What is the purpose of the hole in Zippo felt?

[tobacco00owl]

I have the Zippo Pipe lighter and I'm getting conflicting information as to the purpose of the small hole in the felt. Some say it's for storing a spare flint. A flint does fit perfectly into the hole, but Zippo says to store spare flints underneath felt, plus if the spare flint was in the hole it could easily drop out when you pull out the insert.
Some say the hole is used to fill lighter fluid by sticking in the nozzle of the lighter fluid, but Zippo says to lift felt to fill insert. Even the felt says to lift to fill.
Some say the hole is there for ventilation, but I find that lighter fluid has no problem just evaporating away. A fill only last me a week even when I don't use the lighter.
Perhaps the hole is there to help you lift the felt? Sometimes I'd use the reamer/poker to lift the felt if I'm having trouble. But cigar and cigarette smokers don't carry around pipe tools, and since Zippo has many more cigar and cigarette smokers than pipe, I don't think Zippo designed the hole for pipe tools.
Zippo doesn't say what the intended purpose of the hole is for.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I use the hole to store extra elephants. That's right, I'm an elephant smuggler. ::

 

[grouchydog]

When I had a Zippo I used it for spare flints, but only when I was out of elephants...

 

[dread]

I use it to help lift the felt if it gets stuck and my mellon-mits can't get it out. But I shall now be more careful in case there is an elephant in there!

 

[jmill208]

Ahhh, the felt hole.
The felt hole is a region of spacetime in your lighter from which the felt covered fluffy cotton prevents anything, including lighter fluid, from escaping.
If there are spare flints orbiting the felt hole, Zippo uses their orbit to determine its mass and location. Such observations can be used to exclude possible alternatives (such as neutron stars and maybe evaporation). In this way, lighter aficionado's have identified numerous stellar flint hole candidates in binary systems, and established that the core of the Zippo contains a supermassive felt hole of about 4.3 million solar masses. This is why your fluid only lasts a week. You need a bigger can of fluid, and don't, please don't concern yourself with the size of the hole. It's tough to really understand.
Hope this helps.

 

[apiperisdown]

I think it's so the elephant can breath.

 

[tobacco00owl]

Wow, never would of have thought the hole was such a legendary mystery! I was thinking there was some simple obvious explanation.

 

[pruss]

I use the hole to store extra elephants.

Thank goodness. I thought I was the only one. There just aren't enough places to store spare elephants.
Now about those House Hippos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLG2JP0P5JE
On topic - I do exactly the same as Dread.
-- Pat

 

[edgreen]

I don't care what Zippo says I use the hole to fill. The top of the fluid is a perfect fit.

 

[huntertrw]

edgreen:
I believe that you absolutely correct. The spout of the fluid container fits inside of this hole, thereby preventing the fluid stream from inadvertently soaking the user's hands, the side of the lighter, the table top, etc.

 

[phred]

Perhaps the hole is there to help you lift the felt?

This is what I use it for - either with a pipe tool or the nozzle of the fluid canister.
pruss - Never had to deal with House Hippos. Growing up in Seattle, we were far more worried about the Pacific Northwest Arboreal Octopus... :D

 

[lostandfound]

Something must be going around... You guys are pretty witty today :D
My fiancé says I should use my felt hole when she isn't in the mood.
Ahh... Self-Deprecating humor at it's best. ::

 

[warren]

The hole exists purely to stimulate conversations.

 

[cortezattic]

Yes, one of life's great mysteries ...better left unresolved, if you ask me. :puffpipe:

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I just asked an elephant, and he said the hole was a peep hole for house hippos so they can see you open the zippo and hide in the cotton.

 

[edgreen]

Whatever tobacco you guys are smoking, I want some.

 

[woodsroad]

It's a Worm Hole, a passage into the Space-Time Continuum, where Esoterica is still $14.95 a bag and chicks still give you that seductive side glance, if you are paying attention. Of course, you are soaked in lighter fluid, so your chances of actuating on that desire are still just about...nada.

 

[woodsroad]

Ah, yes.

The Histoligy Lab Stud.
All that flesh, and hot wax and microscopy.....

 

[virginiacob]

Can't say for sure what Zippo's original intent was, but I use either the poker from a Czech tool or the tip of my pocketknife blade to insert into the Zippo felt hole and lift up the felt in order to refill the lighter with fluid. I guess you could use it to fill the lighter reservoir but by lifting the felt I can usually make sure I'm not overfilling it.

 

[andy]

So after all that I am no wiser........ I wonder every time fill, and I got excited when I saw the original post, that finally some answers might forthcoming, instead I now know about elephant smuggling.
tobacco00owl - I am with you, I still want answers!!!