TORJET

Leave it to the cold, windy and rainy nights of the United Kingdom to be the inspiration for a lighter, but that’s exactly the case with the TORJET from Tor Imports.

The TORJET is a single flame, refillable windproof torch lighter that found its inspiration from Tor Imports staffers watching people attempt to light their cigars and cigarettes with soft flame lighters, only to see that these devices weren’t meant for outdoor conditions. Their solution: pack the punch of a torch lighter into the body of a disposable soft flame while offering the final product at a very wallet friendly price. And the result is nothing short of impressive.

Designed to look and function much like a standard lighter that you’d find at a convenience store, underneath the lid is a small but powerful torch lighter. However, instead of firing straight up, the flame passes through four small pieces of metal which break it up and widen it out a bit, turning an otherwise very sharp single flame into something a bit softer but still very effective.

As you might imagine, the TORJET is very portable, weighing just .7 ounces and measuring just over three inches in length, an inch in width and about one-quarter of an inch thick. The lighter almost disappears into a pocket and takes up just a small amount of space in a travel humidor. If anything, it’s a shame that this lighter is so functional and portable as I’d love to take it with me when I fly, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable trying to get it on an airplane given that it is a butane torch lighter. While I count the Djeep as my standard travel lighter, this would easily replace it if I thought it wouldn’t get confiscated and possibly get me in trouble.

To use the TORJET, all you have to do is use your thumb to pull back the ridged lid assembly, which reveals the torch, begins the flow of fuel and ignites it with about a 90 percent success rate in my weeks of testing. It’s not quite perfect, but certainly close enough.

In daily use, the TORJET is incredibly effective, making quick work out of toasting cigars of all sizes. Because of the metal pieces that help spread the flame out just a bit, even larger ring gauges can get toasted without having to burn up a tankful of butane. There is a small flame adjustment lever that’s part of the metal housing beneath the flame, though I didn’t find it made that much of a difference in terms of performance. I ended up leaving it as open as it would go, with the lighter responding with a beautiful full flame that never got out of control.

While this is a common complaint about using torch lighters in the daylight, I found it particularly applicable with the TORJET: the red flame is absolutely invisible when the sun is shining. As such, you do need to watch your fingers and make sure you know that it is indeed burning. Fortunately, those little pieces of metal glow a bright orange when the lighter is producing a flame, so that is a major help in preventing toasting more than just the cigar.

As mentioned above, the TORJET is refillable with standard premium butane, and the lighter didn’t seem to have any issues when I switched brands during my testing. To refill the device, simply flip it upside down to reveal the fuel valve on the bottom, purge the remaining air with a draw poker or similar device, and then insert the fuel can’s stem and fill until you see the fluid close to the clear plastic bottom.

It’s worth noting that there isn’t a fuel window on this, other than the clear plastic piece on the bottom of the lighter. While I don’t want to call it useless, it doesn’t do the best job showing how much fuel you have left in the lighter, so you need to be aware of just how much you’re using it and when it might need a refill. For me, I tended to easily get 6-10 cigars lit before feeling the need to fill it back up.

Currently available in the U.K., the TORJET has an MSRP of just £1, or about $1.44, and comes in five colors: black, royal blue, red, yellow and purple. Unfortunately, it isn’t yet available in the U.S., though JetLine offers a product called the Slim Line that is billed to perform quite similarly, though there’s no lid and the ignition process is slightly different. I haven’t had the chance to use that lighter yet, so I can’t offer any sort of comparison. But after several weeks of using the TORJET, I certainly hope it can find its way stateside very quickly.

While the TORJET lacks the bells, whistles and design aesthetics that accompany other torch lighter, it more than makes up for it value and performance. If I could readily get my hands on these, I’d easily buy a dozen to have all over with a few extra to give to friends. It’s a near perfect combination of form, function and value that earns it a consideration from anyone wanting to have a lighter nearby.

The lighter for this review was given to halfwheel by Mitchell Orchant of C.Gars Ltd.