Optimus Burny

It works, just don't plan on changing your elevation.

I've always been a fan of having at least two different sources of fire-starters, especially when camping. I have a ferrocerium rod, and then this lighter. Or did at least. When in no major elevation changes, the Optimus Burny performs great, giving off a torch-like flame that quickly ignites anything you apply it to. 

But elevation is this product's greatest weakness. 

Once you reach an elevation higher than the one you've filled your Optimus Burny at, the lighter simply fails to work. Some have speculated this being an issue dealing with temperature, but I disagree as I've tried to use this during the heat of summer and it has been rendered useless many times at higher elevation. I've tried countless times to adjust the fuel valve at the bottom, trying more and less fuel at a higher elevation, and that doesn't work either. 

While doing research, someone even emailed the company and inquired about this problem. A rep told them that "It would not work at that elevation due to the design of the piezo circuit -and could not be adjusted."

While I do hate stressing on certain weak points on a product during a review, you cannot simply ignore this one. It really makes the lighter useless if you live somewhere that isn't all flat land. Thankfully I didn't spend the full $20 bucks it was going for at the time.