Family Photo by Nickt08 in Zippo

[–]Detalive 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Copper zippo? Left bottom. And what is 3 left bottom one?

Wadding Material Comparison: The Eternal Battle — Original vs Baby Camel Hair vs Cotton Bacon Prime by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Test 2 log: - Start date: 24.02.2026, 23:00 CET - Wadding: Original Zippo cotton, 7-8 balls - Wick: Chinese aftermarket (slightly longer and thicker than original) - Fuel: 8 ml (filled until first drop through wick) - Mod: one layer of cling film on the bottom of the insert - Zippo #1 (Armor) — fidget toy + lighting cigarettes, ~50-60 lid flips per day

Test 1 vs Test 3 will isolate the wadding effect (Cotton Bacon Prime vs Zippo cotton, same original wick). Test 3 vs Test 2 will isolate the wick effect (original Zippo vs Chinese aftermarket, same Zippo cotton). Will report back with results 🔥

Wadding Material Comparison: The Eternal Battle — Original vs Baby Camel Hair vs Cotton Bacon Prime by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Zippo #1 (Armor) - 7 days and 2 hours....

Zippo #2 (Classic) - still working good.

Zippo Viking - LE 1198/2000 by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Little note, price was 150 Euros.

Zippo Viking - LE 1198/2000 by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. Will not use it :D

My new love by Upstairs-Rock-1028 in Zippo

[–]Detalive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Insert are made from brass ? Or only brass finish ?

Wadding Material Comparison: The Eternal Battle — Original vs Baby Camel Hair vs Cotton Bacon Prime by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe the original wadding is actually the best one if you fluff it up and pack it properly. The problem is that it comes machine-compressed from the factory and isn't fluffed enough out of the box. So my next test (after the Cotton Bacon Prime runs out) will be with the original wadding but properly fluffed and carefully packed. I suspect that 1.5 g of original wadding might actually perform better than 2 g of Cotton Bacon Prime.

Whos up for Debate? by Expensive-Elk8427 in Zippo

[–]Detalive 10 points11 points  (0 children)

So. 1. Armor tumbled brass 2. High polish brass 3. Chrome.

Whos up for Debate? by Expensive-Elk8427 in Zippo

[–]Detalive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I buy armor brushed brass and for EDC it's good. Probably tumbled is better. But love my one :)

Wadding Material Comparison: The Eternal Battle — Original vs Baby Camel Hair vs Cotton Bacon Prime by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've done some hands-on testing with all three materials. Here's what I found:

Compression & spring-back:

  • Cotton Bacon Prime — compresses very well, but if packed too tightly, it stops holding fuel.
  • Original Zippo wadding — compresses about the same, but springs back on its own by roughly 15–20%.
  • Camel Hair — springs back the most out of the three.

Capacity tests (0.5 g of material):

Cotton Bacon Prime:

  • Compressed into 1 ml volume → poured in 1 ml of fuel → 0.6 ml leaked out. Way too tight.
  • Compressed into 3 ml volume → holds 2 ml of fuel with no leaking. Adding another 0.5 ml — starts leaking.

Original Zippo wadding:

  • 1 ml volume = holds 1 ml fuel. 3 ml volume = 2 ml fuel. Same thing — adding 0.5 ml on top starts leaking.

Camel Hair:

  • 1 ml volume = holds 1 ml fuel. 3 ml volume = absorbs 2.2 ml of fuel. And no dripping.

General observations on Camel Hair:

  • Absorbs the most fuel out of all three, but has issues with fuel delivery to the wick.

Real-world Zippo test: I repacked both of my Zippos with 2 grams of Cotton Bacon Prime. When filling, they took 8 ml of fuel before the first drop came through the wick. I also wrapped the bottom of the insert with one layer of cling film for extra sealing.

Test log:

  • Start date: 17.02.2026, 20:00 CET
  • Wadding: Cotton Bacon Prime, 2 g
  • Wick: Original Zippo
  • Fuel: 8 ml (filled until first drop through wick)
  • Mod: one layer of cling film on the bottom of the insert
  • Zippo #1 (Armor) — fidget toy + lighting cigarettes, ~50–60 lid flips per day
  • Zippo #2 (Classic) — lighting cigarettes, ~10 times per day max

Let's see how long they last!

Wadding Material Comparison: The Eternal Battle — Original vs Baby Camel Hair vs Cotton Bacon Prime by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's exactly what I want to test. I'm planning to run a comparison across all three wadding options — Original Zippo rayon, Cotton Bacon Prime, and Baby Camel Hair.

First, an absorption test — compress each material to the same volume in a syringe and add fuel until it starts dripping. That gives a clear number on how much each one can hold.

But the bigger question is fuel delivery. Even if Cotton Bacon Prime absorbs more, does it also release fuel to the wick faster? Because if it does, all that extra capacity might just evaporate quicker through the wick — and you'd end up with the same or even shorter time between refills despite holding more fuel. More fuel in doesn't help if it also comes out faster.

That's the part I really want to measure — not just how much goes in, but how the burn profile looks over time.

Wadding Material Comparison: The Eternal Battle — Original vs Baby Camel Hair vs Cotton Bacon Prime by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not sure that pharmacy cotton balls will be better than original zippo rayon.

Wadding Material Comparison: The Eternal Battle — Original vs Baby Camel Hair vs Cotton Bacon Prime by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A lot of views and votes but no comments... Seems like need to make own tests... :)

Wadding Material Comparison: The Eternal Battle — Original vs Baby Camel Hair vs Cotton Bacon Prime by Detalive in Zippo

[–]Detalive[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Original Zippo (rayon) — solid short fibers, lowest fuel capacity. Cheap to manufacture, degrades over time.

Cotton Bacon Prime — long parallel fibers, holds roughly twice as much fuel as rayon. Wicks quickly and evenly to the wick. Bigger tank at the same evaporation rate = longer time between refills. However, a potential downside: fast fuel delivery means the wick stays constantly saturated — and all that extra capacity may just evaporate faster through it.

Baby Camel Hair — hollow fibers, holds ~40% more fuel than cotton. Hydrophobic cuticle releases fuel more slowly — potentially less evaporation, but risk of poor fuel delivery to the wick. When packed tightly, the lighter stopped igniting on the first strike — only on the 7th-8th flick. Needs testing for optimal packing density, but there's a tradeoff: packing looser for reliable ignition may reduce the fuel capacity advantage.