How to Do the Zippo Snap

Zippo lighters are cool.

Opening up a Zippo lighter with a bit of flourish makes them even cooler.

If you’ve seen Gangster Squad, you likely remember the scene where Ryan Gosling suavely lights Emma Stone’s cigarette with his Zippo:

With just a snap of his fingers, the Zippo’s top is open.

Welcome to Cool Guy Zone.

Since people don’t commonly smoke these days, I’m not sure when you’d actually use this move. It’s not a super practical bit of know-how. But it’s sure fun to do.

And, again, cool.

Speaking of being cool, at the very least, the Zippo snap is handy to have in your back pocket of Cool Uncle Tricks. Your 10-year-old nephew is bound to think you’re the coolest uncle around if you bust out the Zippo snap.

The maneuver is actually pretty easy to perform. Below I describe how to do it, as well as demonstrate it with the Art of Manliness’ own Carry the Fire Zippo lighter:

1. Hold the Zippo in your hand with your thumb on the bottom and your pointer and middle fingers on the top. The hinge of your Zippo should be facing to the left.

2. Snap your fingers and thumb together like you’d snap your fingers to the rhythm of some jazz tune. You need to be pretty forceful with the snap. No pussyfooting with it. The top will pop right open. Bam! You’re a cool guy now. This part takes a bit of practice to get the feel for. Once you do it successfully, you won’t be able to not do it. It’s like riding a bike. Or whistling with your fingers. Once you learn how to do it, you never forget.

One thing to keep in mind is that opening your Zippo with the Zippo snap isn’t great for the hinge. It puts a lot of wear and tear on it. So use this move sparingly. You know, for special, particularly cool occasions.