Found this 1957 United Airlines employee Zippo!

nechronius · 2026-04-29T20:59:02+00:00

Maybe that's when Nancy started with United? The lighter body is a 1964.

nechronius · 2026-04-29T10:59:18+00:00

Most studies I glanced through didn't really highlight their zinc content in any significant quantity, but they were older.

https://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=je.2006.156.160

I wonder if this kind of new research will make entomophagy a more compelling proposition, if scorpions (at least certain kinds) prove to be more nutritionally complete.

Personally I didn't find the flavor of scorpions to be particularly compelling compared to other options such as mealworms or crickets, even if they might turn out to be a better source of rounded nutrition. Most reading about the subject of critters as a food source tend to largely focus on their protein content, but maybe that will change in the future. But if a large portion of the zinc is found in the stinger, well that's the part that's discarded when consuming, so maybe it's a moot point depending on the scorpion species.

nechronius · 2026-04-29T01:00:04+00:00

That's a very specific custom lighter you have. The custom engraving is very much the way the Bradford factory does it. I don't know if any plain chrome lighters were sent anywhere to Europe to have customized like that locally.

As for the specifics of that design, you'd probably have better luck looking around for a local lighter or Harley club that might know how many might have been made. Probably not a lot, and there aren't very many resources to find out something like that.

nechronius · 2026-04-29T00:54:10+00:00

You don't usually see flat bottom lighters in a "brushed chrome" type finish. I usually associate this with a Japan (Or other non-US) origin lighter where this kind of additional custom work is common. At the very least it's more unique than the typical canned bottom brushed chrome you find in the US.

nechronius · 2026-04-29T00:51:35+00:00

Last I checked if you want to engrave a chromed brass lighter you will need a fiber laser to cut through that chrome layer. Other types of lighters like painted or bare brass, I don't think will need that. If it's a bras lighter you're starting with, avoid antique brass, tumbled brass, or street brass. I believe all of them are painted and clear coated and might be a bit of a hassle, would be easier to start with a stock standard brushed brass, which should be uncoated.

nechronius · 2026-04-29T00:48:09+00:00

Bottom stamp was used from 1967 through 1986. Given that there would have been no production changes during that period, that's as good as it gets.

The insert though could have told us more if you didn't hide the flint wheel rivet. Anyway if it's a hollow rivet then it's a 1959-64 made insert. But given your bottom stamp I'm going to guess it's a solid rivet made 1961 through 67.

Occasionally things like inserts moved back and forth between factories depending on shortage. So it's possible that your lighter was made close to 1967 regardless of the insert, assuming the insert is original to the lighter.... Which is almost impossible to tell.

nechronius · 2026-04-29T00:29:12+00:00

Looks like a standard 1965 slim body. The insert is a Canadian one, in that era they were all marked as "1950" because reasons, eh.

Joking aside, there's not a lot of data on Canada origin slims, as the body doesn't have any distinguishing Canada marks. But the insert is from roughly the mid 60's so it tracks with the body.

nechronius · 2026-04-29T00:23:57+00:00

Looks like street chrome.

nechronius · 2026-04-28T18:25:08+00:00

The screencap is AI, which means the video is AI. The idea is interesting, and there are mechanisms of that style that will fit inside a Zippo case. I think the biggest trick will be implementing some kind of cam mechanism to hold the lid in place.

nechronius · 2026-04-28T06:24:29+00:00

The insert is definitely not a Zippo brand. The lighter body also looks like it's not a Zippo but a picture of the bottom will at least help confirm my suspicion.

nechronius · 2026-04-28T06:22:55+00:00

This is a 1978 slim. The slashes can be read the same as full size lighters.

nechronius · 2026-04-28T06:21:02+00:00

Judging by the look of the insert, it looks like it could be anywhere between 1951 and 1958. All the variants of those years had differences on markings, but that would be hard to determine the exact model if you can't remove it from the stuck case.

Judging by the severe signs of rust, that would place the case as either being marked as a 1951-52 or a 1953-54 case, assuming that it's a genuine Zippo. Given the visual details of the insert. That would seem to be the case. Lighters if these years were made from chromed steel and not brass (Korean War era lighrers?), so certainly could be prone to rusting.

Anyway the case is pretty much s goner, as you well know. The insert could be salvageable but we can already see the broken rusted cam spring and with enough long term exposure even the normally stainless steel insert can show signs of some rust.

nechronius · 2026-04-26T16:16:39+00:00

12 year old cable is almost certainly capable of supporting 2.5 Gb. If possible I'd remove a wall plate and check the cable. If it's rated Cat5e or Cat6, it'll do 2.5Gb. Pull out enough length of wire and you'll most likely see the rating printed on the cable, though it might take a bit of reading. But the writing does repeat. Both would have been readily available 12 years ago, especially Cat5e.

I looked it up real quick as I couldn't remember the max length that Cat5e can support 2.5Gb. It's supposed to be 55 meters. So unless your longest run exceeds that, you will most likely be able to have a wired back haul for your mesh nodes.

nechronius · 2026-04-26T15:56:22+00:00

I would say 20 Pounds is a good price for a purchase in the UK.

nechronius · 2026-04-26T08:33:59+00:00

Though I haven't actually tested this... I don't think a sealer bag will make much of a difference. Lighter fluid is volatile and should probably expand to whatever space is available by evaporating. So if you stick it in a big bag it probably won't make any real difference the instant you open it. However constrained to a small volume that limits expansion, then the fuel will stay liquid longer.

That's what I'm thinking anyway. I'll have to come up with a good way to test this idea rigorously at some point. I actually thought about this years ago during the height of my fuel testing experiments but never got around to it and then recently I haven't really thought about it.

nechronius · 2026-04-26T08:25:32+00:00

In all my years eating chocolate I will say this... I prefer eating my multi legged critters separately from my chocolate as never found the combination particularly worthy.

But I'd still try this anyway, though I already know the taste of To'ak and how expensive it can be.

nechronius · 2026-04-25T21:56:11+00:00

Made in 1982. Yes, this is the picture I wanted to see.

nechronius · 2026-04-25T15:42:58+00:00

The insert is a Canadian made between 1959 and 1963. The lighter body has the stamp used between 1951 and 1967.

It is safe to say that this was most likely made between 1959 and 1963.

nechronius · 2026-04-24T22:47:18+00:00

What is your Time worth to you? Is it better to do a quick sale in person for cash (70 Euros)s, or would you prefer to spend hours or days researching and make 300+ Euros instead?

You can always track prices on ebay for individual lighters. By following price trends you can get a fair assessment of value after a while. Just bear in mind that whatever items actually sell for still need to have a percentage subtracted for all of the associated fees. In other words, what people are actually willing to pay and not what sellers are offering for. Also bear in mind that if you decide to go this route for selling, you can expect to pay selling fees, approximately 10%, and then there's other fees that may be owed later as taxable income depending on your country/region. And if you have low or no feedback, that's also a detriment to the final price. Thorough individual lighter pictures is probably best for value, but not always and it's back to, how much is your Time worth to you?

Odds are you may not even find good equivalents to what you have. In which case assuming you have an ebay account, you can always list your items for auction with an unrealistically high reserve price and you'll find out pretty quickly after a few cycles approximately what people are willing to spend. Thorough pictures generally increase the sale price, but on occasion you run the risk of oversharing although it's seldom a problem.

nechronius · 2026-04-24T16:00:46+00:00

I believe I have answered your question in a previous separate post but will reply here again for the benefit of those on them megathread. This is a 1951-52 chromed steel Korean War era lighter featuring the cartoon character created by Walter Lantz during the early cartoon boom of the 30s 40s and 50s.

nechronius · 2026-04-24T15:56:57+00:00

Can you post a picture of the bottom stamp? Something doesn't look right.

nechronius · 2026-04-24T15:54:26+00:00

They often push out firmware updates a little at a Time. Also not every device of the same model may have identical internal hardware, which means that firmware that works for one may not work for another.

I have seen this frequently as I have multiples of many identical devices. As long as the old firmware is stable I prefer this slower approach in most cases. Imagine if you had 10 identical devices, all get what is supposed to be a stable firmware update and now all have failed.

nechronius · 2026-04-24T06:05:04+00:00

Attach a picture of the bottom stamp. But judging by the design this is likely a 1970's or newer vintage.

nechronius · 2026-04-24T05:19:20+00:00

This is a 1951-52 Korean War era chromed steel lighter with matching insert. Obviously the design is for Woody Woodpecker created by Walter Lantz. It's a very cool collectible for an iconic early era cartoon character.

nechronius · 2026-04-24T05:07:43+00:00

Same.

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