E-Mail 'Making Water-Resistant Emergency Matches, by SailorOnline' To A Friend

22 Comments

1. Hey Sailor, great article. Brings back the memories. When I was a kid I never went anywhere in the wilds without my homemade waterproofed “strike anywhere” matches, stored in an empty shotgun shell with black electrician’s tape sealing the end.

   For those whose manual dexterity ain’t what it used to be, you can skip the toilet paper and just dip the heads and half the stick in paraffin, but as Sailor points out you won’t get near the initial flame to start with. I also recently discovered that paraffin has a pretty low melting point and can be melted in a solar food dryer or just put your melting pan on the dashboard of your vehicle with the windows rolled up.

2. Great article! I have been using this method for gifts to friends and to teach how valuable this is. I put mine in an empty Altoid tin. Just make sure you glue in something to strike the matches on, especially if they are not the strike anywhere matches. I also put cotton balls that have been soaked in alcohol, or smeared with Vaseline. One downside to using the tin is they can be crushed if not stored properly.

   1. Vaseline has many important uses. Firestarting is but one. I have a neighbor who loves to deep-fry food and discards the used oil in gallon bottles. Cotton or egg carton paper soaked in that oil is hot stuff.

      Granted, over time the oil can develop an odor that vaseline won’t. However, the oil will still blaze hot when I want it.

      Carry on in grace

3. Storm proof matches are loaded with perchlorate, not wax, and will burn underwater. They go until the mix has burnt itself out, so keep that in mind when using. And the fumes are pretty obnoxious, so don’t use them in the house.

4. Great article. I had some friends who had sold their home and were waiting to get into their new home, so they decided to go Galt and camp out on acreage they had built a barn on. They brought a blow up mattress, their BBQ grill for cooking, some blankets, some clothes, and some emergency food. They had rented one of those “outhouses”, for lack of a better description, that was going to stay on the land. They were excited to test out their emergency supplies. LOL. They had those fancy “emergency matches” with nothing to strike them on. They went around trying to strike them on rocks, and of course they all broke one after another. After freezing at night and trying to eat that freeze dried horrible food, they gave up, got a hotel room and went out to eat. At least they tried. Hilarious story.

   1. SaraSue, ah for the good old days when vehicles had cigarette lighters in them. You can light a campfire off those babies pretty easily. I lit a fire sparking off the battery of my truck one time too, just to see if it could be done. Not recommended though since you have to soak a little gasoline first into a small piece of rag.

      1. Seriously. I’m in process of trying to unload a 20 yr old vehicle because it’s not all wheel drive and useless to me where I live now. But, it has no tracking devices in it, and has a really good cigarette lighter. LOL. One thing I keep in my “preps” is a box of bic lighters. You never know when you might need them.

5. Hello- This may be a strange request, but how do I send JWR a link to a news article? I do not see any contact info on these pages- most likely my bad. Thank you.

   1. james@rawles.to

      1. Thank you very much.

6. I’m really disappointed with the current strike anywhere matches. They just aren’t nearly as good as the ones we used to use back in the 60’s. Not sure if the wax method will work on strike anywhere matches.

   1. You have to scape the wax off the tops before they’ll strike.

7. I’ve used the wax method to waterproof matches as described above, but now use an alternative method that works well in our wet rain forest location that may be useful to others. It provides an excellent coating over the entire match that is virtually waterproof. I prepare a solution of a cup of rubbing alcohol with a quart of shellac to thin the solution and place it in a clean gallon paint can. While wearing gloves drop the matches in the solution and stir them a bit to ensure complete coverage and then remove them and set them to dry. The idea to use the ammo tray is a good way to dry them although a piece of wood with holes drilled works well too. The shellac doesn’t have the additional benefit of the burning of the wax, but it doesn’t rub off like wax does nor does it require hot wax to dip. There are advantages to both methods and the idea was only to offer an alternative.

8. When I was a kid I learned of another method and that was to use clear nail polish. It worked really great because of the polish being a little flammable it helped in lighting them. At first I would brush it on then I just started dipping them in it and letting them dry. A friend didn’t believe me that it would be waterproof so he spit on it and it lit up right away. I tried it not long ago and it still works well.

9. the matches made now have been made “Safer” so they are harder to ignite.
   You can make them waterproof by coating them with nail polish!

10. Yes, the matches made today are not like they use to be. Bic lighters are reliable and store well. I’ve never had one fail me. Storm matches are a good alternative. Some ferro rods and techniques to use them are better than others. Learn how to use a ferro rod. I have one hung over the wood stove. Cotton balls with Vaseline are easy to start with a ferro rod. Having several ways to make a flame is needed. If using a ferro rod is difficult for you, a Bic brand lighter, or Storm Matches are good primary and alternative means. I no longer trust the ‘strike anywhere matches’, because the ones I had did not store well. I do not know if coating them with wax or nail polish would preserve them. I doubt it would.

    1. Bic lighters are great, HOWEVER, if used when you have salty fingers, the salt turns the flint to powder….
       Turning the lighter into a interesting conversation piece but not much else !

11. I remember once needing a fire, no matches. Had a small tractor there, dipped a stick in the gas, and used the spark from a pulled plug wire to light the stick.

    1. I’m impressed! Rubbing two stick together is a tough way to start a fire. What ever works best for an individual, I’d have lots of it.

12. Great article and follow up commentary and ideas from readers! The ability to create fire is very, very important to preparedness. It’s a reminder for each of us to check on our supplies, and to be sure we have more than one option too. Thank you, SailorOnline!

13. Good stuff

    1. Ditto good info!

       I’m keeping my 22 year old Jeep because
       1.) has less than 200,000 miles on it
       2.) it’s in great shape
       3. I might decide that I suddenly need to go mudding soon to blow off some steam
       4. I LOVE the old school cigarette lighter in it!!!

       Unless of course someone offers me something spectacular in trade.

       Keep on Rockin!!

Comments are closed.