Strike anywhere matches?

[kev74]

You mean with a wooden thread spool and a rubber band??? Wonderful little tracer rounds. One would in one motion sweep the match along the concrete sidewalk and at the top of the arc release the rubber band and away she would go leaving a nice smoke trail

I remember my dad showing me how to shoot the matches at the sidewalk and get them to light when they hit.

Good times!

 

[ACORN]

We used to break the head off and shoot them out of our BB guns at a hard surface. They'd light nearly every time.

 

[TheHobbyist]

I about fell over when I saw them at an antiques store. I'm guessing they were from the 90's. Or as I recently heard the youth now say "last century". Oh my goodness... Ha!

 

[johngalt]

I found the Diamond green's at Ace a while back. Silly me, I thought they would actually work. Trying to 'strike anywhere' just results in the white tip rubbing off.

I'm close enough to Canada now, maybe I should go on a road trip some time. Or just get a lighter. Is Zippo still any good?

 

[johngalt]

These are available on Amazon.

Yeah, that's what I got, except at ACE hardware. They don't work.

 

[arjay]

I have strike anywhere matches on hand, but think the small and medium butane lighters to be far more practical.
They are cheap, good for hundreds of fires each, and if they get wet you can dry them out to work just fine. They also take up less space than matches.
I have always liked using matches, but they are ofter problematic.

They can be unreliable at high elevations and/or in very cold weather.I like to keep a small candle in my kit to light when I finally get a flame from a bic

 

[Greyman50]

Back in 60's when senior in high school a 8 or9 year old kid made a bomb from them. Filled a small fire extinguisher bottle with the heads. He didn't have a fuse but lit it off. Explosion blew him across the street close to the school, didn't kill him but he lost some parts.

 

[steelslaver]

They can be unreliable at high elevations and/or in very cold weather.I like to keep a small candle in my kit to light when I finally get a flame from a bic

I also know that butane stuff doesn't work as well when it is really cold. Actual butane vaporizes at 33f and if it gets much below that it will not vaporize and light. . Most lighters use some form of iso butane that vaporizes between 33 and as low as 10f. That is as a free liquid. Any pressure inside the lighter will lower that temperature. In other words if your butane lighter is very cold it will not work. I used to smoke and a lighter left in the truck when it was down around zero was worthless until it warmed up

You could stick it under your arm pit or something. But if your cold or worse cold and wet, time is important.

 

[arjay]

I also know that butane stuff doesn't work as well when it is really cold. Actual butane vaporizes at 33f and if it gets much below that it will not vaporize and light. . Most lighters use some form of iso butane that vaporizes between 33 and as low as 10f. That is as a free liquid. Any pressure inside the lighter will lower that temperature. In other words if your butane lighter is very cold it will not work. I used to smoke and a lighter left in the truck when it was down around zero was worthless until it warmed up

You could stick it under your arm pit or something. But if your cold or worse cold and wet, time is important.

Yup and when you're freezing and uncoordinated

 

[rkrcpa]

I try to keep a box handy, you never know when you might need them.

 

[johngalt]

I try to keep a box handy, you never know when you might need them.

Those must be vintage. The green ones are made in Chile. But at least the wood was sourced from well-managed forests.