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.
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.
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