Wheel That Strikes the Flint in a Zippo Lighter
• Flick a Zippo Lighter
• Use a Lighter
• Refill a Lighter
• Put Lighter Fluid in a Lighter
• Refill a Zippo Lighter
• Replace a Zippo Wick
• Flick a Bic Lighter
• Remove a Safety Band from a Bic Lighter
• Fix a Lighter

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• Make a Lighter Shoot a Huge Flame
• Change the Wheel That Strikes the Flint in a Zippo Lighter