Originally Posted By: hikermor

I would not agree with your "one match means one fire" comment. Particularly in a survival situation, where a person would be staying put, or at least stopping overnight, you would build a fire that would result in a bed of coals that could easily be rekindled the following morning. You can keep this up for days...


Hey, no fair! That's still the same fire! grin Obviously you're right- normally you'd hunker down in place and keep the same fire going. That would be the plan, anyways. Lots of things could happen that could force your hand of the situation could change in a way that made moving the logical choice.

Of course, there's the flip side of needing more than one match per fire. Hopefully you have plenty of good tinder to get a fire going and it goes with one match but that doesn't always happen. In any event, I don't want to make a big deal out of it, and if I didn't think they were worth having I wouldn't have bought such a nice match case! grin My first choice is usually a firesteel, then a BIC lighter, then matches. But that's just personal preference on my part. And I wouldn't think of going out on a hiker without some matches as backup.


Originally Posted By: LED
Thanks for the review Phaedrus. I'm also a match fan. Right now I'm using the UCO Stormproof match case. The only problem is the striker on the outside can get wet/damaged. Looks like the Exotac solves that problem.


I have a half dozen of those UCO cases in yellow or orange. I think they're pretty nice. Yeah, the striker being on the outside is asking for trouble they include extra material inside. The plastic UCO cases are hard to beat for the money! I bought mine from Amazon for $7 shipped, and that's filled with UCO Stormproof matches.


Originally Posted By: Snake_Doctor
I use the orange cases like you find at wal-Mart. Never had a problem with them. My first one is almost 30 years old and still serves as a mini kit. Recently I bought one by Coleman and was pleasantly suprised to find that it came with waterproof matches and a sizable striker strip inside a tiny zip-lock. I rut the matches in the zip-lock and tossed them in general gear for "just in case". Have any of you tried the brass Siva case with a compass on it? I have been considering it, but no one has one to examine. Thanks


Those cheapie $1 Coleman cases aren't really too bad. The matches are great but they're serviceable, and really free when you consider the case is a buck. The striker is terrific! I can't believe how big a sheet you get. And it will light every brand of strike-on-box I've seen including the UCO. I found that by cutting the UCO matches down by 3/16" or so they'll fit in the Coleman case.

No I haven't had a chance to try the brass ones.
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“I'd rather have questions that cannot be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” —Richard Feynman