I had a suprise occasion on Monday to spend the night outdoors and needed to light a fire. In my BOB I had two methods of firestarting, a blast match and tinder along with a sealed pack of Life Boat Matches. (not being a smoker, that was it)
I opted for the Life Boat Matches.
Lighting one of the matches was not a big problem although not as easy as a normal kitchen match.
The problem came when they were struck. The outer coating extended for more than half the length of the match. It flared, quickly burned along the length of the coating, and then (without exception) it went out. Total burn time 2-3 seconds. I was able to get the fire going and light my cook stove but it was a trial and error affair. It was sort of windy but not extremely so.
The experience was frustrating and I couldn't help but think how I might be depending on these things for my life one of these days.
I am resolved to find alternative methods of fire starting (even kitchen matches would have been much better). I was wishing for a bic or zippo with all my heart.
Any thoughts or experiences on this matter would be appreciated. What about other emergency lighters?

Jon