Nowadays the government and the private sector are in agreement about protecting children from certain objects. It almost makes you want to throw your lighter away! When I was a child, I was good at finding creative solutions to problems and learned a neat trick. If you're under eighteen, you've probably already figured this one out, but for our older counterparts here are some ways to reclaim your lighter rights.

There are many different kinds of lighters, thus many ways to de-proof them. For most of these procedures a somwhat thin metal object is needed, something like a key.

In Bic lighters there is a seperate child-retardant piece covering the strike wheel. Take your metal object and pry the casing apart at the top of the wheel. This should free the metal piece for removal. Dispose of and use the key-like object to bend casing back to normal.

For lighters in which the safety mechanism is built into the casing, such as crack-torches, the procedure is harder. To fix them, simply pry the cover away from the wheel until you can bend it with your fingers. Then bend it until the metal breaks, leaving a stubby part above the flame source. Make sure and flatten the stub into the casing or you might cut yourself on it (wouldn't that be a fun lawsuit?)

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