Lighting your camping/backpacking stoves,.....

check your pm's

 

I'm with you Dave. I do carry a "bic" lighter in my kit for emergencies.



Trevor, these are attractive match boxes. I could see myself collecting them. I'm a traditionalist as well. It only seems right to light a classic stove with a match.

It's strange that "England's Glory" matches are made in Sweden. :o

Cheers,

Manny

 

I bought a brass one a number of years ago. Top shelf construction albeit a bit heavy compared to the aluminum ones.

 

Hey The Priest,
I want a hot laser too! May I have the link? Please.

Thanks,
Gary

 

Something like this?

 

Hell, just "PM" the the entire group with the link.

I've noticed that "strike anywhere" kitchen matches won't strike anywhere anymore. The Diamond brand of matches has reduced the amount of striking material on the box and the head size has been reduced thus assuring that roughly half of a box of matches are wasted. Used to be that one could be assured of getting a quality product from nearly any company, but that doesn't seem to be true anymore.
Best,
Bob

 

I always worry about a kid seeing something they otherwise didn't know about and burning their house down,.......but after the number of PM's I've received in one day,.....and since it's on youtube anyway, maybe I should stop be such a 'mother'.

[media=youtube]Sf3M-_RUSCM[/media]

 

An admirable sentiment, but I think kids were devising ways of burning down the house (and innumerable other acts of general mayhem) long before the internet was there to show them how to do it.

 

Diamond now makes both Strike Anywhere and Strike on Box matches. In my area all the grocery stores stock only the Strike on Box type. I go to my local hardware store for the Strike Anywhere type.


I haven?t noticed the heads being any worse that the ever were in the large kitchen matches I buy. Are you talking about the smaller wood matches?

 

Has anybody used a laser to light alcohol, or even gasoline? Without a spark, does the fuel just get hot and vaporize? I'd like to know before I make a high-tech match-lighter, I have a big backlog of other frivolous projects.

Thanks,
Gary

 

Safeway still sells the strke-anywhere, in the BBQ section. It does indeed appear that there is a smaller amount of the "white stuff" on these newer matches.

 

I too have, and like to keep handy, a box of strike anywhere matches.

A word of caution,......dropping a box of these sometimes means ignition. Most of the newer manufactured matches (strike anywhere variety) have a double tip for safety sake. You'll notice the regular red match head with a different color right at the tip. The tip is now the only really volatile part and takes a longer strike (more heat) to get them going. I just tried a couple on a piece of finished and laminated wood (not much friction) and they both went without a hitch. Again, long strikes are the key.

A plus,.............covering a true strike anywhere match with some sort of lacquer or even nail polish makes a good waterproof match at a fraction of the 'buy it out' cost.

P.S. Penley is another company that makes strike anywhere matches and sold in the states out of West Paris, Maine. Made in Chile.

 

"I haven?t noticed the heads being any worse that the ever were in the large kitchen matches I buy. Are you talking about the smaller wood matches?'

I'm taling about the large kitchen matches, not the smaller ones that used to be a penny ($.01) and are now a dime ($.10). A three pack of the large mostly worthless kitchen matches at my store yesterday was $2.99. I haven't bought matches in years, just ran out the other day and don't remember what the price was then, but it surely wasn't a dollar a box with a more worthless product inside of it.

Best,
Bob

 

outlaw--i have the same problem with the strike-anywhere's as Tex..i go thru
a whole big box just to come up with enought good ones for a couple weeks
worth of canoe trip fires..



anyone ever try this??--waxing a box of matches--a few years ago i was running
a few stove tests and rather than waste the heat i melted down some wax and
incased a box strike-anywhere matches--i turned the heads in one direction so
i could cut them out without busting the heads--i wraped the box in foil to try
and keep the hot wax in the box but some did run out..i have the box under one
of the canoes outside and i'll have to cut some out and see how they work

 

I have waxed matches one at a time, they work OK, but the K&M matchcase removes the need to be honest.

These will light up a Coleman stove, meths/denatured alcohol, birch bark, cotton wool etc, make sure you get the Army and not the Scout model. Some people say they don't work, but they do, you need to practice with them
http://www.light-my-fire.com/209-147-swedish_firesteel%AE.htm

 

Well, I have both old and new matches, and I do recall them changing something in the formula some years back as I used to strike them an some sandpaper I keep Well, I have both old and new matches, and I do recall them changing something in the formula some years back, as I used to strike them on some sandpaper I keep in the Tupperware container of matches I keep in my dry food box in my tent trailer. Some of these matches are really old, and work everywhere no problem. The other somewhat newer matches don?t sometimes in surprising ways.

I have tried the waxing of the matches both as a kid, and recently for a friend. I did not pour the in solid, I dipped them. You can do this on a mass production basis by using corrugated cardboard and inserting as many as you have space for.

I noticed at that last wax job that just any sandpaper didn?t cut it. Wet or dry, at the grit I used, didn?t; but much coarser flint paper did. The sandpaper in my matchbox is off a disc sander, about as coarse as the flint paper, and always worked before the change. Not now. I think that one is aluminum oxide.

I just tried some other surfaces with both old and new matches. Exposed wood grain on a shovel, is not a problem. Rusted metal is better than the strike patch on the box. I never had the ability to strike off my backside, or pop one with my thumbnail.

So you are right they did change something, but that was years back. The ?Newer? match in the trailer matchbox are at least 10-15 years old.

In any case, get some rusty sheet metal and carry that for your strike surface. Or flint paper, but if the flint paper gets wet, it will dissolve?

 

Rik, the "Army version is the large one? they seem to have at lesat 3 versions...

 

It's probably just the stainless your blade is made from, I have an EKA stainless knife that makes sparks better than some of my carbon steel ones. If you have a swiss army knife with a saw you'll find that the back of the saw blade works very well with a fire steel.

Also, are you using the edge of the blade to get sparks? I always use the spine of the blade, it needs to be ground square though to work well. Using the edge just makes me cringe. I know of a very highly regarded survival instructor who does just that with his leuku though, so it can't be all wrong.

Simon.

 

I like BIC lighters.
Little thing I figured out when using a BIC, or other butane-lighter, for lighting the Trangia: before actually lighting the lighter, I press down the button a short moment to release some gas into the central opening of the burner, then fire up the lighter. Works a little better, especially when the meth is cold.

I use BIC/butane-lighters for ease of use and light weight. Usually have a couple tucked away in various places of my gear, mixed piezo and sparking-wheel for redundancy.
There's also a flint-steel attached to my Lainhart-machete, and another somewhere in my pack when taking saw or hatchet.

Recently found a 'new' lighter from around 1985, still in the blister-pack. Very little leakage, as opposed to some people's feelings that these lighters lose their charge over time. I trust them.

Good thing about the BIC/butane lighters (regarding knuckle-hair...): you can hold it between index and thumb when lit and thus increase your reach a little.
I used a Ronson katalyt-lighter for a while, but found it awkward to use in the confined space around, say, a 111, as you have to get quite close for lighting in windy conditions. Same goes for a Zippo.

For the possibility of unwanted ignition due to pressure, vibration and, to some extent, heat, i am discouraged of using strike-anywhere matches: I had a Kodak-type plastic container (full of matches) turn into a smouldering glob by accidentially stepping on it (it was in my backpack...). Except for the stink and mess in my pack, nothing else happened, though; No explosion for sure, as some people have claimed in the past.

As an ex-military survival instructor, this is what i usually told (and tell) people to take: 2 BIC, 1 flre-steel. I do know other ways to light a fire, and i do like matches, sure, but i am also lazy; Mind you, the Inuit use ski-doos nowadays instead of dog-sleds and cowboys use motorcycles...

Edit: For the fire-steel, the machetes' blade is fine, but i would also prefer not to use the blade of a knife; They already supplement the sawblade-thingy anyway...

 

Hi, Here is another option:









Best Regards,
Kerophile.