What is it with the matches?

For those who keep boxes of matches around, there's a product called a Clik Cooler which works great to keep them in. They're a little bigger than a box of kitchen matches, and They're pretty tightly sealed. They might not be 100% watertight, but they're pretty close. I have several of them around the house, wherever I use matches or might want to use them. The Clik Cooler is actually a little insulated drinkbox holder made for lunchboxes, but I've never used one for that purpose.

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"I don't want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did."
— Henry James

well i actually have a zippo and a clone(import) but i also have several butane lighters and several bricks of matches. i try not to put all my eggs in one basket.

dean

BTW i also have a swedish firesteel and can use a firedrill in a pinch.
just having one way to do anything will limit you especially if something happened to what you stock for the purpose.

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Hope is something you give yourself in your darkest moments, this is the true meaning of selfreliance.

greetings from the far east of the western world

Yeah - that happened to me, too! Ouch!

Wish I had known that Zippo would fix their lighters. I had one for many of the years when I smoked, but it got sand in it & I couldn't get it cleaned out well enough. It got lost somewhere along the way. Actually, I've had 3. Another one lost & the last one stolen.

I stick to matches now.

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God bless,
Bonnie
Opportunity Farm
Northeast Washington

"While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all." Galatians 6:10

For those able to follow a link within a link, this will provide excellent information concerning 'fine-tuning' a spill plane.

http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/f...ad.php?t=15303

I use a box of strike anywhere matches about once every four years... to relight my hw heater and the stove. The pilots stay lit always, and rarely go out (unless the the gas off my well is shut in for a while)...

CAUTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you drop a box of strike anywhere matches 'just right' on a hard floor, they will explode into a ball of fire!!! Did it once in a grocery store, smoke was everywhere... and it almost got real interesting, as Coleman gas fuel was stored on the ground level shelf...

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

I have had many Zippos (lots of USMC logo models), and a table model Scripto fluid lighter. I keep the Zippos, bic disposable lighters, refillable butane lighters, strike anywhere matches, flint and steel, magnesium metal match, and in a pinch using my prescription glasses to start a fire. But using highway flares and some flammable liquids works very well in creating fire in a pouring rain also!!!!

As Angie posted, one can give/ trade some book matches to the unprepared folks. I keep mine inside several zip-lock freezer bags inside a sealed container. Then again they are handy for lighting a Coleman lantern, natural gas/ propane water heater, or a candle. I pick up some patriotic (US Flag prints) books of matches after the 4th of July each year, for about $0.25 per box of 50 books. I also take some down to the Vet's Hall for the bar, when we have our monthly meetings.

Texican - my dad carries a scar from when he had a front pocket full of strike anywhere matches, and slid into 3rd base in a baseball game. He burned a hole in his pants and earned a scar from that episode back in the 1940's!!

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Smarter than the average bear, sitting here on my hilltop 80 acres in the fog above the ocean...

"Life is tough, but it is tougher when you are stupid." - John Wayne

Hi Guys,
Zippo fuel is deoderised kerosene. I'd recomend regular kerosene if you need a field expidient.
I like my fire stick but I am fond of strike any weres for lighting my pipe and or cigar.
Dutch

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SW Minnesota
Been a fool most of my life and still help as best I can:
knowing no good deed ever goes unpunished.

Maybe yall can help me out. Where can I find strike anywhere matches these days? The last place I bought them was a little country store that had stock from about 30 years prior. I bought all they had then they never got any more then the store closed. I went to another local store but they said due to terrorists and meth heads we will not be getting strike anywhere matches anymore. Those things are so handy, but I just cannot get them anymore. Any help would be appreciated.

They are still plentiful in our regular grocery stores. They're in the aisle with the picnic stuff. Lot of meth here & we're close to the Canadian border, but we still have plenty of matches! :baby04:

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God bless,
Bonnie
Opportunity Farm
Northeast Washington

"While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all." Galatians 6:10

I only find the strike anywhere at Piggly Wiggly grocery stores and not the others ones (esp Walmart).

Angie

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"Live your life, and forget your age." Norman Vincent Peale

I was going to get some zippos to put in BOB's at Dh's request. They are not as expensive as I had feared. My question is (dh is on a hunting trip) they sell wicks for them, and no one is mentioning wicks. Do you need them? If so, how many "spares" and how many spare flints? And do they take regular lighter fluid, or do you have to buy the "zippo fluid"?

thanks!!

I would get a spare wick and a card of flints for each lighter. Any lighter fluid will work.

I still keep my flint and steel striker handy, along with several tins of char-cloth tinder. I used to use all the time back im mt reenacting days. Flint is found all over the ground here. I made my own striker. Its from and old file, Big wide metal file i think it was. I also make my own char cloth. Any type of 100% cotton will work. You need a metal coffee can or old pot with a lid. Fill the pot with the scrap cotton, I use worn out underwear and t-shirts usually. Heat it real hot when the cotton starts to smolder and smoke get ready for it to ignite and when it does cover the pot to keep out oxygen. The cotton with smolder for a bit and will turn completely black. This char cloth is great. All you need is the smallest spark and it will hold it and all you got to do is wrap it in some other combustable, like a little piece of burlap or small bit of birdsnest etc. Blow it into a flame, Ive used the char cloth with cheap disposable lighter when it was out of fluid. Works like a charm. It is of course historically accurate for the time period i was in,(french and indian war)
I do rely on matches for the woodstove. I keep several bic lighters too. Inever cared mutch for zippos. I have owned a few, just not my thing. I do got this cool little desk lighter that is like a zippo, but its not a pocket size lighter. Its bout the size of a tennis ball and has a huge wick and big striker.

Keep you powder dry

Someone asked about using gasoline in a zippo.
I used it many times aboard ship when there was a shortage of fluid..
both av gas and gasoline do work fine but tend to make the cotton filling stiffen up and become crusty.
Coleman fuel works too but not as long as regular fluid.

As a historical re-enactor (buckskinner) I tend to use mostly "flint and steel"..not the magnesium bars used on the boob tube in survivor, but real high carbon steel "strikers". I make these myself also as I am a blacksmith. When struck with a hard piece of rock, usually flint, sparks are thrown onto "char cloth" and the lit char is added to your tender and blown on to produce flame...I have seen this done in under 6 seconds.

A few more tricks...

Paper egg carton sections (not styrofoam!!) filled with melted wax and wood shavings, they will light even in wet weather.

A candle stub can save your bacon IF you can get it lit.

Birch bark (either white or yellow) will light even when soggy...

Oops sorry didn't see the above post about the flint and steel.

We've got a magnesium bar, flint and steel, lots of cheapie lighters, some of those long click lighters, and lots and lots of matches. Since fire is one of those really necessary survival needs, I kind of went overboard. I have the matches vacuum sealed to keep them fresh for a long time. We had a box of matches sitting out in the barn and discovered they'd gotten damp somehow. So I immediately sealed all the rest.

I had to get strike anywhere matches online - I could only find strike-on-box matches locally. They might be available at Gander Mountain or a sporting goods store but I couldn't find them. So I've got about half and half in my stock.

For a tutorial on making "char cloth" mentioned above go here.
http://www.hidden-prairie.com/images.../charcloth.jpg

Thank you!

I would make sure to store the flints in a plastic bag or case. To my disbelief, I discovered that my stash of extra flints had come into contact with moisture while in storage and were ruined. They crumbled when I tried to get them out of the card. Just like radiofish, I too have several old Zippo lighters adorned with the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. They are a grunts best friend. However they usually required just as much attention as my rifle to keep it functioning reliably. Just a thought.

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Paul Allen
True freedom is found through self-reliance.

An observation about matches is that you do not have to have as much fine motor control of your fingers to light a match or use flint and steel as you do a lighter.

Think about what happens if you get tired, cold and wet after being in a snow or rain storm and you are struggling against chills and wet to the skin. You need fire to get warm and dry and your hands and fingers are shaking. You fumble with your lighter and just can't get your fingers to cooperate.

You pull out your matches and grip one tight in your fist with one hand while you scrape it against the box with the other. It lights and you light your candle or other fire starter item. You just saved your bacon with a more basic fire starting item than the more complex lighter that you prefer.

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I would challenge anyone here to think of a question upon which we once had a scientific answer, however inadequate, but for which now the best answer is a religious one. – Sam Harris

For everyday use, I mainly use BBQ grill type lighters. They have a long reach and some are refillable. I also have a variety of matches and fire starters. I even keep a small flintsteel on my keyring.