Pickit Lighters

Pickit lighters are a disposable lighter made for people who smoke out of tobacco pipes. They are mainly distributed in the north western U.S.

Each lighter has a metal extendable pick for cleaning the inside of tobacco pipes where residue builds up from frequent smoking. They also have a plastic toothpick on the backside of the lighter which can be completely removed from the lighter. The plastic toothpick is often lost or misplaced, so many of the lighters will not have a toothpick in the slot.

The metal and plastic pick on each lighter are held to the lighter by a plastic shell. The lighters advertise that they can be replaced but in actuality they do not come out of the plastic shell easily. To get the lighter out of the shell you have to extend the metal pick, push the lighter inside the shell forward, then pull and wiggle at the same time. This process is difficult and sometimes causes the lighter to come apart and the lighter and case must be replaced.

Each lighter has a sticker with artwork from Montanan surrealistic artist Jake Bertelsen. Pickit lighters are made in batches of 5,000 boxes, with a different artwork on each batch. The extremely small number of lighters made each year makes them highly collectible for many surrealistic art collectors.