That is quite true, but how many fires will you have to light per trip, or per incident? Typically if you light a fire for dinner, cook on it, and keep it going for a bit for warmth, etc., by the next morning all you have to do is coax it to life again without using a match. I always tried to use one match for one fire.
This is true, but when I use matches I typically have to replenish what I use after a couple trips or whatever since I don't typically carry a big box of matches with me.
By comparison, I've had the same ferro-rod on my keychain for 10+ years now and even after starting probably hundreds of fires I haven't had to do anything to it or replenish anything; and it will still work just fine. Plus it's almost always on my person, so I don't have to worry about making sure I grabbed my match container, refilled it lately, whatever.
Along the same lines, a Bic is easier to use than matches and they can also last years before disposal. I keep a bic in each of my jackets and a few of them are going on 5 years old now. They don't get used often, but they do get used occasionally and I haven't had to do anything to them yet, except for remembering to take them out and put them back in when I wash each jacket. (With that said, I did put one through the wash accidentally and it came out just fine.)
All in all, I don't have a problem with matches, I just don't have a use for them since I feel better alternatives exist. I don't even keep any in my camping pack or my bug-out bag anymore.
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