The Bison Airlighter takes making a fire to the next level. These people took the idea of a regular old lighter, added a ton of horsepower and went ahead and turbo charged the thing for good measure. I was a bit skeptical of the Airlighter at first, but after using the tool, I definitely like it. Yes, I referred to the Airlighter as a tool because I feel that it is so much more than a lighter.
This handy device is a refillable butane powered lighter that produces a strong 4 inch long flame to ignite the fuel for your fire. After the fire is burning, the Airlighter has a built in fan to provide plenty of oxygen and airflow to spread the flame throughout the combustible material. In true infomercial form now, “But wait, there‘s more”! And yes, there is more. The Airlighter is equipped with a bottle opener/hanging bracket, an adjustable tilting handle, an LED flashlight, and a switch to lock the flame and blower switch in the on position. No cup holder though.
When the Bison Airlighter arrives, the on-board battery will need to be charged. Bison provides a USB cable to handle charging. Next, the fuel reservoir needs to be filled. A can of Bison‘s fuel is provided in the box. It is recommended to use Bison fuel for the Airlighter, but any high quality fuel that is well filtered will work. Once charging and filling is done, you are ready to get your fire started.
Bison Airlighter in torch modeTo light the Bison Airlighter, slide the safety switch to the side and push the large red button on top forward. A piezo ignitor gets the forceful four inch long flame started. I tested the Airlighter on regular Kingsford charcoal. No lighter fluid was used. The Airlighter quickly ignited the charcoal briquettes. I tended to leave the fire going on the Airlighter too long. Once the charcoal is lit, turn off the flame and switch on the electric fan. Putting the Airlighter closer to the charcoal pushed the fire throughout the pile more aggressively but blew a few ashes around. Once a good distance was worked out, I pushed the flame through the pile of charcoal easily and within 15 minutes, I was cooking.
Bison Airlighter in fan modeThe Bison Airlighter is replacing my preferred method for started charcoal with the chimney starter. I have found these things to be a bit slow and I still tend to use lighter fluid to get the fire going quickly. With the Bison Airlighter, I didn‘t even consider getting the lighter fluid. Those tense moments of flicking a lit match into a soaked pile of charcoal are gone for me. This fire making tool really works well.
The MSRP of the Airlighter is $79.95. That‘s a bit more than your standard long cheap lighter from the convenience store. The cost of lighter fluid is eliminated, and I think the Airlighter is a much safer way to start a fire. Check out the Airlighter here.
– Mark