I had a suprise occasion on Monday to spend the night outdoors and needed to light a fire. In my BOB I had two methods of firestarting, a blast match and tinder along with a sealed pack of Life Boat Matches. (not being a smoker, that was it)
I opted for the Life Boat Matches.
Lighting one of the matches was not a big problem although not as easy as a normal kitchen match.
The problem came when they were struck. The outer coating extended for more than half the length of the match. It flared, quickly burned along the length of the coating, and then (without exception) it went out. Total burn time 2-3 seconds. I was able to get the fire going and light my cook stove but it was a trial and error affair. It was sort of windy but not extremely so.
The experience was frustrating and I couldn't help but think how I might be depending on these things for my life one of these days.
I am resolved to find alternative methods of fire starting (even kitchen matches would have been much better). I was wishing for a bic or zippo with all my heart.
Any thoughts or experiences on this matter would be appreciated. What about other emergency lighters?

Jon

IMHO: NATO lifeboat-matches SUCK!
They're virtually impossible to light, and when they do, you can't see a flame, it just smokes a little. I'm not able to start fires with those. I switched to Coghlan's wind/waterproofs

The problem with the matches is not the match. It's with the container. For some reason, which I suspect comes from making it as durable as possible, the striker on the plastic container is very rough. Too rough. If you try striking one on a conventional safety matches ignition strip, you will be pleasently surprised by the results. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the tip, I will certainly give that a try.

Jon

I seem to recall on a prior thread it was suggested that the NATO matches have a shelf life. You might check on that. I recently bought some REI matches that appear similar; they burn quite spectacularly for about 15 seconds.

I've wanted to try the REI matches, need something else to buy to make up an order. I'm sure there are different kinds. Mine were purchased from a well known online dealer of quality survival gear.
As far as shelf life.. The definition of: "Life Boat" matches would seem to imply/require a long term usefulness. They were sealed and didn't appear to be degraded in any way.
I have some coughlins waterproof matches that I will be trying. Perhaps I will try the REI ones as well and let you know how I fare.

The obvious lesson here is that we should all try out the items in our kits before TSHTF. Make sure they do the job intended. Something as simple as lighting a fire or stove with items I have chosen for use in tough times has taught me a lot.

Thanks
Jon

I always include THREE sources of fire starting: butane lighter, a sparker, and matches, and those are presented in my order of preference.

At this time my preferred lighter is the Solo Candle Lighter because it is extendable, which makes it much easier to use when lighting tinder and gas stoves.

For a sparker I tend to carry both the Magfire Pro and a SparkLite. I prefer using the Magfire since it has lots more lights on it, but have to admit that the SparkLite is easier to use. Since the SparkLite is so tiny I can carry it too.

For matches I carry REI waterproof matches in a extended K&M Aluminum matchcase .

I'll agree they should have a long shelf life. But maybe they were 1950's era salvage from some DOD warehouse.<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Seriously though, you are absolutely right about periodic testing, not just to see if items initially work as advertised, but also to make sure they haven't degraded over time.

Coghlans are better than nothing, but REI stormsafe matches are hard to beat. You can light one, hold it under water, and when you bring it out of the water, poof, it starts burning again!!!

I have ordered several boxes of REI storm proof matches. Looking forward to having them available.

Jon