Matches? Who needs 'em?

[Schwert]

Matches....oh how much I like matches. A good strike-anywhere stench that fills your nostrils with sulfur is just something unobtainable with a zippo or BIC. Flint and Steel, firesteels, firepistons, drills are all wonders of our skills, but a good match is just a wonder of chemistry.

Matches are usually my last choice for standard firelighting as I like the other skilled methods, but one thing that should never be forgotten is that a match is familiar to just about everyone. Whether they can use it well is another matter, but (and I am stealing this notion from Chris Kavanaugh) is that any novice can be instructed how to build a fire with a match. Consider yourself laying in the forest duff with 2 broken arms surrounded by your group of scouts. You need or want a fire, them standing around with your firesteel is likely not going to warm anyone anytime too soon. Instructing them in tinder and kindling prep, matchcase in hand gets you fire.

 

[Greg]

I always carry lifeboat matches with me but I don't think I can remember the last time I used them.
I use a swedish firesteel first and foremost unless the heavens have opened and I want to get a fire going as soon as poss I'm afraid I turn to my windproof butane lighter. What a heathen I know, but it is only on rare occasions!!

 

[Tor helge]

I`m not sure it is heretic to diss matches.
I`m under the impression it is the other way around .

I use mathces all the time. I`ve been "bushcrafting" over 30 years and have had no problems with damp matches. I now carry them in an waterproof container from the Clas Olson store and as a kid in a empty film canister.
Matches are the easiest way to light a fire in my opinion.
I also carry a bic lighter, mostly a habit from my days as a smoker. I seldom use it to light a fire.
I`ve used metalmatches sometimes but I don`t really see the need for them. I think of them as a neet idea.
A survival situation (in my case) would most likely be short time. A pack of matches would be quite enough for several weeks.

If I happened to be in a long term survival situation, the flint and steel kit I always carry and also use quite often (for practice) would be my backup.
The tinder (horse hoof fungus) is aboundant in all the forests in Norway.

Tor

 

[Greg]

At the end of the day it is upto the individual as to how he/she wants to light a fire there is no right or wrong that is why all these different methods were invented. And at the end of the day we live in the 21st century and new methods are being invented all the time or old methods improved.

So no one should be criticised if they want to use matches or lighters instead of natural methods.
And isn't the lighter just the advanced method of flint and steel!
Just my point of view, I don't mean to upset any body....

 

[hanzo]

I always carry matches even though I only use them to light the lantern when family camping. Redundancy is a good thing. In fact, I need to rotate out my road flares for the cars and put a new one in the pack for the "absolutely have to have a fire NOW and can't start one any other way" times, which I hope never occur.

 

[Wayland]

A blast from the past perhaps but I have often wondered about the disdain held for matches amongst certain "bushcrafters"

I heard someone commenting at Middlewood, that it was "a shame the communal fire was lit with a match", until someone else pointed out that it did only take one match.

I can and do light fires using many different methods and the poll asking about favourite methods made me think about this thread.

I use flint and steel almost daily in my work and I still enjoy it as a demonstration, but nine times out of ten it's a match I'll use to start a fire.

Lighters are fine, but always seem to be out of fuel when you need them but you know when you're getting low on matches don't you.

Ferro rods are good for emergencies and do make you think about how your tinder and kindling is laid I suppose, but I still like the simple functionality of a match.

 

[korvin karbon]

having your fingers frozen stiff and trying to use a lighter is not fun and neither is trying to use a ferro rod. Try it with some matches (kitchen ones best) and it is much easier.

As mentioned by Ray Mears and Les Stroud, it is standard practice when in the far north, the cabins have tinder and fuel all set out AND matches stuck into the box so they are sticking out. Allowing the poor git who is half frozen to cup the cup in his hands, use their teeth to pull the match out and strike so they can drop the lit match into the tinder pile

 

[Cobweb]

I use what is handy at the time, match, lighter, firesteel, flint and steel, friction... whatever, nothing is better than the other and all have their place Becoming expert in the use of all of them is the most important thing of all.

 

[Doc]

I use what is handy at the time, match, lighter, firesteel, flint and steel, friction... whatever, nothing is better than the other and all have their place Becoming expert in the use of all of them is the most important thing of all.

There is a time and a place for every method of firelighting.

The old ways need a bit of skill and give a certain satisfaction, but friction in particular is not exactly convenient.
A firesteel lasts for ages but would you use one to light a candle in a tent? - instant ruined groundsheet.
Matches will run out, though you would need to be away a fairly long time for this to be an issue. You need to store them carefully though.

My current set up is a cheap disposable lighter in right hand trouser pocket, plus a full matchcase in the pack. If I am paddling there is also a flat pack of 'Lifeboat ' matches in the buoyancy aid.

There is a fine line between sensible preparedness and ludicrously paranoid duplication of equipment. You could argue that if I lose my pack, and the lighter fails, and I really, really need a source of ignition, and friction is unsuccessful, then I will be up a certain creek without a certain instrument. But if I am that unlucky, I might as well not risk going out at all.

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

Sorry - fair point on the matches but I still like em for not many good reasons. Cant do much better than a good refillable lighter for sheer practicality I agree. But then so much in Bushcraft is a bit daft when you come right down to it

Red

heh heh! Just chuckling at this nearly two year old quip!

 

[gregorach]

Matches will run out, though you would need to be away a fairly long time for this to be an issue. You need to store them carefully though.

If you're a smoker, then matches can run out surprisingly quickly... But then, if you're a smoker, you're more careful about such things. I always have at least one lighter in my pockets, and as soon as you're talking about being out anywhere then I have at least one spare and a box of matches in a ziploc baggie along with spare tobacco and papers. If I'm feeling paranoid, it's be two ziploc baggies with spare lighter / matches / tobacco / papers, stored separately.

And then you get into firelighting kit...

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

I just like all types of fire

 

[MartinK9]

Oh the horror of getting your tabacco wet - not good at all