I tried waterproofing strike-anywhere matches with polyeurithane and it did not work well at all. When struck the matches tend to burn poorly.

I also bought the REI waterproof matches and find them fun to watch burn. They burn very fast from the top down the fuel. Cool to watch but I have yet to try to light a fire with them.

When putting together a very small kit I guess I tend to skip the matches and go with a lighter and a small sparker. I carry a fresnel lens too, but with the number of cloudy days we have around here I'm not sure how much it will help.

Lately, when out with the Scouts, I've just been putting uncoated matches inside one or two of those orange plastic waterproof cases - along with a small piece of emory board (for fingernails) - and making sure I also have a full lighter (Windmill or Storm) and a sparker (Kershaw or Spark-Lite) along with.

I like lighting fires with matches much more than with a ligher or sparker. The shape of the match just makes it easier to reach past the small twigs and get to the tinder. When car camping the long-reach lighters work well too.