Exotac matchcap

[Mistwalker]

The EXOTAC MATCHCAP is another piece of kit I've gotten recently.

It's a match case made of machined aluminum. It has textured knurling for a good grip when opening, closing, and using. It has two different striking surfaces with a rough textured surface on the bottom for strike anywhere matches and then there is a red phosphorous striker mounted in a recess on the side of the tube that is sealed from water when the cap is on.

Here are a couple of perspective shots.

and here are a couple of videos of it. The first one is me checking it out the day I got it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwwetuRGPMg



and the second one is a one match fire. You can see that I have been playing with it so much and showing it off to friends that I have worn the red phosphorous striker or filled it with lacquer striking NATO life boat matches. Luckily they also offer replacement striking surfaces, o-rings too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgYTj9Ey4Co


.

 

[TeeDee]

MW,

How many Lifeboat matches can fit inside the container please?

Am i right in thinking these are about $20-$25.00 each?

 

[johnboy]

Nice Match case...

For some reason it reminds me of a minature POMZ /PMR-2 AP mine probably the knurling....

Good YT videos......

 

[TeeDee]

Nice looking solid case, shame it doesn't float.
Which i think is quite impotant for this bit of kit. If you do a river crossing or fall over in a river , match case and 1 potential ability to re-warm yourself up and dry off is lost unless you an find same match case in bottom of river.


I think i would also bling the hell out of the outside with some Nice day Glo orange paint and some reflective Illuminous tape so if i dropped it at night ( or dimpsy ) i could flash a torch ( flashlight ) over the ground and 'ping!' ... found.

That being said , Looks very well made.


Apologies if that sounds negative ,, just some random thoughts. Possible feedback?
Great Vids and Photo's once again.

 

[Mistwalker]

MW,

How many Lifeboat matches can fit inside the container please?

Am i right in thinking these are about $20-$25.00 each?

Yes, about 25.00

It will hold seven without jamming them in there and that leaves a 1 inch deep x 0.65 diameter inch, or 2.54cm deep x 1.65 cm diameter area to pack some sort of tinder in on top of them.

Nice Match case...

For some reason it reminds me of a minature POMZ /PMR-2 AP mine probably the knurling....

Good YT videos......

Thanks, it's my favorite match case I've ever had.

Thanks, glad you liked the vids.

Nice looking solid case, shame it doesn't float.
Which i think is quite impotant for this bit of kit. If you do a river crossing or fall over in a river , match case and 1 potential ability to re-warm yourself up and dry off is lost unless you an find same match case in bottom of river.


I think i would also bling the hell out of the outside with some Nice day Glo orange paint and some reflective Illuminous tape so if i dropped it at night ( or dimpsy ) i could flash a torch ( flashlight ) over the ground and 'ping!' ... found.

That being said , Looks very well made.


Apologies if that sounds negative ,, just some random thoughts. Possible feedback?
Great Vids and Photo's once again.

I've had some similar thoughts but in my area break resistance is as important as anything. My other match cases float...but that and they usually keep things dry is about the best thing I can say for them.

 

[Chinkapin]

Mistwalker, about a year ago, I bought a Silva match safe that was made of brass (apparently) and contained a small but seemingly high quality compass in the lid. The workmanship was quite good but two things about it left me cold. One was the fact that was unbelievably heavy. The heaviness smacked of quality but heavy is not what most people are looking for in backpacking equipment. The other thing was that it had an area that was purposely left rough for striking matches on, but neither my Diamond "strike anywhere" matches nor my NATO "lifeboat" matches would strike on this spot. I suppose some of the European or British strike anywhere matches might but I'll never know. I sort of love/hate it. By the way, it has been reported that there are many, many knock off copies of this match safe being sold that are of very crappy quality with a compass that is a joke. Let the buyer beware.

In the areas which I frequent in Arkansas a floatable matchsafe would be no good at all. If dropped into the nearby river I could stand on the bank and watch it leave at about 20 mile per hour toward the southwest. One that would sink would be visible on the bottom and could easily be retrieved. Being able to float is pretty much a positive or negative based on the type of water conditions that you are dealing with. From your pics, I would judge that your conditions are roughly the same as mine.

 

[TeeDee]

Mistwalker, about a year ago, I bought a Silva match safe that was made of brass (apparently) and contained a small but seemingly high quality compass in the lid. The workmanship was quite good but two things about it left me cold. One was the fact that was unbelievably heavy. The heaviness smacked of quality but heavy is not what most people are looking for in backpacking equipment. The other thing was that it had an area that was purposely left rough for striking matches on, but neither my Diamond "strike anywhere" matches nor my NATO "lifeboat" matches would strike on this spot. I suppose some of the European or British strike anywhere matches might but I'll never know. I sort of love/hate it. By the way, it has been reported that there are many, many knock off copies of this match safe being sold that are of very crappy quality with a compass that is a joke. Let the buyer beware.

In the areas which I frequent in Arkansas a floatable matchsafe would be no good at all. If dropped into the nearby river I could stand on the bank and watch it leave at about 20 mile per hour toward the southwest. One that would sink would be visible on the bottom and could easily be retrieved. Being able to float is pretty much a positive or negative based on the type of water conditions that you are dealing with. From your pics, I would judge that your conditions are roughly the same as mine.

Fair points , I guess we all look at kit in different ways..

So what features would you want to see in a Match case/ Ferro Rod Holder if you could design on? Material? Size? Additional features?

I may have a go at designing 'my version' , as i'm surrounded by engineering equipment.

 

[johnboy]

Fair points , I guess we all look at kit in different ways..

So what features would you want to see in a Match case/ Ferro Rod Holder if you could design on? Material? Size? Additional features?

I may have a go at designing 'my version' , as i'm surrounded by engineering equipment.

Here is my specification.

• I'd say a non ferrous material such as Aluminium anodised In a bright colour like red so you can find it.
• Course thread on the lid / cap closure so it doesnt get fouled up by grit.
• Double O ring seal for the ultimate in waterpoofness.
• Decent Sized lanyard hole for thick cord ( 550 etc)
• Attach this to the cap end so you unscrew the body from the cap this will help prevent droping the cap and loosing it.
• Course grippy fully formed diamond knurling on outer so it can be opened with wet / cold hands and act as a striker for non safety matches
• ability to keep the striker inside the case for use with safety matches..
• OD no larger than 35mm
• Overall closed length no more than 90mm.
• Discreet Lazer etched logo on base so you're not like a mobile advertising hording...

When you start production let me know...

 

[TeeDee]

Here is my specification.

• I'd say a non ferrous material such as Aluminium anodised In a bright colour like red so you can find it.
• Course thread on the lid / cap closure so it doesnt get fouled up by grit.
• Double O ring seal for the ultimate in waterpoofness.
• Decent Sized lanyard hole for thick cord ( 550 etc)
• Attach this to the cap end so you unscrew the body from the cap this will help prevent droping the cap and loosing it.
• Course grippy fully formed diamond knurling on outer so it can be opened with wet / cold hands and act as a striker for non safety matches
• ability to keep the striker inside the case for use with safety matches..
• OD no larger than 35mm
• Overall closed length no more than 90mm.
• Discreet Lazer etched logo on base so you're not like a mobile advertising hording...

When you start production let me know...

Floater or Not?

PS Hamiliton ? Think i've been there ....

 

[johnboy]

You're not going to get a metallic based case to float unless its got a big surface area or is incredibly thinly walled so overall weight is low.

Big surface area means it'll be impractical to put in a pocket. Thin walled means it'll dent easily ( unless you go with TI as a material then it will be expensive to make and sell)

Plastic means you'll need a mould tool to make it so the cost of production goes up. Unless you machine from a solid bit of plastic like nylon or turcite then you'll get a lot of waste material...and it'll be thick walled so It'll probably sink...

If it's on a lanyard and you fall in the ogin you'll not loose it so the floater idea is a bit of a non starter IMHO....

Hamilton It's the centre of match case Design in NZ......

 

[Mistwalker]

Mistwalker, about a year ago, I bought a Silva match safe that was made of brass (apparently) and contained a small but seemingly high quality compass in the lid. The workmanship was quite good but two things about it left me cold. One was the fact that was unbelievably heavy. The heaviness smacked of quality but heavy is not what most people are looking for in backpacking equipment. The other thing was that it had an area that was purposely left rough for striking matches on, but neither my Diamond "strike anywhere" matches nor my NATO "lifeboat" matches would strike on this spot. I suppose some of the European or British strike anywhere matches might but I'll never know. I sort of love/hate it. By the way, it has been reported that there are many, many knock off copies of this match safe being sold that are of very crappy quality with a compass that is a joke. Let the buyer beware.

In the areas which I frequent in Arkansas a floatable matchsafe would be no good at all. If dropped into the nearby river I could stand on the bank and watch it leave at about 20 mile per hour toward the southwest. One that would sink would be visible on the bottom and could easily be retrieved. Being able to float is pretty much a positive or negative based on the type of water conditions that you are dealing with. From your pics, I would judge that your conditions are roughly the same as mine.

View of kit is pretty much area specific. It's true that on most of my hikes even if I happened to drop it in the edge of river it would mean a soaking and swim like h#ll if it got out of reach before I noticed, and if I dropped it into one of the mountain streams it would be a dash and splash to say the least. Either way I'd rather it sink and stop. That is one of the points of that video where I placed it in the stream.

Now if I were water born in a boat or canoe I'm thinking I'd much rather have one that would float.

 

[TeeDee]

You're not going to get a metallic based case to float unless its got a big surface area or is incredibly thinly walled so overall weight is low.

Big surface area means it'll be impractical to put in a pocket. Thin walled means it'll dent easily ( unless you go with TI as a material then it will be expensive to make and sell)


Hamilton It's the centre of match case Design in NZ......

Or you could look at Ti-Ali Laminate.
Pricey , but I never mentioned selling it as a commercial product.

 

[Mistwalker]

MW,

How many Lifeboat matches can fit inside the container please?

I need to correct myself here. I didn't think about inverting some of them the way they come in the issue canisters until I read on the box that the MATCHCAP would hold 16 NATO matches. It will really hold sixteen too... but that is tight and leaves three (at least with the NATO matches I'm using anyway) sticking up above the others. However I can get 13 in and still have that inch of room at the top for something else.

 

[Doc]

Very nice.

It could be argued that the non-captive cap is waiting to get lost.

i have a Marbles matchsafe - 40 years old but works great. The patent is dated 1906 or thereabouts.

 

[Mistwalker]

Very nice.

It could be argued that the non-captive cap is waiting to get lost.

i have a Marbles matchsafe - 40 years old but works great. The patent is dated 1906 or thereabouts.

Thanks, I suppose that could be argued...but none of my match case caps are captive so I had never really thought about it.

 

[Mistwalker]

Got my REI storm proof matches in today...they came quicker than I expected.

They are a good bit longer than the NATO life boat matches and, as I was told by more than one person, they strike much easier than the NATO matches and burn better too. What is also really cool is that I was expecting just a pack of matches, but there were 2 packs of 25 matches, and two packs of spare red phos. strikers. Top notch service with a great product and a better price than I paid for the last two bottles of NATO matches I bought. So...while I have yet to use any starting a fire I have no doubt in their ability to do so and REI has earned another customer....No offense to NATO of course

I guess it will vary depending on the size of the stem, but I was able to get 10 in the Matchcap with 9 down and 1 up.

And then I was able to get 9 in it with 8 down and 1 up with a whole one of the spare strikers that came with the matches. I think I can trim the striker down a bit and get 10 back in it because i could nearly get 11 matches in it but not quite.

 

[TeeDee]

For anyone else going to look for REI , Just been there , Done that.

http://www.rei.com/search?query=matches

 

[Chinkapin]

I had a Marble's match safe once, but it went missing many years ago. Hummmm.

Seriously, it was simple, well constructed and worked great.