I have been on the hunt for two things lately. 1. a butane torch lighter not made in China and 2. An awesome table lighter. I had to give up my search for a butane torch lighter made in the USA since they do not exist after Zippo discontinued the Blu which most have said wasn't a great lighter to begin with. I looked at maybe getting an IM Corona Flambeau since its made in Japan but they are pricey and there's not really any reviews done on them on top of being rather hard to find if you're picky about color/design. I broke down and figured I wouldnt find what I was looking for outside of the Chinese market and bought an Alec Bradley The burner. Granted its made in Taiwan not China. The burner is basically a bunson burner, not a torch but also not really a "soft flame", but a super power soft flame. I thought it would be great for toasting but its rather difficult to evenly toast a cigar and if you actually use it on a table and dont hold it you cant really see if the foot is toasting or not and its hard to find the sweet spot to hold the cigar at. I then decided to continue my search for a torch lighter not made in China. While scrolling through ebay I happened to see a Snap-on butane torch. Yes, thats right Snap-on the USA based tool company makes a butane torch. At first I figured it was too big of a torch to toast up a cigar but I decided to look into it some more. Snap-on makes two butane torches, the Torch300 and the Torch400. The 400 is definitely overkill for a cigar while the 300 is actually pretty perfect, yes it can be put on max which is way too much for a cigar but around medium it's perfect. Whats even better is this torch can stand on its own and stay lit, the perfect table lighter, it may not be classy looking but it sure looks cool as hell if you're a gear head like me. The torch however is not made by Snap-on or made in the USA but it is made in Ireland by Portasol and is very similar to their Torch 220 http://www.portasol.com/product-r2.asp?P_ID=325. The Snap-on one has a much more comfortable design as far as lighting and adjusting the flame. The Portasol torch is only $30 on Amazon, the Snap-on version is $69.99 or a few dollars less if you dont want to buy the iconic red and black style one https://store.snapon.com/Miniature-Butane-Soldering-Torches-C681479.aspx. I contemplated getting the Portasol one but besides it not looking cool enough at all to keep on my table the way it lights and adjusts just isnt very ergonomic at all. I decided to splurge and spend the 70 bucks on the Snap-on Torch300. It arrived today and its pretty damn awesome. It has a nice rubber grip, a dual spark ignition, a fuel window (which although isn't very clear if you shine a light through the other side you can see the fuel level), and an easy to use adjustment wheel. So far I have only used it to light one cigar which it worked perfectly and I'm sure with a little more practice will just get better. I took some pictures and also did a short video review for you guys. Enjoy! Feel free to ask any questions or leave any feedback, even if its you think I'm crazy for using this to light cigars lol.
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