LIGHTER FINGERS: How My Mate's Thieving Ways Led to a History Lesson in War Economics

You know that mate who's always nicking your lighter? Yeah, I've got one of those. Jim's his name, and he's got a habit of making my lighters mysteriously vanish into the countless pockets of his cargo trousers.

Each evening when we’ve been out, same routine - I get home, empty my pockets onto the side table, and realise yet another lighter's gone missing. "Jim!" I shout into the empty room, knowing full well who the culprit is.

But the other night? The other night was different. I caught the sneaky bugger in the act.

"No you don't mate!" I said, watching him try to pocket my latest lighter. "I'll have that, thank you."

Jim had the decency to look sheepish. "Oh, sorry mate," he mumbled, then started doing this weird dance, patting down his pockets. "Actually... now you mention it..." Out came not one, not two, but five of my missing lighters.

That's when I dropped what my mates call my "prepper bombshell" on him: "When the revolution comes, mate, you'll wish you'd nicked more than just lighters."

His face was priceless. "Revolution? What revolution?"

See, I'm what you might call a Poundland prepper. While some folks are building bunkers and stockpiling gold bars, I'm the guy who spots the practical stuff in Poundland or Lidl and thinks, "Yeah, that'd be handy in the zombie apocalypse." My cellar's basically a discount survival warehouse at this point. Judge all you want – I'll be the one with working torch batteries when the lights go out.

But back to lighters, because there's a fascinating story here that Jim needed to hear. And it starts in a place called Sarajevo.

The Siege That Changed Everything

Picture this: It's 1992 in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The city's under siege, and it's not your typical few-weeks-and-it's-over kind of siege. We're talking 1,425 days of being completely cut off from the outside world. While the politics were complicated, the reality on the ground was simple: people needed to survive.

Here's where it gets interesting. When the normal economy collapsed, people started trading whatever they had. And you know what became as good as gold? Those little plastic fire-starters Jim kept pinching from our table.

Why? Because when you've got no electricity and it's -20°C outside, being able to make fire isn't just convenient – it's the difference between eating hot food and going hungry, between warmth and freezing. A working lighter could get you medicine, food, or other essentials. The humble lighter became a form of currency.

From Brands to Black Markets

Let's talk brands for a second (because every prepper needs to know their gear). You've got your Zippos – the Toyota Land Cruiser of lighters, built like tanks and practically windproof. Then there's BIC, pumping out nearly 2 billion disposable lighters a year. Each one goes through 50 quality checks, which is more testing than my mate Jim's attention span.

But during the siege of Sarajevo, brand loyalty went out the window. What mattered was: Does it work? Will it last? Can I trade it? The black market – that invisible economy that springs up in every crisis – turned lighters into legitimate currency.

The Lesson at Broadway

So there's Jim, sat across from me at Broadway's veranda, handful of my stolen lighters on the table between us, getting an impromptu crash course in siege economics. His face went from "mate, they're just lighters" to "bloody hell" in about two minutes flat.

"But how many lighters does one person need?" he asked, between sips of his pint.

"Mate," I replied, gesturing at the small pile of evidence before us, "in Sarajevo, you couldn't have enough of them. They were literally burning furniture to stay warm. No electricity, no gas – just whatever you could scrounge and a reliable way to light it."

Is There a Need to Prep?

Now, I'm not saying we're headed for a siege tomorrow or a zombie apocalypse. But here's the thing about preparedness – it's not about being paranoid, it's about being practical. Every lighter Jim "borrowed" wasn't just a minor inconvenience; it was one less tool in my preparedness kit and one less item I can trade with.

And while my Poundland prepping might seem excessive (bet you've all subconsciously stocked your shelves full of value tinned beans), history has shown us time and again that the smallest things – like being able to make fire – can become incredibly valuable in the wrong circumstances.

So next time you're thinking of pocketing your mate's lighter, remember Sarajevo. Remember that something as simple as a plastic lighter can become worth its weight in gold when the chips are down.

As for Jim? Well, let's just say my impromptu history lesson had an unexpected effect. Instead of stopping his lighter-lifting ways, he's now even more determined to build his own "strategic reserve." Last week I caught him eyeing up a whole display of Clippers in Poundland. "Just preparing for the revolution, mate," he said with a wink. I've created a monster.

Maybe I should've kept my mouth shut about Sarajevo... or bought shares in Poundland.