Matches, absolutely, but the candle won't mind getting wet if it's got a waxed wick, which it should. The only reason I see to vaccume pack it would be against it melting.

And the paracord won't need it.

In all honesty, a lot of things don't need to be vaccume sealed. Get small, hardware-grade zipper bags. They are thicker and hold better than what you have in the kitchen. And gently squeeze the air out of them. If it's really important, use duct or electricians tape to mummify the inner bag (security vs speed of access) and slip it inside the second one.

Or go with hard case outside of the ziplock back, which is what I do with meds. For example 2 packs of 12 tylenol, 2 packs of 12 aspirin, 1 20 pack of immodium, a 12 pack of tums, and 4 tylenol sinus fit into an altoids tin, which in turn gets a wrap of electricans tape. If I was going to pack a second, say in a BOB, that would get duct tape. Some things, like matches, are better off in a rigid case, anyway.

That being said, vaccume sealers are a lot of fun if you have an inner evil genius. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> And they let you pack your own food pouches, which won't have the life of mountain house or something similiar, but they will save you a lot in the long run. And if it's something were you would only use part of it (like a pack of meds) vaccume and heat seal it as small as you can then slip it into a zipper bag and force the air out of that,so that you can reseal the items after you open the package.

I'm not trying to talk you out of one, they are great, but for somethings, there are better alternatives. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />