# Strike Anywhere Matches



## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I normally use the long nozzle lighters, like for barbecues to light my wood stove. Well, the one I was using seems to be out of fuel. So I opened up the box of strike anywhere matches, and discovered they would not strike anywhere.

This is me looking surprised. I didn't know that matches went bad. The little white tip, which is the thing that catches fire just rubbed right off. This is desert and very dry, so it wasn't a moisture issue. There has to be some way to store matches to keep them good.


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## sdnapier (Aug 13, 2010)

I am in a hot humid area and have stored some for at least 5 years. Just started using them and they are fine. However, I will be waiting for the wise ones to weigh in and let us know what happened. I don't want mine to go bad.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I don't know if they dry rot over time - how old were they? I have some that are 5 years old and they still work. But, my main stash is double vac sealed to protect them. It would stink if they disintegrate after so many years!


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## Maverick_mg (Mar 11, 2010)

We have had this problem before. The tips just crumble. I've noticed it more with the waterproof ones then any others.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I had some regular matches that got damp then dried out, and they crumbled.


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## OKCGene (Mar 24, 2010)

Matches just aren't made anymore like they used to be. They are just garbage thanks to government regulation. Why, they might even actually ignite if the user is not properly trained and certified!

When I was a kid, and I'm showing a bit of age here, for example the Ohio Blue Tip brand of matches would light on just about anything. The seat of your levi's, the zipper of your pants, a wall, just about anything. 

Thanks big government.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I have several boxes of strike anywheres, and they don't! You can hardly strike them on the box. The sticks are flimsy and break, the little white tips are so small that you rub them off if you swipe them across a surface. Just trash, and more expensive than any of the other matches by far. Definitely not the same quality of matches that caught my dad's britches on fire in while he was standing in the kitchen one day!


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## meddac (Nov 21, 2008)

I picked up several boxes about 7 years ago of Ohio Blue tip before the ban. I store them in the gun safe with the humidity set at 53%. So far so good.


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

Having the same problem here, and they aren't old, either. Thin sticks, and you have to go through about five or six to get one to light. I did vacuum seal a few boxes and put them in the preps, for all the good it will do! Like a lot of other things, they aren't made like they used to be!


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Have to see if Pa can get our Diamond stike-anywhere matches to light off his zipper...used to do that trick all the time....also flick his nail on them somehow and light. Everytime I get a pill bottle I fill with matches and wrap in a piece of sandpaper. Figure would be handy to share. Handy when burning the trash as the box striker side rarely works and our new burn barrel isn't rusty enough yet to light a match!


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Oh , this is a pet peeve of mine. I don't/won't buy anything but Diamond brand boxed matches anymore. Got some off brand once(by accident),they wouldn't strike properly the striker paper wore out and the tips would come off and more than once a lit tip went flying.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

It's a box of Diamond that won't light. I opened a box of Penley and they strike up really sharply, but it is a new box.

The lighters keep migrating out to the camper, so I stuffed my feet into my snow boots and waded out to the camper and fetched a couple of them back into the house.

I've got fire strikers, but they are all packed in with the camping gear and not worth digging out since I had lighters just across the driveway and exactly where I knew they were located.


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## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

I heard on another forum the guberment changed the ingredients probably because some knot head thought they were unhealthy....; dangerous; etc.....  :grit:


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## TexasGunOwner (Nov 26, 2010)

Off topic, funny story incoming.

When I was a kid, we had a period where we were playing with matches. Strike anywhere kitchen matches were our match of choice. I had a front pocketful one day. While playing a game of chase, I fell down in the street and guess what? Yup, the matches ignited! So there I was in the middle of the street with my pants around my ankles trying to put the pocket fire out. :yuck:


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## Studhauler (Jul 30, 2011)

That is not off topic. It shows the old matches work. Now we need you to reenact the event and see if it will work with the new strike anywhere matches. Of course film it and post it on You Tube.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Ah! Fine grit sandpaper! Have matches - no Diamond box they came in. Thanks.


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

I could be wrong but I thought the regulations were changed because idiots were using the matches to make meth? 

They sure aren't what they use to be, I've been buying the strike on the box matches since they are so much cheaper and the strike anywhere matches don't exactly "strike anywhere" any longer.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

The trouble with the strike on the box matches is that the "striker" paper on the box wears out long before you run out of matches. I haven't been able to find strike anywhere matches for several years.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

I've heard of dipping matches in wax but I'm not sure if they were strike anywhere.

I would use a sealer to store some strike material.


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## Dutch 106 (Feb 12, 2008)

I've done the oak the matchs in wax with good results. spinkleing a hand full at a time and bringing them out with a fork to cool on a brown paper bag. then rebox them I just tired some I did in 1999 and they worked fine. I put the boxs in quart wide mouth caning jars with a chip of dry ice to boot for a belt and suspenders, kind off protection so it may not have been just the wax.
Dutch


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

We also have something like this: http://www.batteryjunction.com/ust-blastmatch-opt.html

There is a local guy that sells at our craft market that ours is from.


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## seedspreader (Oct 18, 2004)

I know we're talking matches here... but seriously... everyone should have a good fire steel and know how to use it. A real simple one I bought my son was the Sparkie:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwKaJkgiCWw[/ame]


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## Malamute (Sep 15, 2011)

The new matches are indeed not the same as they used to be. The formula was changed in match heads because of fires that started from mice chewing on them and from boxes dropping etc. They made them less sensitive, and they ended up becoming pretty much useless.

I've also had so may problems with strike anywhere's, to the point I just gave up on them, they are pretty much worthless now. The strike on box matches work better on the box than strike anywheres do even on the box. For woods use, I keep the expensive wind proof and water proof matches in match safes along with some striker board. They are pricey, but well worth it for woods use. They are far better matches that anything else available now. I keep some strike on box matches for heavy camp use also.

Wal mart often has strike anywheres someplace in the store, but I dont waste my money on them any more, they are junk.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

morningstar said:


> I could be wrong but I thought the regulations were changed because idiots were using the matches to make meth?
> 
> They sure aren't what they use to be, I've been buying the strike on the box matches since they are so much cheaper and the strike anywhere matches don't exactly "strike anywhere" any longer.


This! Methheads have ruined a lot of things, from being able to buy lye for soap making, to strike anywhere matches that really do, to being able to buy sudafed and iodine tincture without showing ID/signing away your firstborn son, etc.


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