I spoke to UST at Outdoor Retailer about these Wetfire failures. They are looking at bringing the sealing process in-house to exercise more control. While I agree that the packets need to be opened easily, it may be that they have erred too far in that direction. It could also be that QC in production sealing of the packages may not be as good as desired. <shrug>
We also discussed the fact that while the latest retail packaging notes that the cube should be shaved for lighting with a sparking firestarter, the reality is that many users do not realize this. That becomes even more critical when the cube has been exposed to air for any length of time, losing some or most of the volatile elements that make it easier to light. I suggested that they should print that sort of instruction on the individual packaging itself. They indicated they might consider it down the road when they have used up existing packaging material.
They seemed pretty adamant that a recall is not warranted. I am not yet convinced of that. I was told they may post a notice on their Web site offering to replace any packages that have come open, as they have posted here. That would be a good start, but since many, if not most, purchasers of the Wetfire will never stop by the UST site or find that offer, or even notice the individual packages have come open until too late, a more critical issue, I am not convinced that solves the issue.
I should note for those that like this product, there is another seemingly identical product available (the manufacturer claims it is identical and it seems to work the same) that seems to have more secure and somewhat tougher packaging, but which is, unfortunately, a larger cube, which would create some packing issues in a small kit. This is Fastfire by Solkoa:
www.fast-fire.com.
Of course, another alternative is the Spark-Lite Tinder-Quik product, such as I use in my Pocket Survival Pak.
Both products have their advantages and disadvantages. Neither is the perfect tinder.