How to Remove a Safety Band from a Bic Lighter

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posted on 17 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Bic, and most lighter manufacturers, installed child-proofing devices on their products in the 1990s. If you have arthritis or other injuries preventing you from lighting one (and do not have children around), have someone try this for you.[1]
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Things You Should Know

Insert a fork prong or other sturdy object, like a thin screwdriver, into the flame hole. Leverage the band up and out of place.
If needed, use your object to bend the metal flaps that hold the band outward (just make sure to bend them back once it’s removed).
Alternatively, put the tip of a pocket knife between the band and the wheel. Pry upward to free the band.

Steps

With the red lever facing away from you, position a narrow but sturdy object such as a key into the flame hole of the lighter.

Use the near rim as a leverage point to push the band up in order to bend the two metal flaps holding the band in place upwards. Occasionally, the safety band may spring off, so go slow and protect your eyes and those of others.

With needle-nose pliers or fingers, grab the band and slowly wiggle it out like a tooth. Pulling it too hard could result in loosening the wheel.

Use the flat end of your object to gently press the metal flaps that secured the band back in place.

Fork method

Simply take a fork and insert one of the side prongs into the top of the lighter between the 2 wheels, and simply force it up. (You may have to use a thinner item, such as a small screwdriver, or a thicker paperclip; depends on the brand, again. For a Bic, a fork should work pretty well.) This forces the safety out from the prongs which hold it in -- although it should be mentioned, for the sake of safety, that sometimes it pops out fully and can hit you in the eye. (Use safety glasses, I guess?)

From there you can simply use needle-nose pliers or fingers as above to remove it fully. This often saves you from having to re-adjust the prongs, which can often nick your thumb, even after they've been flattened. If the prongs actually came undone, just push them back in with a hard flat object, such as the butt end of the screwdriver. You can even just press them against the edge of the table.

Pocket knife method

Get a pocket knife out, and bring it in from the side, under the band but above the wheel.

Pry up, and watch out: the band usually flies right off. Pointing the lighter downwards is a very good idea. Usually this method leaves the prongs intact; you won't have to bend them back down if this is done properly. Might take a try or two, but this should keep you honest enough of a cool guy/girl.