Point the average pocket lighter down and fire it up and the flame will quickly rise and burn your thumb. But with a few simple adjustments, Dissim has developed a lighter that works as effectively upside down as it does right-side up. The little pocket lighter’s unique design allows it to hop into a candleholder to light a wick or dive deep down to the bottom of a tinder pile to spark a roaring campfire.
Commonly associated with cigarettes, disposable and refillable pocket lighters are designed to do their best work when held upright. Once you have to hold one flame-side down, the flame rises upward and starts to lick at your skin — not a particularly clean solution.
After playing around with designs resembling everything from keychain lights to leaf blowers, the Dissim team settled on the final round-tail design. The trigger and flame port are pushed out to opposite sides, with the latter angled so that when the flame rises, it rises away from the hand. The cutout on the other end provides a grip for upside-down use. Perhaps just as important as the fact that the Dissim lighter works, the design looks good — distinctive, sleek and simple.
The Dissim lighter includes a fuel level window, flame height adjustment and butane refill valve. It’s 3.2 in (8 cm) tall, weighs 3 oz (85 g) and holds 2 g of fuel.
Dissim’s Kickstarter campaign is already a runaway success, having raised more than 10 times its goal within its first day. A $24 pledge will secure a lighter, and a $35 pledge packages that lighter with a water-resistant carry case. Dissim backs the lighter with a lifetime warranty, and its initial plans call for deliveries to begin in August 2020.
Dissim lighter flips the flame for easy upright and inverted lighting [New Atlas]