@FlyingLow I do believe the Big Shot uses the exact same piezoelectric igniter that literally all other torches and many plain jane lighters use. I've disassembled and repaired over a dozen of these torches now.
The Big Shot is a great torch but when it comes down to it, it's more of a tool than a smaller "dab" torch. These can be operated with 1 hand easily to activate the safety and strike the piezo ignitor. The Big Shot on the other hand is more like a propane canister with a gas control knob and the ignitor separately.
This wouldn't be a huge problem except Blazer put the ignitor on the
right side of the torch head.
If you are right handed your thumb lands on the
left side of the torch.
This means turning on the Big Shot is a 2 handed operation or requires being set on a table and therefore takes longer than the easy operation of a Bonjour/Vector whatever.
(Honestly even if you are left handed I'm not sure if everything can be done with one hand the same as a Bonjour can be operated completely one handed. Any lefty Big Shot users here??)
It's for this reason of 'ease of operation' that although I've used many Big Shots and appriciate the majority of its design aspects -build quality, weight, butane capacity, and more, my daily dab torch is a Vector.
One other difference; most of these torches have very similiar nozzles and will deliver the same type of flame. I've noticed that the Newport torch lighter has a much more diffused flame and therefore takes longer & uses more butane to heat the same nail compared to the Vector.
The Big Shot is the opposite has a more focused and 'thinner' flame than the Vector. preferences on this "pencil" flame go both ways; it seems to put plenty of heat and I have no issues with the way it heats a banger/honeypot swing, but some friends of mine have gone back to Vectors after using the Big Shot extensively because they prefer the slightly less focused flame of the Vector. (How big is the difference and how much is nitpicking? Up to the individual. I rather like the flame of both units for anything I heat personally, but if you're heating an XL banger you might not want the Big Shot.)
If the igniter ever fails, it's pretty easy to replace. Use a small phillips driver to remove 4 screws, remove the safety assembly, and cut the ignitor wire. Then take a cheap dollar piezo lighter apart and cut the igniter out of it, strip the ends of the wire, slip heat shrink over one lead, bend some hooks and crimp them together, then melt the heatshrink.
https://www.instagram.com/p/34nDZeIUJD/?taken-by=samuraisam33
https://www.instagram.com/p/6eL3WOoUB0/?taken-by=samuraisam33
https://www.instagram.com/p/34ojsYIUL_/?taken-by=samuraisam33
https://www.instagram.com/p/34mLSFoUHP/?taken-by=samuraisam33
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAqpEVDIUAx/?taken-by=samuraisam33
In the wise words of Skunkman Sam, "Different Smokes for Different Folks. Give the people what they want: Choices."