2 Packs of New NATO Water and Windproof Matches 
Product Description: - WATERPROOF, WINDPROOF Survival Matches. NATO-approved Weatherproof Safety Matches for guaranteed light. Hand dipped and varnished to burn in the strongest winds and rain for about 12 seconds. You get 2 waterproof, pill-bottle style containers, 25 Matches each. Condition: new, never issued. 2-pack New Water and Windproof Matches 2 Long-Burn Candles Burn up to 11 hrs. each.
Customer Ratings: - Very effective. I actually used these to start a fire in the wind and rain. Albeit under shelter and they worked very well. They burned hot and for a fair ammount of time. In fact I had already tried my masterbicolighter that many web sites offer as perfectly capable of getting fires going under adverse conditions and to my....ok not to my amazement. These matches worked better than the bic. I first encountered these out in Northwest at a great bushcraft site. The thing everyone probably realizes is that when wet it is harder to light a fire. Duh. Well these matches worked very well even with my hands still damp in the wind and that is all one can ask from any match (in my humble opinion).... Ok if you brought your torch and a propane bottle maybe you could get it going faster but if you have those things with you then lighting a fire is not your challenge anyway.
There is only so much a match can do.
Take care and keep your wits about you. - Work, but not what I will carry. You must look at the pros and cons of these matches and not be sold on the name. To counter a previous review I found these easy enough to light on the striker provided on top.
PROS:
1. Burn fiercely when lit and would probably do well in wind/rain.
2. Will not ignite accidentally as they are not strike anywhere.
3. These are NATO matches!
CONS:
1. Go out after coated top burns to wood. A regular wood match gives you more time to light tinder due to the wood burning.
2. Not strike anywhere. When I am cold and hands numb I want matches to ignite. Ignition when cold is more important than protection from accidental ignition. To safegard against accidental ignition pack half up and half down, put cotton at heads (doubles as emergency tinder), and split in two containers. Also waterproof the heads (I ve only used parafin, but I hear a light coating of clear nail polish works well and doesn t melt in heat).
3. The striking surface is not protected (though it would be easy enough to fold one up and put it inside, worth having even for strike anywhere matches).
4. $7 for about 50 matches vs. about half that for 750 strike anywhere (at a store near me)!!!
BOTTOM LINE: I can get a lot more strike anywhere matches at the store that stay lit longer. If I was in high wind or rain I personally would seek shelter before trying to build fire. Standard strike anywhere matches can be lit in wind easily if you have the knack (ask a smoker). As a kid I remember being out in winter with safety matches and a wet striker lid (it got wet when I took it out of a plastic bag to light a match) cursing the fact they wouldn t strike anywhere. The key isn t a match that keeps burning due to a coating, but carrying/finding good tinder.
Don t be sold by the name. Test all products at home in worst case conditions before going out.
P.S. If it came to down to carrying 25 matches or a cheap bic lighter I would take the lighter (depending on conditions). 25 lights or 250+? Don t take matches just because they seem more survivally (?). Be practical. - They light easily and forcefully. I bought a few bottles of these as they are advertised as being windproof. I opened one to try them out before taking them into the wilds. Wow! One scrape and it s going so strong, I m trying to find a place to put this thing down! They go really strong for about five or six seconds, certainly long enough to get tinder going. If you can t light a fire with this much energy, you ve got bigger issues to deal with.
I tried to light them on other surfaces and discovered they are true safety matches and will only light on a red phosphorous striking surface. This is a mixed blessing. On the upside, you can pack these in your checked luggage (which you can t do with light anywhere matches). On the downside, you have to have to have the right surface around or there s no way to light them, so they aren t quite as useful if everything else is going completely wrong.
If you re looking for a safety match striking surface, all matchbooks are safety matches, so an empty matchbook has the right surface on the back. When I pulled six of these matches from the open jar for my mini survival kit, I cut up a matchbook cover, folded it over, and put that in for striking (it s folded over to make sure a match head can t contact the striking surface, which could be very bad).
One quibble (not worth taking away a whole star): the lid isn t very secure once you ve opened the jar. I used a piece of tape to keep the jar closed tight, but I wish I didn t have to. - ACE Matches. You have to be bloody stupid to need a manual on how to light these, they are no different to normal matches except they are windproof.
These matches do really work, the only other thing they compare to are turbo lighters. - They are supposed to light. I got four boxes of these matches so I was motivated to learn how to use them. I had read the directions about poking them into the lid. I tried stroking and poking at various angles and finally got one to light after about 10 minutes. It burned down to the wood portion and went out. Incidentally, these matches are very short. Perhaps one is supposed to light them with a lighter!
Please note, I am NOT bloody stupid and these matches still do not light as advertised. I am going to throw them away as they occupy space in my emergency kit that could be used for matches that work!
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2 Packs of New NATO Water and Windproof Matches (ID: B000UVQ0H6)
