My Zippo

Here's a shot of my current Zippo:


I've had it for two or three years. It was manufactured in January 05 in any event.

I purchased it to replace another black one, which was complete with a bumpy finish. (Zippo calls it "Crackle.")


I really liked it and had it since 2002. It is the first Zippo I owned in years. A little metal piece (called a cam spring) broke off, so the lid didn't stay closed anymore. Zippos come with a lifetime guarantee. I decided change is a good thing, so I bought my current model instead of bothering to send it in.

A very good friend Riz got me a zippo for my birthday in '04.



The JD was significant in that my friend and I had recently taken JD shots - something I hadn't done for a very long time because of a drinking event that included JD back in 1990. I loved the sound that this Zippo makes; a more solid sound due to the JD metal overlay.

I lost this lighter on Pride Weekend in '05. Michael (my Haunt's favourite bartender) and I were in the back alley. He felt I was irrationally attached to the friend who had given me the lighter, and for my "own good" skidded it under a fence complete with barbed wire, ensuring it and I were parted forever.

Interestingly, Michael and I are still friends and I haven't heard from Riz in ages.

My first Zippo was a mini. A gift from my sister for Christmas when I was 16 or 17. The hinge eventually broke on it. It sported a major dent on one of the corners, a dent it obtained only a week after I got it.

A friend from school was having a New Years' party at her apartment, which was next to our school. She ended up clearing the place out at about 11:40 because things were getting a little out of hand. About 4 or 5 of us took our liquor, and ended up ringing in the new year in the smoking area at school.

We were walking past the friend's building, and heard a female yelling from her balcony near the top floor. She was wishing us a Happy New Years. We returned the sentiment, and was then invited up to her place.

As soon as we got in her apartment, I knew something was amiss with this young lady. She kept saying repeatedly, "Don't tell my mother you guys came over." The poor thing had a bat or two in the rafters.

We quietly organised our retreat, this being a drawn-out affair as one of us decided he could 'get lucky.' In any event, she went into the kitchen and we made our escape.

We were in front of the building again when I realised I left my smokes - and my Zippo - in the apartment. I needed to go back. My friends told me to leave it, but I just got the lighter as a gift.

Just then, a voice from the balcony cried down, "You forgot your cigarettes"

She threw them off the balcony. I went to pick them up, suddenly remembering I hadn't kept the Zippo in the pack. The next thing I new, a mere few inches from me, my Zippo ricocheted off of the sidewalk.

And hence the dent.

Categories: Breeders, Haunt, Life, Party