I see them now and then at various places. Not always where you might expect them to be though.

I have tried the trick of covering the individual matches in wax and was not real impressed with the end result, although it did work. It seemed like the wax penetrated the match heads and when I went to strike them sometimes the wax would come off and take much of the match head with it. I would say about 1 in 3 of the matches I coated in wax did this. In fairness to this technique I only tried it once and with no more than a few dozen matches.

I can't say that I ever tried soaking them in water after coating them to see if I could dry them out they would still strike. I do know that a friend of mine coated just the match heads and some of those got dunked and would not light. I am guessing water got to the match head through the stick somehow.

I pretty much went to a butane lighter in lieu of matches. Seems simpler to me.

The wax idea seems messy too. I think I might be inclined to use my vacuum sealer in lieu of coating a box of matches with wax, if I wanted to try and store some longer term. But, my inclination is to buy a handful of butane lighters instead.

This photo of member Schwert's set up has always stuck in my mind. Shellac-dipped and stored in a metal case. Those are such nice match cases.

Shellac is good for the heads because it is easily worn away by friction but it adds very little extra fuel. Wax is good because it seals the wood from absorbing water and provides fuel so the match burns longer and hotter but it makes the heads harder, sometimes impossible, to strike.

I have seen wooden matches with the heads dipped in shellac and the sticks dipped in wax and wrapped in wax saturated cotton string so they burned like a candle. Seemed like the best of both worlds but complicated to produce. This when lighters are cheap and easy.

I happen to like Lifeboat matches. They burn a long time and are sealed against moisture. I still like a Bic but the lifeboat matches are proven and effective alternative. And nobody says you cant wind a little waxed cotton string around the stick so they burn extra long.