So,

I'm going through and updating my kits, BoB, etc and replacing items that need it. Hard candy, water purif tabs and so on.

So I get to the matches. I trash all of them and go to put fresh ones in the safes. No matches in the house except "Strike on box" crap. Bummer, off to the store I went for "strike anywhere" matches.

First stop? Wally-world. "Hmm, they must be fresh out." I think. Plan B, Local supermarket. Also fresh out, damn. Am I seeing a trend here?? Off to Target. Guess what? don't even carry them. WTF?

Is there a sudden call for strike anywhere matches? Match goblins got the market cornered? All the new smoking bans got the smokers hording them?

Any idea what's going on? I know I heard something quite sometime ago about the SA matches were "more dangerous". Whatever.

Can anyone shed light (pun intended) on the subject, or tell me where to get them here in PHX?

DLR

Last Christmas/New Years there was a run on matches around here. Maybe it's the time of year when folks like to have lit candles around and they prefer strike anywhere matches, or perhaps it was a coincidence. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Then there's fireworks to be lit as well...

I prefer to have REI stormproof matches with a striker in my kits so I probably wouldn't have known or made note of the shortage if a family member hadn't mentioned it to me.

As for strike anywhere matches being dangerous, I guess they could be, but I haven't heard of them being banned or anything.

Keep trying. Check hardware stores too, where they have their BBQ stuff. Same with any store, look for the BBQ.

But you would have better matches if you get some REI Stormsafe matches. They require their special striker, but in addition to the ones on the box they give you another one, sealed in plastic, in each box. You can even put those lit matchesunder water, and when you pull them back out the flame comes back. Must be magic...

The only place i have had the chance of seeing them here in SC is at a mom and pop convenience store. Now they don't sell them anymore. I am glad i got some when they had them. you can order them through a website but i can't get to my favorites file on my old comp. I know they are Penley S-A matches. maybe a google search will help

kirby

If you have an Albertsons look for Penley strike anywhere better then Diamond. Rei Stormproof also have them in my 24 hr pack.

Lee

First the old formulae for SA's was changed many years past. They were a source for improvised explosives. The next blow came when they were classified as a HAZMAT item. It's the PROHIBITIVE shipping costs that have driven many retailers to drop them. In the real world of survival you are better off with a premium match. It's sad though ; silver dimes, Morse Code and sextants at sea, staples in that men's magazine, heavy wieght levis made in San Francisco and Perry Como on the handcrafted in America Radio instead of snoop dog- gone, all gone <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

There you go...
I learn something new every day.

Check the most expensive grocery stores around you. Here in WA, the price of the SAs went up from about $1.19 to $2.49. Most of the lower-priced stores probably figured that their customer base wouldn't tolerate a more than 100% increase.

Sue

I feel your pain in searching for SAW matches. Our local Meijer didn't have any, but our other major grocery store did. If you were to voice your concerns about availablity of SAW matches to the Diamond Company in a letter, and word it just right, you just might get a case of SAW matches delivered to your house in a nice big box. Nice company.
HTH
Michael

Yes, SA matches are classified as HAZMAT.
Seems that SO many people are worried about the danger in every item that the benefits are ignored.
Sign of the times, people are so pampered that it's no wonder the general population (does not apply to forum members) is virtually helpless if the American Express card is not the solution.
You know people who wish to make explosives can still find the means, so it accomplishes absolutely nothing to make the world safer, It does create strange paradox's though. In order to buy SA matches recently I had to buy many more boxes online than I wanted in order to make the HAZMAT charge justifiable.
While I have some REI matches as well SA are the main stay of my kits.

Their availability seems to be regional. If you have Albertson's or Smith's grocery stores you might try there. I am a believer in matches for some situations and I have always treated my own to waterproof them. But I have got to echo the recommendations for the REI Stormproof style. Their advantages vastly outweigh the small inconvenience of packing the striker. Since buying the Stormproofs I got rid of all of my SA's.

I'm not sure I miss sitting in front of that big ole wooden cabinet radio, the one with a dial, twelve knobs, and one speaker, listening to The Shadow, and The Whistler. Used to scare the you-know-what outta me!!!

I like REI's storm-proof matches too, but some of the REI outlets also carry Diamond strike anywhere mathces. I just looked on their website - no luck. But about a month ago I was in Albuquerque at REI and they had them on the shelf. Like you, I'm always complaining about their lack of availability - I don;t know why I didn;t get a couple of boxes!

Independent grocery stores and hardware stores are your best bet. National chains all seem to be run out of nanny states and nanny cities.

This has happened over the past 4 or 5 years. It is much harder to find SAW matches in stores. I have had the best luck finding them in small mom & pop stores and in shops near park/recreation areas. The last box I bought was from the little "store" in the rangers offfice at a state park. They are hard to find. Just keep your eyes open and stock up when you find them.

Just like you , I had a tough time finding them. A few weeks ago I bought some at my local ACE hardware store. Seems like this is something the carry pretty often. I found them in the BBQ supply section of the store.

Thanks all for the info. I have been feeling under the weather for the past few days and haven't been able to get out and look.

Today, I needed more flu meds so off to the local strip mall for drugs. In the corner is a Ace hardware store so I popped in and bingo! there they were, on the shelf. By the case if you want. Only .99 a box of 250. So three dollars later, I have enough to last quite some time.

I am a firm believer in matches. Obviously for starting fire, but if you've never HAD to use them, things are different. Maybe someday when I'm feeling better, I'll relate my own personal survival story and one that happened to my brother, and how things were changed dramatically, just with fire...

Cheers for now, and thanks all for the help

DLR

hey DLR , i also live in the phx. glendale area....try fry's food stores...i have seen s.a.w. matches in the past before...but i have not looked lately...they still may carry them.....vince g. 11b inf....

Well, here in Delaware plenty of SAWs! The trick is to find a place where there are Amish! The stores they frequent always have them! Comes from dependence on kerosene rather than electric - or is that dependence the other way round? <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Locally, I've only seen them at Ace Hardware and Publix groceries. I wouldn't stockpile dozens of boxes of them, just from a legal standpoint.

I'm confused. What legal standpoint would prohibit you from stockpiling boxes of matches?

Unless there is a specific prohibition, which I can't see as being enforceable, don't worry about it. Fear of laws that don't exist lets those laws come into being- ignore that which doesn't exist, and you protect freedom.

As I alluded to in my first post, I had heard a long time ago, something about some type of explosives being made out of match heads. A gunpowder substitute, maybe? I don't know.

I should probably know, but there is requirements as to how much gun powder that can be kept on hand at commercial businesses, esp. with black powder nowadays. I'm sure that some legislator or federal agency decided that the public has no business keeping more than "X" amount of powder on hand. The question is can this be applied to matches? Again, I don't know.

Additionally, I've heard that the number of rounds of ammunition that can be kept on hand is 10,000. Not positive of that one either, but it's kind of like "urban legend", I guess.

Boy, I don't know much today.....Par for the course.

DLR

The real problem would likely be local laws not federal.
Specifically there are ordinances and fire codes that prohibit potentially explosive or highly flammable items and materials.
These typically address the amount of an item, gallons, pounds etc.
It's unlikely that many police forces would know or care about SA matches, but some person from the Fire Marshall would.
AFAIK there are NO ATF rules or regs about SA matches or ammo either. The 10,000 could be reached without trying when you consider 22 cals which are 500 to a carton.

The one place that I've found where I absolutely need a match is to light my Coleman Lantern. It doesn't have a built-in sparker and a lighter is too fat to get up inside near the mantle.

I cannot find them anywhere. I have visited/called all the stores around me with no luck. I will keep trying though.

I use one of the long nosed butane lighters that are sold for BBQ's for this. I've found that by lighting the lighter, then turning on the lantern it will owrk much more safely than a match.

Woo-hoo! I just found some strike-anywhere matches at the local Ace Hardware. And all these years I thought they were illegal in NJ (isn't everything?).

Now, can anyone give me any tips on striking technique?

Check out : http://www.emergencyresources.com/er_p11.html

I am not affiliated with Emergency Resources in any way, other than being a potential customer.

MPG

Here is a link to some Penley strike anywheres. The website specializes in antiques but I've gotten them from here before. If you just order a box or two then the shipping (like $7.50) ends up being more than the matches, and I hate when that happens, so I stocked up.

River Junction Matches

Matt