During World War I, skilled craftsmen stuck in trenches would fashion useful items from spent bullets and other war materials. Watch Canadian maker Steven from the Steven's Fix YouTube channel restore a century-old bullet lighter back to working condition.
As Steven points out:
This video is of a WWI trench art brass bullet lighter. Trench art was what soldiers made while waiting to fight. The earliest reference to a lighter that looks like this is 1909. They were made in Canada, France and other countries up until the 1940s. A soldier would order them or be sent one from a loved one and would decorate it themselves. This one has a very fine flower pattern on the lighter and the cap. Starting with the Crimean War, up through WWI and WWII, there was a superstition about 3 to a match – where if three cigarettes were lit on the same match one, or the third, soldier would be shot. This prompted many soldiers to write home to loved ones asking for lighters of their own. The lighters would also be more resilient to water and mud.
Check out his Instagram for more cool maker projects like this file knife:
Image: YouTube / Steven's Fix
