Good - once the problems are sorted.
These don't work very well out of the box. The main problem is the supplied flints. The initial flint in the sparker is 2.40 mm diam, which works fairly well. Problems really start with the supplied (Zippo?) spares, which are only 2.15 mm. The flint tube bore diameter starts off at 3 mm at the screw end and steps down to 2.7 mm towards the head, with a ledge half way down. The Zippo flints misalign and hang up mid-bore and then aren't even very good sparkers. As they wear down, they jam up on the forward side of the wheel, locking up frequently and making the sparker painful on the thumb. The device's square edges and corners are also too sharp, always catching on the fingers. They need softening with wet & dry. What this thing needs is 2.5 mm flints, which are hard to find. Dunhill Blue flints are the right size but discontinued. Dunhill Red flints are 3 mm so won't fit. "Clipper Universal", "Red Damore" and "Swan Extra Length" flints are all useless for the Maratac - only 2.19 mm diam. There's an Etsy UK seller who does packs of 30 x 2.5 mm flints for £4.50 including delivery = £0.15 per flint. These average 2.54 mm and work fine. But the best option is the flint from a replacement "Clipper Barrel Lighting Mechanism" - 2.53 mm diam - available on Amazon. The flint comes out easily - the end unscrews (with pliers). These produce a much fuller, denser cloud of sparks than the Etsy but are also a lot pricier at 28 - 60p each, depending on quantity. I would say they are actually worth it. Why settle for an OK spark when you can have a mega spark?! With the right flints and edges softened, this Maratac Flint Sparker works well. It's even pretty good as a fidget device. The design has a 1940s flavour - WW2 field kit for SOE agents? The "breech-loading" arrangement makes flint replacement easy and non-fiddly. The long spring helps maintain even pressure throughout the flint's life. Actual length is 7.5 cm. As usual, speedy service from HH.
