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Is it hard to find strike anywhere matches or is it just me?

8K views 34 replies 23 participants last post by  sjohnson 
#1 ·
I just wanted to make some waterproof matches for my kit and to use for camping, so I figured I'd get some when I went to the grocery/dollar store. I had to hit 4 stores before I found some of the little boxes, I wanted the big ones, none of the dollar stores had em. I didnt check wallyworld.

Got me wondering if they are classified as dangerous now or something? Seems like they were everywhere when I was a kid.

Anyway, time to break out the parraffin and have waterproofing class with the kids.
 
#2 ·
I went looking for these exact things a year ago and discovered the same thing.
Apparently, you can find them(ohio blue tip) online but are expensive because manufacturers have been getting away from this "strike anywhere".
Kids can cram them into tennis balls, then throw it and "kaboom"....
lots of mischief with these matches apparently???

too bad because they are REALLY handy, but if you have lighters...why worry?
 
#8 ·
I actually used them to insert into a custom drilled .22 pellet rifle hollow point(after being scraped from the match) along with some "snap cap" from a childs cap gun and phosphorus(?) from a flare, then fired it.
Out of a 10 rounds, one of them worked as I had hoped. Alas, it was WAY too small and almost unnoticeable...not worth the TIME and EFFORT, sadly
:(
 
#10 ·
Not sure about Sportsmans Guide, but they had Magnesium Strikers listed a couple weeks ago. I keep a couple in my "survival kit" in my truck. CTD has them too.
 
#12 ·
I haven't seen any for a while around here.
I bought some survival matches at a gun show recently. They were covered with some sort of a shellac to waterproof them. I was very disappointed when I discovered that even they required a striker to ignite. What the hell good are waterproof matches if the striker material gets wet?
 
#13 ·
We have plenty here. Just about every food store carries them (and they have the big white tips).

However, I prefer the magnesium block with the striker bar for starting a fire. Just use a kinfe (or other sharp object) to scrap shavings off the block then hit the stiker bar with ferious metal and you have fire. Easy to do, won't go off in your pocket, and for what it does, very inexpensive.

Of course with the above, you can't do the cool flick the end of the match with your thumb nail trick.

 
#14 ·
We have plenty here. Just about every food store carries them (and they have the big white tips).

However, I prefer the magnesium block with the striker bar for starting a fire. ...quote]

Yeah I like those too. I like to have at least a few different ways to start a fire in my kit. The magnesium block, some charcloth, waterproof matches, and a bic. Even had a small magnifying glass in there. All that fits in a tin that I got a wallet in for Christmas.
Hopefully out of that I should be able to get a flame.
The one thing that I still want to try is one of those fire pistons.
 
#21 ·
All you need is any ordinary match. Just strike it on a window pane or windshield and you gots FIRE!:flamethro
Dang, now I have to try that, you made me open an MRE accessory packet "d" for some matches...
EDIT: doesn't work, it just slides on the surface.
No, MRE matches suck.

"Strike anywhere matches" do.
 
#22 ·
You CAN light ordinary matches by sliding them over glass.

But,

a) you have to really press down hard, it's friction-generated heat that lights them

and

b) you scratch the hell out of the glass you use when you use enough pressure to light them
 
#32 ·
Just bought some big ol' strike anywhere "kitchen matches" at the local Ace Hardware, last month. They stink as bad as I ever remember when lit. $1.69/box, just like the one Toten Kopf pictured. And I'm in the middle of meth-maker's hell. We have to lock up the anhydrous so the methers don't steal it, can't buy more than 200 pseudo-ephedrine, etc. etc.
 
#34 ·
Just bought some big ol' strike anywhere "kitchen matches" at the local Ace Hardware, last month. They stink as bad as I ever remember when lit. $1.69/box, just like the one Toten Kopf pictured. And I'm in the middle of meth-maker's hell. We have to lock up the anhydrous so the methers don't steal it, can't buy more than 200 pseudo-ephedrine, etc. etc.
Funny - I am in the Dakotas also - we had a couple guys steal anhydrous from a tank in the yard one year - one of them dropped his Visa card. You think that would be enough to prosecute? Nope....
 
#35 ·
I remember one sweep of the labs, Tripp and Gregory counties in SD busted 11 in one month. Of course, that was after a couple of years' investigation.

Methers are scum, pollute old farmsteads and move on, leaving hazmat cleanup to us (footing the bill).
 
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