I tried searching back through the forum but couldn’t find much on this. My search tool is not turning up anything from the forum and going back through all this info manually is rather time consuming. If I drag up and old topic that was already on here I apologize but I wasn’t having much luck. I just was given an entire case of these lifeboat matches.(job perks ) They work better than any I have ever seen and are packaged 24 to a vial. Each group of 6 matches is vacuum sealed as well as 2 striker strips (thick heavy suckers) also vacuum sealed. Stored like this, I was wondering how long these "Mariner" matches will last. There is no stamped shelf life or expiry date and I can’t find much info online either. Any knowledge on these matches is welcome. Thanks

[img][IMG]http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh19/zazabu531/survivalspear002.jpg[/img][/img]

wow, how many are in a case? I just got mine out and they don;t have an expiration date, but I thinkt hat it would be a long time? Do you work with the military or something? wanna hook a brother uP??

*edit* ectually just found this on proforceequipment.com (the manufacturers of my matches

To Whom It May Concern: I don’t know where to direct this letter to but I figure the marketing dept. would be the best bet because you are always looking for ways to increase sales. I bought some SAS survival matches from your company back in 1984. They have never been used up until two years ago but were always in my backpack, and they worked flawlessly. My friend and I were archery hunting and he was shivering and cold. He had to answer natures call and when he came back with some wood I knew he was cold. He asked for the matches and struck one with no problem. Instant Hot Flame and presto, we now had a fire. Keep up the good work on the quality of products that you have. Semper Fi."

I hope this helps

try looking up the "lifeboat" matches. they're sold by BQM and a few others, but I'm pretty sure they've been beaten to death here. Just looking up the wrong term!

An entire case huh??? What would it take for you to be persuaded to sell a few to me in Regina? Private message me with the details. Thanks.

hey! Me too!!

I thought so too but my search tool wouldn't dig anything up except threads on people arguing about if they should carry matches or lighters and the like, nothing specific to the particular shelf life etc of these. I was hoping someone here had seen this particular brand/type before. Oh well

The matches are friggin awesome though. I lit one and put it in front of a fan at the highest setting, and it burned flawlessly. I lit another and tried as hard as I could to blow it out and it was futile. A third was lit and passed quickly back and forth under the spray from the shower and still stayed lit. Then for s#$%s and giggles I lit my fire place WITHOUT using any tinder. The dammed things burn like a torch for about 15 seconds. Now I need to switch them with all the matches in my other kits (hunting, truck, BOB, fishing, scuba, PSKs, military kits and bug IN supplies) I will still have plenty left to burn stuff with MUAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Tarus,
Methinks you have been sharing some of the same oxygen as Blast with that last comment

Those little sticks ARE pretty impressive, huh? Now you don't have to worry about them not working when you need'em, no matter how old.

What a gift!

Hey come on !! is there anyone here that doesn't enjoy burning things with giant matches??

i would say "forever"--i have plain old wood matches from
the 1950's that still light..REI sells matches somewhat like
that but about 3 times as long--if you want to light a campstove in nasty weather just toss one of those on the burner
and stand back--

You had me at "burning".

-Blast

Sorry Taurus, I couldn't resist... It WAS meant to be a compliment... Honest.

I agree with you though... one of the very first things we teach new Boy Scouts is how to build a fire. My troop also does an annual "survival" camp-out to get them thinking. This Forum/site has given me lots of ideas for next year's event!

Lifeboat-matches, especially the NATO-ones suck...badly..

They are very hard to light and you CAN blow them out, also you can throw them out well before they have expired..

I would suggest either Coghlan's Wind/Waterproof matches or REI storm-matches..or a road-flare if you want a bombproof-way..

Coghlan's? Are you serious? Everything I've ever bought from them turned out to be inferior (except for maybe their orange potty trowel). This would be a first.

I'll have to check out REI's model vs. the NATO ones. The NATO one's sure do get talked up a lot.

Anyone got any special tricks for lighting the NATO ones?

I have been digging around and I think the ones I have are made for and used by the Canadian Coast guard so they may be very similar to the NATO style. Usually we get issued the Coghlan's wind and waterproof ones. I have never had any real problems with those but the new issued ones are far superior.

Pushing them across the striker seems to work better, from what I have read.

I have some, but never used them. Guess I need to bust one vial open.

The only special trick I know of with the NATOs is that you can only light them on the striker built into the lid. I never found a way to light them on a normal striker or anything else for that matter.

Problem is, that striker isn't very water or friction resistant. Protect it at all cost if you are going to use them. This is my least favorite part of the whole design.

Me, I've got other options. *grins* I had a couple of tubes of these in the late 90s, finally tested them shortly after Y2K, and discovered that they had a shelf life. Or I had a really messed up lot.

EDIT: Yes, they should be struck, not pulled, across the striker. Hold the butt of the match against your finger, and jab downward, a short, swift stroke, of the black tip down the striker. That was the only way I could get them to be reliable- the stems were to thin in my batch, they broke about half the time if you tried to normally draw across the striker.

This technique also applies to normal stick matches- you can light them off a bit of striker the size of a first class stamp this way!

I'll try to bring some gear out this Saturday morning and see what I come up with. Maybe my bic can light the Life Boat matches ...

I know.. the Coghlan's matches actually work well..unlike some (read: most) of their products

And I've tried all the tricks to light those damn NATO's, but they just don't work...

Hi Jim,



The NATO matches do work, but the problem is the striker pad which is applied to the plastic lid of the more commonly available lifeboat match container. Its pretty useless. Whats required is the striker pad supplied with the NATO matches supplied in UK ration packs (NSN 9920-99-737-1041). You can get these at http://ukkitmonster.com/product_info.php?products_id=308



The NATO matches and Stiker are seperately wrapped in individual poly bags in the same way as Taurus's first post photo's to keep them dry (especially the striker pad).

You can also view Ray Mears using the correct technique to light/strike matches at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsbSMplJ6g4

These look identical to mine. They are most likely the same but packaged differently. Like these, There is no striker strip on the vial but rather there are 2 inside in small vacuum bags. They light VERY easily. The only problem is that when you strike them there is a bit of spray of sparks from the small chunks of the stuff on the tip which can burn your clothes if not careful.

Hi Taurus,



A combination of strike anywhere matches and the NATO types can be used in the following way without producing the small burning tips from the NATO match. You just strike the strike anywhere match. This method is pretty reliable and the resulting flame will last well over 1 minute although it does limit the number of fires than can be started. Some powdered Hexamine will be introduced into the next batch by filling up the cardboard voids at the base of the match before sealing with candle wax rather than just having the wood base of the match.

Hey. Neat idea!! Besides the obvious outdoor use these look like great little fire place starters. Thanks for the cool tip.

Based on the look & performance of Taurus's matches, they seem more like the excellent REI variety rather than the mediocre "lifeboat" matches. I wonder if the original manufacturer repackages them for REI.

Anyone know where you can get the "official" striker in the US? Hate to pay international shipping.

The REI ones are better than the NATO ones? Hmm. Think I've got some of those too. I definitely to start some fires this weekend.