RAVS Butane Torch Lighter, DUAL Flame Mode Kitchen Torch, Refillable Cooking Torch Gun, Creme Brulee Torch Lighter, Blow Torch for Cooking, Welding, Mini Torch Soldering Torch, Butane is Not Included

I’m a French pastry chef, I’m angry at the amount of torches I have had to buy as the expensive “chef approved” brands fall apart after a year of use. This is the only one I have had that has lasted longer, currently 3 years in. Simple, powerful, compact, and most importantly does its job.

amazing heavy duty beauty

The best butane lighter

There are a TON of these portable, small butane torches on the market. None of them are particularly unique, and most look exactly the same to me. This one was a bit of a stand out, so I got it. Now that I'm holding it in my hand, I'm glad. Why? The brass (ACTUAL brass...like, NICE brass...the quality you would find on very high end kitchen or bath fixtures) looks AMAZING. I know the description says "copper". Believe me. NOT copper. BRASS. Anyway, the brass (with the small bits of chrome) gives this an actual vintage look. It literally looks like something Thomas Edison might have used in his lab. As in, I don't really want to toss this in a drawer for my next cooking gig, but put it on a shelf so people can see it. It really is super looking, and there isn't a HINT of "cheap" anywhere. Operation was nearly perfect. It filled with no problems. Turn on the gas, hit the igniter, and whoosh it comes to life. First press of the igniter, every single time. The only problem it tends to have, is if you want a REAL small flame. It has a tendency to sputter a bit if you try to turn it too low, and it goes out. But when you get JUST past that barely working / tiny flame stage, it's a perfect flame, all the way to wide open where this thing is a DRAGON. Dead serious here. You turn it all the way up, and you can use it to heat sticky bolts on your truck outside. Yeah, it's a ROARING flame if want it to be. There are a lot of small torches out there. Very, very few of them are anything special. This one has a singularly unique aesthetic for a torch, combining a classy vintage look with rock solid operation. If you want a torch in this class that is a bit of a step above, this is it. Note to the folks selling this: You might want to change the description from "copper" to "brass". But if you DO make an actual copper version of this, that would be sweet, too.

MICRO TORCHES REVIEW I was unable to decide on which of the many butane micro torches I should buy from Amazon, and I couldn’t trust the ad claims or flame pictures, so I ended up buying 4 to test then against each other. I have lots of larger torches of various sizes, but I wanted one with the smallest, most focused flame. The pictures in the ads of the flames was not, where pictured at all, was not useful to me or accurate. Price was not a factor for me in this. 1. Blazer ES1000CR Spitfire https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EDU5NY Made in Japan. This one has very cumbersome controls. Lighting it is a very awkward process requiring two hands and rolling an interlock forward whole pushing down on a button. Lighting it also requires 3 other controls to be in the right positions. The controls also feel rather flimsy. The flame is OK There is very little variation in the flame between minimum and maximum. It does have a button for continuous operation, but again, it feels rather flimsy. It was also the second most expensive at $53. Really the most expensive when you consider all the extras the $56 Dremel comes with. 2. Bernz-O-Matic ST2200T https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS9TQI Made in Taiwan. The listing for this product falsely states, in two places, “The product is manufactured in United States”. I did not appreciate the false/out-of-date information. The controls are much less cumbersome than the Blazer. It has a child lockout for the igniter, presumably brought to us courtesy of CPSC. If you don’t have kids and want to get rid of this, it looks like it would be very easy to just snap off a piece of plastic and be done with it. The torch is easy to use. There is not much difference between the minimum and maximum flames. The flame is a bit larger than the Blazer. I wanted the smallest flame, so this was a negative for me. The instructions are printed on the side of the main tube, which is handy. It also includes a soldering iron tip. $32 3. Dremel 2200-01 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MJW07Z0 Made in Taiwan. Includes a decent thin metal box containing lots of accessories. If you don’t already have soldering equipment, this might be the best choice for you. It comes with a detachable stand; all the others come with a fixed base stand. The flame comes out at an upward angle, which all the others have a flame coming out at 90 degrees. This may be a plus or minus for you. This one, like the Bernz-O-Matic, comes with a plastic child lockout that looks like it could be broken off and discarded if you don’t want that feature. This one got second place in the biggest difference between minimum and maximum flames. The maximum flame was the largest of all tested, so if you’re looking for max flame, this is the one for you. At $56, the most expensive, but it comes with a lot more accessories than the others. Both the Dremel and the Bernz-O-Matic could easily be started using one hand, even with the child interlock. The Bernz-O-Matic was probably a bit easier to light with one hand. Both of them featured instant-off flame when you releaser the button, with a lock to engage for continuous flame. 4. RAVS RBT018 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5RKWNMS?th=1 Made in China. With the first three, you press the igniter button to turn on the gas and light it. The flame stays on only as long as you continue holding down the button (unless you engage the continuous lock). As soon as you release the button (or the continuous lock) the gas is cut off and the flame goes out. Probably more “consumer-safe” for people who don’t really know what they’re doing with a torch. This one is a bit different from the first three, in that it operates more like a typical propane torch. There is a rotary knob that you turn CCW to turn the gas on or CW to turn it off. So you turn the gas on, then press the igniter button to light the gas. You adjust the flame from min to max by using the rotary knob. The flame stays on until you turn the rotary knob fully CW to shut off the gas. So perhaps a bit less “safe” for those who don’t really know how to operate a torch safely. This one also felt a bit heavier and more substantial that the others. Apparently it uses more metal and less plastic. It also had, BY FAR, the most adjustable flame, from less than half what the others could produce (like down to about ¼” flame for some really fine work) to considerably more than their maximum flame. This one was also the cheapest at only $22. It’s also made in China. Normally, I will go to great lengths and spend considerably more to buy USA-made products, with probably Japan second and Taiwan third. However, for MY specific requirements, this Chinese RAVS was the clear choice for me.