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Great Design: Butane Refill Canister Caps with Built-In Adapters

By Rain Noe - November 12, 2021

in Packaging

Some brands of butane refill canisters have five conspicuous circles on top of the cap:

Those are break-off adapter tips, so that you can refill different brands of lighters.

These have been around for decades, and sadly the original designer is unknown. But I think it's an example of great design. They spent a little more money on the molds and perhaps pennies in extra plastic to make things easier for the end user.

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Dee An

3 years ago

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Clipper lighters are a certain combination of size, capacity, ergonomics and serviceability. They also have a recognisable silhouette, to the extent they have featured in pop culture (such as on an album cover by The Streets)

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Dee An

3 years ago

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To study the whole 'system', we might also remember the can has a (partial) list of lighter brands printed on it against which adaptor to use.
The superior design decision can be seen on Clipper lighters: they fit the nozzle on the refill can without the need for an adaptor.
By contrast, Zippo make butane lighters that reqyire their own-brand gas. If used with generic butane the flame is too low, and they are non-adjustable.

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