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Any of you carry matches in your kit? If so, what kind? Do you use waterproof ones or waterproof them yourself? What do you carry them in?
MartiniDave
27-11-2003, 14:59
Hoodoo,
I carry plenty of matches.
A strike anywhere type known over here as Swan Vestas. I carry some in a waterproof, screw top, wide neck nalgene bottle that I got as a sample at a lab supply show, I pack these pretty tight to avoid them chaffing on one another. I carry more in the 12g cartridge match safe shown in one of Ray Mears books. I also carry a smallish strip of wet & dry paper in my pack to strike them on if need be - this has several other uses too.
I also carry a firesteel and disposable lighter.
I tried waterproofing matches with candle wax and beeswax but haven't found it to work too well.
Dave
I waterproof my matches with sealing wax, nail polish or some other laquer... and keep then in a plastic film canister with a little cotton wool to pack them together :-)
Ed
film cannister full of swan vestas dipped in candle wax for me
I have put away a lot of Army ration packs in my time and they all came with a little pack of lifeboat matches and a striker so I have a goodly stash of these.
i use for "normall" fire lighting IF i use a match, i use the coughlans "waterproof" match, for bad condition i carry lifeboat matches or hurrican matches with me, but i never had to use them. Mine firesteel looks much cooler !
bigjackbrass
27-11-2003, 20:11
I gave up on storm matches - the striking strips never seem to last as long as the match supply - and carry the old-fashioned cook's matches these days. They're kept waterproof in a rather spiffy brass case from Cabela's.
Strike any where matches in a old film canister with a strip pf coarse wet and dry glued to the out side does the trick for me - never failed me.
The new windmill stormproof lighter's rather made them redundant, but along with firesteel and magnesium I keep a couple of dozen lifeboat matches and several striker strips in a spare contact lens case in my jacket.
Swan vestas in a plastic match safe live in the cooking kit too.
A little overkill never hurt :-D
Keith_Beef
28-11-2003, 00:22
Any of you carry matches in your kit? If so, what kind? Do you use waterproof ones or waterproof them yourself? What do you carry them in?
In the cubs, we used to take a box of Swan or Captain Webb and tie them all together with a bit of cotton, then drip candle wax all over the striking end. You get:
waterproof mathes
a big chunk of matches, so if you fumble because your fingers are cold, you find them in the dark,
matches that burn hotter and longer, becasue of the extra fuel that is provided by the wax.
Keith.
For years I carried strike anywhere matches with the tips dipped in wax. Lately though, I've found that the wax seems to cause a deterioration in the lighting ability of the match. I've heard similar complaints about lacquer. Some people claim that the matches aren't at good as they use to be. I know we can't get Ohio Blue Tips any more. Diamond brand are still around but rumor has it that they are on their way out because insurance companies won't cover shipping.
My favorite now are the stormproof matches from REI. These are the best matches I've ever found but you have to have a striker for them. But they are great.
I tend to carry Stormproof matches in a waterproof container that I picked up at Field & Trek. Really just save them for emergencies as I use either my Blue Blazer or fire steel when I'm out.
I want a decent windproof lighter but am far too skint :-(
Hellz
bigjackbrass
28-11-2003, 20:52
I know we can't get Ohio Blue Tips any more.
I think those are the ones that Jerry Dennis reminisced lovingly about in "From a Wooden Canoe." Another slice of nostalgia slips quietly away...
ditchfield
28-11-2003, 21:03
I, like bagman have a large stash of the 10 packs of lifeboat matches from rat packs. I use these in kits and the like. I also have a couple of vials of them too. My favourite though is a canister of swan vestas'. I managed to fit 70 of these in one pot and a cut down tea light in the top. This compares to 25 lifeboat matches. Bargain :-D.
clcuckow
28-11-2003, 22:17
Funny thing,have you noticed that if you use a fire steal is probably swedish and since Bryant and May closed down are matches are now made in ....
Sweden
Have you noticed the large made in Sweden on the front of England's Glory matches?
Mora knives - Gransfor axes - fire steels - matches - a lot of the best outdoor gear comes from Sweden.
Makes me wonder why I hang on in this greedy, souless country sometimes. Sweden seems to be bushcraft heaven.
Half-decent stormproof lighters are available from the Gadget Shop for about 4 quid.
In terms of waterproofing matches, I found that, if you don't wax/lacquer the whole match, if the end gets wet, the moisture moves up the matchstick as it's absorbed by the wood and the head gets wet. Either bite the bullet and buy stormproof matches (like the REI ones) or make sure you have a good waterproof container (film cannister? with a bit of cotton wool for tinder and to prevent matchheads rubbing together - also put half the matches opposite way round, like head-to-toe). The best idea, I suppose, is to have a few different ways of lighting fires, spread through your kit: matches, stormproof lighter, firestick, etc. Ie, don't put all of your eggs in one basket.
Cheers,
Mike
Your right Mikey - more ways of lighting a fire means more chances to succeed - Matches (being of limited number) should only be used when Sparks fail.
Fire lighting, like decorating, is all about preparation. Get that right and the rest is easy.
i dont bother waterproofing them i just put them in a film canister
retrohiker
17-06-2006, 13:12
The large size Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches in a prescription pill bottle for me. I found that the film canisters were too small for the large matches (might work for the smaller size). I also put one of those party candles that you can't blow out into the bottle as well to help with fire lighting.
I have put away a lot of Army ration packs in my time and they all came with a little pack of lifeboat matches and a striker so I have a goodly stash of these.
Ditto.... All over my kit you'll find little poly bags with about 8 matches and a striker :D
I still have a 1960's Boy Scout matchsafe. Made of plated brass. It is unique in that the lid can't be lost and when opened it pulls the matches up for accessiblity. You can find them still on ebay by searching for boy scout matchsafe. I consider it one of my all time favorite camp items. I also use strike anywhere matches, uncoated. Made by Penley. Cheers!
For you Briits that said they used strike anywhere matches - where did you get them?
I've been looking all over for them - plenty in the States but I don't want to get the hassle through customs.
Thanks for any help!
Joff
Tor helge
19-06-2006, 09:51
Almost all my firelighting is done with matches. The regular ones, as strike anywhere matches are outlawed? in Norway.
I don`t waterproof them, just keep them in a box like this:
http://www.clasohlson.no/images/products/N/hi/A/HD3_244507.eps_hi_N.jpg
The box cost me 19 kroner at Clas Olson in Oslo. The box holds about 30 ordinary matches, or abot 20 storm matches (they are in the box when you buy it).
You can say what you will about ordinary matches, but I have never had any problems with them :).
I make sure I always have some matches lying around in my jacket and my backpack. I also make sure I always have matches in my backpack in a place where I can find them. I often use the matches found in the American MRE rations. ( just your usual damp weather matches in a matchbook with a striker) to back things up I have a waterproof bag with the , better, storm matches found in the Britisch MRE rations. next to that I have a normal firelighter with me. but it happened more than once that the button got pushed in whilst in my backpack so that my lighter was empty and my backpack full of gass. mind this. if you stuff your bag to hard, all the stuff might push the firelighterbutton so it empty's itself.
I also always have a magnesium stick with me.
as for the matches in an industrial produced waterproofmatchbox... I never use them because I can't see why a good waterproof bag doesen't play the trick. and its lighter.
How many of you guys ( and girls of course) take pieces of rubber innertube with you. it seems to be a good way to light a fire in damp conditions, but is it very bushcrafty?
Longstrider
19-06-2006, 22:23
I found that strike anywhere matches (Swan Vestas) with the heads dipped in candle wax became too damp to use if they got wet because the moisture would seep through the wood of the match. I solved this problem some years ago by completely embedding about 20 matches in a block of wax. This block of wax (about the size of an ordinary match box) with the matches seperate from one another inside it is safe to carry as the matches can not touch. When needed a match can easily be dug out of the wax with a thumbnail. Doing so carefully also means that I have a small handful of wax chippings to add to a linder bundle making it all the more likely to burn well once lit withe match.
If my hands were to become too cold to effectively dig one match out of the block I know I could easily break the block apart under my foot, allowing two handed (or between the teeth etc etc) striking of the match. Brass match cases could be lethal by preventing you from getting to your matches if you were becoming hypothermic.... the one time you REALLY need to get a fire going.
Abbe Osram
20-06-2006, 06:46
Any of you carry matches in your kit? If so, what kind? Do you use waterproof ones or waterproof them yourself? What do you carry them in?
Most of the time I use my firesteel to set up the fire, its the best thing there is but I have matches too, I buy the very cheap ones you get in the supermarket. If they get a little damp I move them trough the little hair I have left on my head and they drie out and start up easily.
cheers
Abbe
I
How many of you guys ( and girls of course) take pieces of rubber innertube with you. it seems to be a good way to light a fire in damp conditions, but is it very bushcrafty?
Yes it is if not traditional bushcraft.
It depends what the technology is used for.
Would you disqualify the craft of the knife maker from being bushcraft because he obtained his steel from a car spring?
What about a Penan or Iban blacksmith who started his forge fire with a lighter instead of fire-by-friction?
Or all of us who wear industrially manufactured clothes? (nobby can start a new thread - "How many of you do bushcraft with no clothes on :) )
I carry tube and lighter but only use it if conditions are too wet or I am too knackered by the thought of other methods.