Zippo pipe insert

Hello free spirits! Welcome back on my blog. Today's post is about "good service", something that's kind of rare these days.

My "old" Zippo case, a pipe insert, the normal Zippo insert

Last week I was googling random stuff, something that I do once in a while. Normally I just search around for unimportant facts that I always wanted to know: like the name of that thing we put between our grocery's at the counter. Here in The Netherlands it's called a "beurtbalkje" and in English (thank you Wikipedia) it's a "Checkout divider". 'Can you please give me the Checkout divider? Thank you!'. Don't get me wrong: I have a life! And you can't say anything, because you're reading my blog at the moment!

Anyway, let me explain my train of thought. I was a little bit annoyed by having to replace products in a very short time. Mostly everything gets broke at once and in my opinion, way too fast. I mean, what has happened to all the good quality products which survive decades and sometimes even a lifetime?! Why the hell do we accept products that are built to stop functioning within several years (or even months), so that we have to buy them again. We often even buy products of the same brand, because we fall for their good and mind-controlling marketing. We also prefer to spend less money at this moment and forget that the price over time is much higher.

To make a long story short: I started googling products with a lifetime guarantee and found some cool stuff. And I'm not talking about products that normally can't be destroyed, but I've searched for things like wallets and socks! Yes, socks! I found socks with a lifetime guarantee. Imagine buying 7 pairs of socks and then never buy socks again your entire life! Check out this link: Cabela's  Lifetime Guarantee Socks. I know they're expensive, but think about all the money you flush down the toilet in a lifetime, just by buying socks.

Back on topic: I've always used a Zippo back in time when I still smoked cigarettes. A Zippo lighter comes with a lifetime warranty, which means that if there's any defect, you can just send it back to the factory and they'll repair it for free. That's the kind of service that I like! Normally, a Zippo isn't a very good pipe lighter, because the flame is huge and you have to hold the lighter horizontal to light your pipe, so the flame hangs to a side. That's why I've stopped using it. Years of pipe smoking later, I heard about the Zippo pipe insert. I've never bought one, because I thought it would make your tobacco taste crappy. More on that later.

Thunderbird pipe insert

Then I found a windproof gas insert with the name Thunderbird. Well... They're definitely not windproof, but what can you expect of a gas lighter? Here's a photo taken back in 2011:

Thunderbird pipe insert (gas)

It's a decent lighter that comes with a lifetime warranty, so if you want to use a Zippo case and don't want to use gasoline, this is your guy!

Zippo pipe insert

And then some members of the PRF (pipe smokers forum) told me that the Zippo pipe insert actually don't change the taste of your tobacco. I was surprised to hear that, but I wasn't convinced till the day I tried it myself on a meeting. When you light it, you can taste it slightly, but then it's gone. They also told me that if you send your old Zippo insert to the Zippo factory and ask for a pipe insert, they'll simply send you one for free. That's very nice of them, right? Well.. I've completely forgotten to do this.

Last week, while I was Googling for products with a lifetime warranty, I ended up on the Zippo website and my old passion for these gasoline lighters sort of "lighted up" again. Then I went to the Dutch Zippo site and sent them a message, explaining that I have an old Zippo that I don't use anymore, because I'm a pipe smoker now and asking if I could maybe trade the insert for a pipe insert. Four days without a reply and then I suddenly received a letter containing a Zippo pipe insert! I've had already heard about their good service, but this has totally surprised me! Here it is, in the middle:

My "old" Zippo case, a pipe insert, the normal Zippo insert

The hole in the pipe insert goes through, so that the flame can breath when you're lighting your pipe. The Thunderbird gas lighter insert only has an opening on one side, which makes the flame hang more to one side when you're not sucking it into your bowl.

I like my old Zippo case on the left, but I do want a new one. I've seen a Zippo Armor Case with a brushed chrome finish that I'm crazy about (it's added to my Wishlist). The armor case is 1,5 times as thick as the normal Zippo case and seems to be stronger too (except for the Hinge, that is the same as on the regular Ziippo case).

The End

That's it for today! Just a short post about my new Zippo pipe insert. Next post will probably be about my cacti seed order. I've changed my mind about some species and added others. I'll keep you up-to-date. Have a nice day! Cheers!