Xikar Stratosphere II High Altitude Lighter, Single Jet Flame, Windproof, Ergonomic Design, Durable and Dependable, Clear

I have seen a lot of poor reviews for this lighter. My unit worked well our of the box and it has continued to work well for 3 years. I have owned or been gifted a lot of lighters and some very pricey ones (eg Colibri) have not held up well at all. Very few of my many refillable lighters last more than a year or two. For a while I resorted to cheap disposable non-refillable ones. However, this one has been good.I suspect the problem might be initial quality control, as the complaints have been for a new unit, and not that they failed after using a while. This has been a good purchase for me.

This lighter is horrible, took forever to get it to light after its first refill then it worked fine up until the next time to refill it. That's when it wouldn't light again. It's to big of a pain to get it to light after every refill, and paying this much for a lighter that was suppose to be reliable and light in lots of extreme conditions was a bad joke. It is hard enough getting it to light under normal conditions let alone in the extreme. Stay far away and look else where if your looking for a survival lighter that will work whenever you need it. Gas station Bic lighters are more reliable than this cheap junk

Great windproof lighter, emphasis on windproof...you really have to try to get it to go out (the heat element works exceptionally well, even when compared to other lighters with similar features). I purchased this one as a backup (my primary is a simple single/soft flame Thunderbird insert for my Zippo) lighter for high-altitude backpacking and I believe it will serve me well in that capacity (just keep in mind that it does have a jet flame, which, despite burning hotter, does consume fuel at a greater rate than the average soft-flame). It is easy to change the height of the flame, though I found that my example required a fairly high volume to ignite reliably (and I haven't tried it at particularly high altitudes as of this draft). I only wish it were a little more compact, though it is reasonably lightweight and has a fairly large fuel reserve, so it isn't worth deducting a point for this minor drawback. It replaced my old Eddie Bauer windproof lighter that recently died. Hopefully this one lasts as long (though it has an excellent warranty, if it happens to fail early).

This lighter is amazing, and totally a steal at the price.Four stars;Fits into pouches and pockets without fuss.Lights almost every time; occasionally the first go is a bust.For everyday use, butaine reserve lasts a good while.Easy to use one handed, in either left or right hand.Good gri from the diamond etched and shape.One star off;1. The hinge is a bit loose, and wobbly, and I worry about it's longevity.2. It would be nice if there was an O-ring between the cap and base, for a water right seal. I currently wouldn't trust this thing to get wet.

I've owned mine for a year and have used it up to 9500' (2900m) under a number of difficult weather and high altitude conditions and always operates flawlessly. I appreciate the huge tank with a large, clear window for keeping track of its level. It's built to take punishment and has. Especially if you spend a lot of time in the outdoors and need reliability, this is the way to go.I own two Xicar lighters and have had one for decades. Outstanding quality and design. If anything ever goes wrong, their lifetime guarantee is absolutely outstanding along with their customer service. Great company!

I bought this for a trip to Colorado with some buddies, realizing my torch lighters likely wouldn't work well. So, I bought this based on decent reviews and the need for a week. I filled it with the good gas and at out altitude in north Texas is seemed to work fine. Luckily I brought a couple of my torch lighters to Colorado though.We were at about 9000' in Lake City. This lighter worked briefly, sort of. It got a couple of cigars lit with some patience and thumb work. The second time, it just wouldn't light or would start to then die. I grabbed both torch lighters to try and lo and behold, they lit just fine. A little flicker at first but fired up and kept us going.I did bleed and refill this one but got nothing more than a brief light and flickered out. Torch lighters, including one I've had for 10+ years, both worked fine.I wanted to like this one and really wanted it to work, but no go. Too high? Not high enough?More like a waste of money. Luckily for the week we had by trusty, old, torch lighters.Maybe it's a case of, "you get what you pay for"? These are relatively inexpensive, so maybe that should have been a sign. Too bad the return window is so short on these......

The lighter worked great for about a month and a half. Then the spring for the flip top broke causing the lid to not stay closed. Shortly thereafter the lighter started having issues lighting, I’m assuming from dust/dirt being able to get into the top. Now it doesn’t work at all despite going through the usual steps to troubleshoot torch lighters. I use high quality butane as well.Warranty service takes 4-6 weeks which makes it pointless.

I needed a decent, no frills, consistent torch. I researched so many and finally decided on this one. It shows up and I fuel 'er up. Click, click , click...nothing. I wait 10 minutes, nothing. Around 50 clicks later, it lights. Ok maybe just break in thing. Put it in my pocket and about 2 hours later get a cigar ready....click, click....nothing. I set it upright overnight and in the morning I try it again, it works over and over again. Ok so I stuff it back into my packet and a few hours later go to fire up a cigar and nothing, over and over. I walk over to the garbage can and slam it in. Some may have gotten a good one but mine was absolute effing garbage.Edit: The manufacturer has done a solid thing here and has made this right with me. They sent me an alternate Xikar torch that they pre tested out before shipping to me on their dime. It works great and they did everything right to make this customer happy on a originally defective product. Well done Xikar.

Article utilisé 5 ou 6 fois pour dégustation de cigare. A arrêté de fonctionner du jour au lendemain. Plus aucune flamme malgré une charge pleine. Très déçu surtout à ce prix! Garantie terminée depuis quelques jours...

I thought I would purchase a somewhat expensive light in the hopes that it would last. Less than a year and it's dead.

it worked well in the beginning, after the refill it was totally not working.