I've got a cigarette lighter effect I made from a set of Jos Bema (Tommy Wonder) lecture notes I've had for years, but it's finally fallen apart, and I want to make a new one (or two or three). I originally used a "Super Cricket" lighter, but apparently these haven't been made in ages, with the "Cricket" name long since sold to another company.

What I'm looking for is a plastic disposable lighter with a wide body that's more rectangular (squared at the corners) than rounded. The Super Crickets are roughly 1.25" wide, 3/8" deep, and 3" tall. The height really doesn't matter much, but should be at least 2".

So far, aside from finding one on E-bay http://tinyurl.com/yc483aj , I've found the "Djeep" brand "wide body" lighter, but I haven't yet found their dimensions, and the edges are router than I'd prefer: http://www.djeep.com

Any suggestions?

On a separate note, while searching for a suitable replacement, I ran across this lighter which could have some interesting magic applications:
http://www.bewild.com/stliwisehico.html

If this is for the lighter to matches gimmick, I'd imagine most of the cheap disposalble butane lighters out there would work. Most are probably less than an inch wide, but are not round, and should work to make the gimmick.

Less than an inch wide might be a problem for this application. PM sent with explanation.

I just sent for the stash lighter.

Can you (pretty please) update us on your results?

I just wanted to give a public thanks to Michael Baker who's been quite helpful through an exchange of PMs.

I found the Djeep lighters locally and think I can make them work.

Tommy Wonder is my Hero.
Great effect that I use all the time
Paul>W
From Israel

The trick of a lighter to matches is still available at James Rainho's Simplex Magic site. Here

Thanks for the link.
The Djeepp lighters have worked out fairly well, though I had to make a larger matchbox out of two standard Diamond ones.
I found some larger matchboxes Yesterday at an "outdoors" store that may make things simpler next time.

Where did you get the larger match boxes?

Hey all,

Reviving this old thread as I'm trying to make this amazing prop. Does anyone know of a good lighter-matchbox combination that works? The match boxes I can find are too thin (Or the Bic lighters too thick).

I see the post above suggesting to make a thicker box from two standard. That's a great idea too, but a matchbox that is thicker to begin with might be more durable in the long run.

Thank you!


Eldini

You don't need to make a thicker box, just glue in a piece of cardboard next to the lighter to fill out the width. They still have flat cheap lighters that will fit in the narrow match boxes. Just remove the fuel, and keep the flint so it sparks. The lighter should stick up a little beyond the box, so you index finger can hold the lighter so you can strike the flint.