The Zippo fluid is the one recommended to be used with all Zippo lighters. But some people might doubt if the zippo fluid is the best option for a lighter fuel. Back in the day, there were only two manufacturers of lighter fluid – Zippo fluid and Ronson fluid. But as time went on everything changed. Nowadays there are all kinds of lighter fluids out there. They are divided in classes depending on their price. However many people still ask themselves if the Zippo fluid is the best out there.
The first two competitors in this industry were the Ronson fluid and the Zippo fluid. They go way back for almost a century. Ronson was the first manufacturer of lighters in the world. Zippo on the other hand started a bit later, but became very popular when it stopped distribution to the public during World War II to start distributing lighters only to the US military. Over time this battle has been going on, even though more and more people believe that the zippo fluid is, and always has been the better lighter fuel. There are a lot of factors contributing to this statement.
The Zippo fuel came out the same time Zippo started manufacturing lighters. They have always produced fluid-powered lighters. Hence their only job apart from perfecting the lighter was always perfecting the zippo fuel. For a very long time, there hasn’t been any incident and everyone who has used a zippo lighter can say that the consumer experience is great. When you only have one type of a product, just as Zippo has, your whole business depends on it, and hence you would do anything to make it better.
On the other hand, Ronson never had a great focus on fluid-based lighters. They started with the manufacturing of the disposable lighters and that’s where they made most of their fortune. When you compare the Ronson lighter fluid and the Zippo fluid you can’t really see a difference in the flame. These companies are the only ones who know if the zippo fluid is better or not. This is established by testing the lighters for over 100,000 times in a row to see if they fail to start even once. However for the regular consumer, it really comes down to a matter of taste.
Later on, Zippo started manufacturing other flame-related products which used the Zippo fluid as fuel as well. You are free to use the Ronson fuel, however the warranty Zippo gives out states that their product can perform as promised only if it’s used with the Zippo fluid.
However most of this doesn’t matter because a few years ago Zippo bought the whole Ronson Company along with all their production estates and equipment. The Ronson products kept being sold under the old company’s name, but there aren’t any more secrets regarding the fuel. To have the safest bet I would recommend that you trust none other than the Zippo fluid which has assured us of its quality for many years so far.