If you are familiar with a Zippo, you should find the Nimrod simple to use. To light it, push the slide open with your thumb or index finger to expose the wick, then flick the lighting wheel with your thumb. One difference between lighting a Nimrod and a Zippo is that with the Nimrod you flick the lighting wheel away from the lighter instead of pulling down or towards the lighter as with a Zippo. Once lit, you puff on the pipe and the flame is drawn downward through the aperture. To extinguish the flame, you push the slide back over the wick.
Maintenance is easy.
The flint tube is capped with a small, brass screw-in plug, as with a Zippo, except that the plug is accessible from the outside of the lighter. There is no need to disassemble the lighter to change flint. The plug screws off with a dime or a penny. To add fluid, you unscrew the large ribbed cap on the base of the lighter. It's altogether an ingenious design.