Need help with Ohio matches

I tried the search. No luck. ???

I have two kinds of strike-anywhere kitchen matches: Ohio Blue tip and Diamond.

The Ohio's are not acting strike-anywhere. They will not light when I strike them on our concrete sidewalk. I used them on different coarseness of surfaces. But, they will light when I strike them against the box.

The Diamonds, on the other hand, will light when struck against the sidewalk and, of course, against it's own box.

Is there something wrong with my Ohio's? I don't know how old they are. Do they have a shelf life? The box reads damp proof and they have never been wet.

I am also extremely disappointed that both matches will not light against either side of an emory (spelling?) board. The emory board simply sands the top of the match away, without lighting it. Are there different coarseness of emory board? I'll be in the White Mts of Arizona in two weeks and it is disturbing that I might have been in a situation to rely on my Ohio's and emory board.

How am I supposed to light these matches when everything is wet?

Thank you very much.

I've found that generally the quality of strike anywhere matches has deteriorated substantially over the years. There seems to be less striking material, and the matches themselves do seem much more sensitive to the type of material that are struck against--as you say, some materials simply sand off the striker.

Also, I've noted that the matches simply deteriorate over time, becoming useless.

Get a Cricket piezo butane lighter or similar and never look back. I've carried the same little one in my gritty pocket for years, held it under water for 30 seconds, blown the water out, and the thing still lights reliably.

Buy a mini-BIC and use it to light your matches

(sorry ... could not resist ...)

I have noticed this too. Right now I have some Diamond Strike Anywhere in the large box and they seem OK. But I have been very disappointed with the smaller matches in the small box. At least half were duds.
Maybe matches are a bit obsolete. If you have a Bic or two, a firesteel, sparklite and tinder maybe you don't need matches?
Bill

There's a reason for this. My dad told me a story once that, to me at least, explains this perfectly.

When he was young he smoked...most people did back then. Living on a farm there were no lighters and he carried light anywhere matches. They were common and easy to get back then. One day he was out in the field and the tractor broke down. He had to walk back to the farm house. About half way the matches in his pocket all lit from the friction of rubbing against each other in his pocket. Fortunately denim doesn't burn THAT easily and he was able to beat the fire out before he was too badly burned.

If I were a match making company, this would be a huge liability and I'd make the matches harder to light to prevent accidents.

the quality has gone down over the years and the white
striking "stuff" has been reduced in size..i have new matches
that are only a few years old that turn to butter when you try
and light them but some i found in my old scout match safe--
1960's would still light on a match box striker but not a
rock...i pick out ones with the best looking heads and put
them in a WP pill bottle along with a strip of striker from
the box..i prefer a long wood match for lighting camp stoves
so i can keep away from the burst of flame when the stove
lights..

Check the matches to see if they really are 'strike-anywhere'. I once got a box of Diamond strike-anywheres without the phosphorus tip. They had been mispackaged and were really the strike-in-box kind.

But matche quality really has deteriorated.

If you're just taking a few with you, make sure they have the largest glob of white on the tips.

I usually keep an empty box of strike-anywheres, and if I need a striker to put into a container, I cut one end of the striker strip off (the ends usually have the least wear) and cut it to fit the shape of the end of the container (press it in with the striker against the lid, to prevent accidents).

I was looking for the Ohio Blue Tip home, and found this from a Yahoo discussion board:
"As for the Ohio Blue Tip Matches , I believe that particular company has went out of business. Diamond Brands Inc. is the mother company of our beloved "Ohio Blue Tips". The company has moved out of OH and is now located in LA, they just dropped the Ohio Blue tips name, although the quality seems to have slipped as well."

Sue

A little clear nail polish might help. After waterproofing them I can light my Diamonds on one strike every time and have never sanded one down (like the unvarnished ones) trying to light it. Haven't done a controlled study but it seems to work.

Ohio Blue Tips have not been made for quite a few years now. As others have said, the Diamonds have deteriotated in quality. The heads are smaller, the matchstick itself is thinner and shorter too.
Find some Penley brand strike anywhere matches, much better than the Diamond brand and they have a stronger matchstick too.

I'm with LED. I've waterproofed the Diamonds with clear nail polish and I've never really had a problem. I thought quality would be a problem since they were three boxes for a dollar but that didn't prove to be the case for me. Once in a blue moon I get a match with little white phosphorous on the tip which makes striking difficult, and very rarely do I get one that just "pops".

My best advice though would be to supplement your fire-starting capabilities; take along several methods. Take along a lighter, a flint/magnesium striker, and maybe even a small magnifying glass and you should be fine. Practice, practice, practice with the last two techniques though. It's better to learn in the backyard now than if you have to do it if something goes wrong.

The material in the matches is a decent dessicant- your Ohios are going to be a bit older, they haven't been made for a while. So they've probably absorbed enough moisture out of the atmosphere to render the tips inert. Damp proof means they can take a little moisture, but without being an air tight container or given a coat of shellac, they've sucked too much water out of the air.

I buy the Diamonds when I find them, then I dip them shellac, two layers, and store them in an air tight container. I've got some Ohios that are ten years old that I did this with and they light up pretty regularly but even with the moisture proofing they are getting flaky enough to retire to woodstove detail.

As for a striker, try a metal nail file. I also cut a strip of striker off and tape it to the inside of the match case, facing the sides of the case. But since I don't like being cold and wet, I always have a lighter or two and at least one ferro rod along with at least one match case.

True strike anywhere matches have been long gone. The original formulae was used in improvised explosives. Then matches were foolishly declared a HAZMAT item with prohibitive shipping that reduced the availability.In an ancient post I analysed a box of Diamond Brand. Out of 250 you could glean some very robust match heads, some relegated to home use and no few utterly useless. That was before a recent drop in quality as noted along with supplemented match imports from Red China. Matches in concept as a ready source of ignition over flint and steel have truly been replaced by disposable lighters, another ready source of finite lights. If you want matches as an option Lifeboats with their own quirks are the answer. The sealed containers and handmade laquered matches have a very good shelf life. You must sacrifice a container becoming comfortable lighting them, and a secondary striker surface is mandatory as the cap top affairs quickly deteriorate. In the real world today several disposable lighters equal a supply of matches and a metal match the older flint and steel sparking strategy. And for shear 'stick it in your pocket and forget about it' 100% reliability and virtual lifelong shelf life get a SPARKLITE.

This is great information. Thank you very much to all. I have since noticed that the larger heads light with better consistency.

My dad and I tried to light some brand new light anywhere matches last night. We tried every viable surface we could think of and couldn't get a single one to light. Even with the tips scrubbed off they all lit on the box just fine.

I have a couple of boxes of strike anywhere matches that have been vacuum sealed for probably five years. I wonder if they are the "old" type, and if being vacuum sealed has helped preserve them? Might have to open one and give it a try I guess...

Always cherry pick your matches- weed out the ones with small tips, mangled heads and funky stems. I should have mentioned that.

Go through an entire box and practice lighting them with your thumbnail. You'll break a lot of matches and burn yourself a fair amount, but when you're done, you'll never be without a striker and you'll be a lot more familiar with how a match lights.

And you'll look like John Wayne to boot!!!

This is awesome information. Thank you all!!!!!

(emphasis added)

PIEZO WARNING:
A lighter with a piezo-electric ignition can be a great thing, but they are unreliable at altitudes above about 5,000' and typically useless above 10,000. As I recall the White Mountains in AZ are quite high.

I was taught the above in a Mountaineering class. I can personally vouch for not being able to use my Windmill piezo-electric at 8000'.