Most BIC disposable lighters like the ones pictured are made in France (at least all the ones I've seen are).
Bics have a little metal spring tab that covers the center groove of the strike wheel. To ignite the lighter you press your thumb a bit harder than usual in order to bend the tab down and allow your finger to spin the wheel instead of just slipping over it. Remove said spring-tab and you're in business.
Other lighters (usually the Chinese ones) have a little lock lever under the fuel valve that you have to push in before striking and pressind down the fuel valve. Those can be "de safetied" but it's more difficult and you risk damaging the lighter sometimes.
Still other Chinese lighters have a non-defeatable safety mechanism whereby you have to press firmly down on a smooth strike wheel.
The two outer flanges don't have grooves in them and are loosely coupled to the inner striking wheel. You have to press down on the two outer wheels so they "clutch" the inner wheel and then turn to flick the lighter on. If you don't press hard enough they just spin around like a pair of washers on a bolt.
[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 10-24-2003).]
