Xikar 5x64 Turrim lighter review

[Ropey]

Item: Cigar lighter
Manufacturer: Xikar
Name: Turrim "5x64"
Type: Dual parallel jet
Mechanism: Single-action piezoelectric sliding top
Measurements: 4 5/8" long, 1" diameter
MSRP: $79
Online: ~$40 (auction) to $89

Recommended: No.

I'm not really a Xikar fanboy. I've seen some of their lighters in action and they've always struck me as of decent quality but nothing to get super excited about. This lighter is no exception.

Pros:

Good build quality, decent metal and a fairly robust piezoelectic mechanism. Also of note is the excellent, though small, bifurcated fuel window which uses some sort of internal refraction to make the fuel look red. The clearest window I've ever seen.

The ratcheting flame intensity knob at the bottom of the lighter makes adjustment very easy, but with issues as noted below.

The lighter is very easy to hold in the hand and the single-action sliding top mechanism is safe but not unduly difficult to operate, despite having to stretch one's thumb up to the top of the lighter to do so.

It has an attractive, clean design and doesn't really look like a lighter. It's heavy and solid enough to be used as a kubaton or simple bludgeoning weapon should you find yourself smoking your cigar in the middle of a barroom brawl.

Cons:

The Turrim doesn't really fit any role well. It's too heavy to be a travel lighter. Its "64 RG" size makes it an uncomfortable fit in a herfador. It's too tall and top-heavy to make a good table lighter; and if rested on its side, it rolls off the table. It holds a good amount but not an extraordinary amount of fuel. Nowhere near the amount that a standard table lighter holds and, as seen below, nowhere near as much as one would think the lighter could hold.

The bottom adjustment wheel, while good in theory, isn't that meaningful. It has nine clicks but, from the factory, the lower 6 or so clicks put out such a small amount of gas that the lighter won't actually light. So you get about 3 clicks worth of adjustment.

Fortunately this is rather easily fixed, or at least helped. You can remove the two small phillips-head screws that hold the adjustment knob on to the lighter and fiddle with the internal wheel so that the adjustment knob moves through a more useful range of flame outputs.

However, even with this tweak, the useful range of the adjustment knob is still maybe 5-6 clicks. The high end puts out such a strong jet that it won't light, and the low end puts out such a weak jet that it won't light.

Also, the lighter is nowhere near being windproof or even wind-resistant. Nor does the lighter light every time. I have a triple-jet Bugatti CEO that will light 99% of the time. This will light perhaps 85% of the time.

Perhaps the most glaring con is the fuel tank size. While Xikar claims that it's the largest fuel reservoir in any Xikar lighter, the thing is tiny compared to the size of the lighter itself.

Below is a disassembled Turrim next to a no-name Chinese lighter I bought 2-for-$7 on eBay....



That, to me, is the killer for this lighter. For something this heavy and massive, that fuel tank is a joke. I will likely be returning this item.

[Rocket Scientologist]

Great review.

I am a fan of Xikar, but your pros and cons of this particular lighter seem spot on. Xikar advertises this as the same size as a cigar to easily fit in a case, but 64 RG is hardly the size cigar I like and it would definitely not fit in Xikar's own Envoy cigar cases. And that fuel tank...what a joke.

If the tank was bigger, and the RG somewhere around 55, then I might have considered it.

[Ropey]

I am a fan of Xikar, but your pros and cons of this particular lighter seem spot on. Xikar advertises this as the same size as a cigar to easily fit in a case, but 64 RG is hardly the size cigar I like and it would definitely not fit in Xikar's own Envoy cigar cases. And that fuel tank...what a joke.

If the tank was bigger, and the RG somewhere around 55, then I might have considered it.

Thanks and I agree, I don't understand that big white plastic spacer in there. It does nothing. They could have reduced the size (and weight) of the lighter or extended the fuel tank. I don't understand that design choice.

I could have lived with the minor flaws but once I took it apart and saw that tank, I immediately knew it was going back. Thanks for your comment.

[egoo33]

I have never had a Xikar lighter that worked I avoid them like the plague, sure they are guranteed for lufe but if you have to keep swapping them out whats the point. Good review

[bbrdafrancesa506]

Great review
Butt can u tell me where i can get a "3rd party tool such as an magazine lip adjustment tool."

Regards,


Patrick.

[Ciro]

Great review!