Any match will go out under the right conditions. Although if that happens your chances of igniting a fire are somewhat slim. Lifeboat matches are not intended for lighting fires. Sorry folks, they ain't. They were originally developed for use in conjunction with distress flares. Modern distress flares have their means of ignition built in. Usually as a primer. of some description, that ignites the fuse or main propellant charge. You pull or bang the trigger, and up or off it goes. Up untill the middle of the last century or there abouts distress rockets had a gunpowder or salpetre fuse not dissimular to that on a modern firework. Obviously that presents significant problems in terms of keeping the fuse and charge dry. The usual solution was to incorperate the fuse into the main body of the rocket/flare with just a very small part of the fuse accessable through the touch hole. Waterproofing was done by the application of one or more coat's of varnish. Which did it's job very well. As I am sure you have all just appreciated, that presents problems in terms of igniting the fuse, in a lifeboat that heaving up and down, its raining sideways, and trying to get a conventional match lit is a non-starter. Not to mention trying to burn through the varnish over the touch hole. That is where the lifeboat match comes in. The very large head is intended to be lit & pressed against the touch hole long enough to burn through the varnish and ignite the fuse. Unfortunatly, that means that they are not best suited to conventional fire lighting. Any survivor who is attempting to light a fire will, if at all possible, always seek to light it under the calmest, dryest condition's possible. So the question of a match's ability to remain lit under adverse conditions becomes moot. They do have their uses, especially in an adverse weather,emergency hypothermial situation, because you can gather tinder, unwrap a hexamine/alcohol block & drop a lifeboat match on it. That more or less garentee's ignition. I personally happen to like the Couglans matches. It's a pity that they are let down by the diabolical quality of the match box itself. Best way to ignite a lifeboat match is to PUSH IT across the striker. Don't pull it. It will snap. Using your knife to remove the varnish from the very tip of the match also helps.