For normal use Lifeboats are a PITA. They tend to snap the wood and burn rapidly. You also have to strike them in a near vertical reverse jab, something never mentioned by the maker. However, in extreme conditions of wind and wet (ie a lifeboat :shock: ) they work well. Not that I ever lit a fire in a lifeboat, and I've BTDT. I carry strike anywhere matches. You do have to sort through them. A small percentage have poorly formed heads or other defects. They are becoming difficult to find in some areas due to stupid legislation lumping them with HAZMAT materials. This makes shipping expense prohibitive. I carry a good supply too. matches have one salient feature over all other systems- familiarity. I once followed a firemaking thread on another board hosted by a published 'expert' survival insturctor. Matches many disadvantages had been hammered home by the bowdrill crowd. I finally posed the following scenario," Our instructor has gone flying off a waterfall and his kayak is wedged in a pine tree. He is lying unconscious on the ground, rapidly succumbing to hypothermia. A troop of novice girlscouts comes walking down the trail and find our expert. They rummage his gear and find a firesteel, bowdrill and box of wooden matches. Now, what system is almost universally familiar and understood worldwide?" :chill:
The wind proof matches even burn under water.Shame they are almost impossible to light anything with them. I've seen people use endless amounts trying and light a hexy,only to give up and use normal matches with success.
:shock: 
