How to light a match?

Question

A match is usually an easy thing to light. However, if you go camping the way I do the lighter area alway seems to get wet and useless. That is if it isn't worn down anyway. I am talking about the lighter on the matchbox, not the lighter in the stick. My question is how to light a match without using the lighter provided? I have tried:

• Keeping them dry. I have tried this multiple times and it does work on some occasions, but for the times it doesn't I need an alternative.

• Sandpaper, but I do not always carry this with me. Rough areas like trees which are covered with moss and sometimes wet, rocks which work, etc.

• Not carrying matches. This is a great idea, but other lighters are somewhat hard to use and can be faultier from my experience. Strike anywhere matches are not a thing I would like to buy, as they are more expensive than regular ones.

I was told that basically anything would work, but this has not been my experience. Any suggestion would be awesome as not having a lighter is a great possibility for any occasion, but I need something that will work with what is usually a camping item.

Answer 1

Preparation is key. Don't go into the woods unprepared. Matches are not the only answer, but if you can't build a fire without them, then look for "strike anywhere" matches. They still make them, but they are getting harder to find. Other matches require some heat and the "missing" safety ingredient embedded in the strike paper.

To prepare for camping, once you learn how to collect wood and build a fire from a modest coal, you can then move on to charwood, which is an easy way to start a fire (provided the other fire making skills are known).

To make charwood (or charred punkwood) use an Altoid tin with a few holes in it. Burn the punkwood in the air constrained confines of the Altoid tin, making a type of highly flammable charcoal. The tin also provides an easy carrying case and keeps the wood dry.

Then the next time you need a fire, light with a spark from a scraping based fire starter (or other means of generating sparks), and the charcoal will light and smolder, then give it a few good blows to get it really going and dump it into your small tinder.

If you run out, you can use the fire you just made to make more.

Of all the fire starting methods I've used in various camping scenarios, this is by far the easiest. In fact, for me it is easier than matches, which seem to always require two or three as they sometimes die out before drying the small tinder enough to light.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_FZ01NvDGo for a demonstration of making the charcoal and lighting it. He managed to light it on the first spark. He's lighting it with a ferrocerium rod, which if purchasing, get the biggest one you can, as bigger is much easier to use. I recommend something like http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S6F4RDC?psc=1 To strike, I use my knife.

Keep in mind that punkwood is not a specific type of tree, rather it is the high air content loose wood that is typically found in the interior of rotting sticks. On your next camping trip you can easily collect enough to start a dozen fires, or collect some in your neighborhood, make the charwood and then go camping.

And for those of you asking, but what if you don't have a knife? My answer is, "don't go camping" If you lack a respectable knife, you have seriously tilted the odds against you in a camping trip. By respectable, I don't mean a Rambo knife, but a four inch blade high quality folding pocket knife. If possible, go with a tanto point as they are less likely to break. If you have the means, I've been especially fond of my Carson Knives CRKT M16. http://www.crkt.com/M1602Z

Answer 2

Strike-anywhere matches exist and solve this problem. Be aware that they are not legal for passenger or cargo planes in most of the world.

They're basically the original matches. The ones that require the lighter strip on the box were just matches engineered for safety and are more widely promoted.

Waterproof matches exist as well, and solve this problem even more effectively.

Note that strike-anywhere matches aren't actually that much more expensive, nor are waterproof matches (for example, 900 strike-anywhere matches runs about $12, I see 320 for $6, etc.; 160 waterproof matches run around $4.50...). They're the right tool for the job; anything else will be end up being more of a pain than your current wet matches.

If you do not want to use an appropriate type of match, then I suppose you could use anything around you that gets hot enough to light a match. Exactly what meets this requirements will depend on the situation you are in.

Answer 3

I am a long time camper and backpacker and have always kept my matches in a small plastic water proof container. Right now they are in an old prescription bottle. If/when the striker strip wears out or gets otherwise damaged I just add a small strip of fine sandpaper attached to a popsicle stick into the container. Easy, light weight and it works really well.

Answer 4

Modern safety matches (unlike the strike anywhere matches @Jason C mentions), only light under 2 conditions (to my knowledge),

• Reacting with the substance on the "Lighting Strip",
• Getting hot (as when you light one with a candle).

I have no idea how to replicate the former, but getting it hot enough, can be done.

Obviously, lighting it with another flame is generally redundant, but hot things exist. I theorise a car exhaust could do it, a car cigarette lighter, or electric stove definitively could.

Another is focused light (or heat), from a magnifying glass. Theoretically you could use anything that can focus light to a rough point -- such as the curved part of a bottle.

Magnifying Glass

While it is very hard to set paper alight with a magnifying glass, it is quite easy to make a very hot point -- enough to burn a hole in paper, or light a match.

• Place the match on a suitable steady surface (eg rest your hand holding it on a wall)
• Position the glass with the sun going through it, you should see a bright projection of light onto the surface in front of it
• Move the glass backwards or forwards to focus this projected light to a point
• position the focus point of bright light over the match head
• wait a few minute/seconds for the match to heat up enough to ignite
• use the match to light something less likely to go out (eg a candle out of the wind)

Cons

There are many downsides to this solution (and I would love to hear alternatives)

• Times when you most want matches, you are often out of the sun: Overcast winter, night time, indoors
• Magnifying glass is not the most common thing to carry around with you
• If it is not hot/bright enough, and you try this and it doesn't work, you look like a fool trying somethey saw on TV

Answer 5

Some laser pointers can be used to light a match.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i24Ij2YN48s

Answer 6

These types of matches, at least the wooden variety, can be lit by rubbing it laterally on a window or other piece of flat glass. It is demonstrated on YouTube by the "Crazy Russian".

Answer 7

Any match will flare when it gets hot enough, and with friction you can get even "safety" matches to flare. The trick is to find a hard surface with just the right degree of roughness: too smooth and you can't get enough friction, too rough and you scrape the match head material off. Often a mug, bowl or other piece of pottery will have an unglazed portion on the bottom that works. However this is very hit or miss; some don't seem to work at all. With a relatively good piece I have about a 50% success rate per match. Save the rejects, they'll still have enough head left to catch and extend your flame when you do get one lit.

Answer 8

First, I think it's important to understand how safety matches work.

The Bottom Line

The primary flammable ingredient in a safety match head is sulfur, which ignites at at around 230 degrees celcius (about 450 farenheit), which is about the same as a piece of paper and a bit lower than firewood. If you can heat the match head to 230 C, even briefly, you're set. Doesn't matter how you get there.

The Normal Way

To achieve the required temperature, normally the match head is scratched across the striking surface. The red phosphorus in the striking surface combines with the potassium chlorate in the match head, and the friction from scratching generates enough heat to ignite the resulting mixture, which generates sufficient heat to ignite the sulfur. You can read more about safety matches here.

As the OP has discovered, a soggy or overused match box still has the right chemicals for the initial reaction, but its surface can no longer generate the abrasion required to mix the chemicals or the friction to heat the mixture. So it's very important to keep that match box dry!

The following are some alternative ways to get that match to ignite.

Use Any Available Heat Source

Anything will work as long as it gets hot enough to cook with: the coil burner of an electric stove, a frying pan or steam iron that's still hot, stored embers from a campfire or charcoal from a grill, car exhaust, a magnifying lens in daylight, etc. Or any existing flame (obviously).

Use Electricity

If you can move an electric current through a sufficiently resistant circuit, that resistance can generate significant heat. This is how things like incandescent light bulbs and toasters work.

There are many guides online, such as this one. But the gist of it is the same:

1. Use a long, thin piece of metal as a wire to connect the two terminals of the battery.
2. Touch the match head to the wire.
3. Wait for the wire to get hot enough to ignite the match head.

Notes:

• The battery doesn't have to be too strong. In fact, it's probably safer to use a weaker battery that isn't strong enough to zap you. This method is known to work with a 9V battery, a couple of AAs, or even a smart phone battery.
• Some methods will instruct you to damage or destroy the battery, but this is not necessary.
• For the conductive material, you can use plain wire or all sorts of things: aluminum foil, a paperclip, a staple, some steel wool, graphite from a pencil, whatever.

There are variations on this method. One method runs an electric current through a gum wrapper until the wrapper itself ignites - no match required. Another method uses a short length of #2 pencil, some jumper cables, and a car battery. If the battery is strong enough to emit sparks, those sparks can also be used to ignite nearby combustibles.

Use Friction

Friction generates heat. More friction, more heat. Find a rough yet fine-grained surface and rub the match head over it until it gets hot enough. Concrete, sandpaper, the bottom of most home-made ceramics, and certain types of stone (if dry) all work. The trick here is reaching the required temperature before grinding all of the sulfur coating off the match head.

One trick that has been used is to grind match heads against other match heads. Popular Mechanics demonstrates a good way to do this. You'll need five matches.

1. Hold four matches together tightly in a square bundle, match heads all together.
2. Take the fifth match and press its head firmly against the heads of the other four.
3. Twist your hands sharply in opposite directions, grinding the match heads against one another.

Final Notes

There are lots of great fire-starting tools and methods out there other than matches and fuel-based lighters. Tinderboxes. Flint and steel. Swedish firesteel. Electric lighters. All have their pros and cons. For backpacking, I recommend carrying at least two different firestarting methods. That way if your matches get wet or your lighter leaks itself dry, you'll still have another way to cook your food and stay warm.

And remember, always practice fire safety!

Answer 9

Sometimes if you have a zipper on your pants it can be a good way to strike a match. The teeth and friction some times lights matches. I have tried from my Rambo first blood knife kit and it has worked for me sometimes.

Also before going out rip a small piece of sandpaper and put it in the Rambo knife kit to make life easier to start a fire. There is enough room in the handle for it. V/R Daniel