Lighter Review-Xikar Axia
Lighter: Xikar Axia double flame lighter
MSRP: $69.99
Before I dig into the review, I will get my initial experience out of the way. On December 26th I picked up a Xikar Axia from my pal Ed. After a few days I noticed the ignition lever was sticking in the down position (see picture). Shortly after that, the spark starting arching against the body of the lighter. I figured it was a good time to test the Xikar lifetime warranty.
I took the lighter back to the shop, told him the problems, and he agreed. Ed handed me a new Axia on January 6th. Sure, I was a little bummed about my new lighter being a dud, but Xikar’s warranty is hard to argue with. Also, if you register your Axia (or other Xikar lighter), they will send you a free sheath to help protect it from keys, pocket change, and the elements.
This is now my primary lighter. This article is based on one month of constant use.
The Axia has a solid sturdy feel to it and fits easily into the pocket. The ignition lever has a solid click when pulled. The adjustment knob on the bottom is big enough and easily accessible to do quick adjustments on the fly. The dual jets point straight up, not coming to a pointed flame. Despite this, I have yet to mistakenly scorch a cigar wrapper on various ring gauges. After about 10 to 15 seconds of lighting, the top of portion gets a bit warm. According to the manual, it is recommended that you maintain the flame for 10 seconds. This hasn’t been a problem for me. Getting to know the lighters characteristics is easy, and my light times are basically cut in half when compared to my single jet Blazer PB207 that recently died (RIP).
The fuel level can be checked via a window on the side of the lighter. As I expected, the dual jets can suck up a decent amount of fuel. It does light quite a few cigars on one tank though. In one night, I lit 3 cigars, and let my lighter be used by several people. It wasn’t until the next morning that it finally ran empty. As the fuel level runs low, it is easy to do quick adjustments via the large knob.
The fuel adjustment knob is limited in rotation by a notched washer under the adjustment screw. I found that as the lighter ran low on fuel, I had to adjust it almost to the maximum. Although this worked fine, I felt the need to take the limiting washer out to allow more freedom in fuel adjustments. I’m sure this is frowned upon, but I’ll try to put together another article on how I went about doing this modification. It literally took about 5 minutes.
One problem I had from time to time was when I would engage the ignition, it would take a few clicks. I noticed that the spark was arching to the lighter body. The ignition tab is located between the two jets, and extends about half way out into the flame. I was able to bend the tab downward closer to the jets. So far this cured the problem. I found that every now and then, if I blow out the jets with air, or with a rapid breath, it helps for quick ignition.
Overall, I am very happy with this lighter. A big plus for me is quick light times and touch up’s. The fuel reservoir is big enough to get you through an all night herf before needing a refill. If you have a problem, Xikar is willing to remedy it without debate thanks to their warranty. Of course, this is assuming that you used the lighter as it was intended (IE smashing it with a hammer probably isn’t covered). Overall, I recommend this Axia for those in the market for a new lighter.
UPDATE – 4/21/2010 – The lighter blew up in March 2010, so I put their mail in option to the test. Read about it here!
UPDATE – 7/13/2012 – All fluid quickly leaks out of the bottom of the lighter. You could hear a “Hiss,” until all fluid was gone. I returned it for an immediate swap out.
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Misc, Tips and Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
dj February 12th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Agree w/#1. That is one COOL lookin’ lighter… but I already have more than I can use. Good on ya though–and nice warranty action!