Matches & Firestarter --

An Essential for your Backpack

Having matches and firestarter available to you in a backwoods emergency is essential. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you keep waterproof matches on your person—not in your backpack. Should you become separated from your pack, you will still be able to start a fire.

Little else will be as psychologically or physically comfortable as having a fire. Additionally, rescuers can get an idea of your general location when seeing smoke rise from your fire.

**IMPORTANT NOTE**--Use ONLY “strike anywhere” matches in your emergency kit. Regular matches will only strike on a striker. If the striker gets lost or wet, your matches have become useless. Strike-anywhere matches are becoming hard to find in some areas of the country—they have become categorized as a hazardous material. Seek them out; buy them while you can still get them. On future pages, we will be giving you reliable alternatives to matches. In the meantime, know that regular red-tipped matches are NOT a suitable alternative.

Your matches and firestarter kit may look different from mine. The important thing is that you have one at all times. In my backpack, I keep waterproof matches, a propane lighter and commercial fire lighting sticks. These come in handy in those hiking areas that allow campfires. Especially when hiking in a group, it is pleasant to sit around the campfire in the late evening and discuss tomorrow’s goals, or today’s aches and pains…depending on your age and fitness level.

However, in a secure pocket, I keep a tiny kit of waterproof matches and a substance to help start a fire.

Make Your Own Emergency Kit

The next time you are standing in line at the super-center checkout, look at that last-minute sales effort display to your right. You will likely find small, cylinder containers of pain/fever relieving tablets. Pick up two; one for your first aid kit and another for your pocket-sized matches and firestarter kit.

1. Dump the medication out of one of the containers.

2. Squeeze and poke petroleum jelly into the bottom one-half of the container using a few cotton swabs. (A squeeze tube of petroleum jelly works well for this step.)

3. Cut off the clean end of the cotton swabs so that they fit just inside the medication cylinder.

4. Push a few strike-anywhere matches into the container.

5. Replace the top and seal the seam with packaging or duct tape.

You now have a tiny, waterproof emergency firestarter system that you could go swimming with and still easily start a fire.

How does it work?

Remove the tape. Take out the matches and put aside. Using the cotton swabs, scrape out some of the flammable petroleum jelly. Spread it on you kindling and on some of the larger pieces of wood you have collected. Strike a match and light the areas where you spread petroleum jelly. Try it---it works---even on damp wood.

Don’t discount the value of paper matches.

I usually carry wooden matches. But don’t discount the value of paper matches in a waterproof container. Paper matches are extremely compact and lightweight. Their main disadvantage is that they require the striker attached to their package.

Here’s a neat trick if you are running low on paper matches—double them. Hold your match flat between both thumbs. Carefully split the match in two, peeling the layers of paper apart. If done correctly, you now have 2 one-sided matches. Yea! Two nights with a fire.

As you experiment, you will come up with more ideas. The important thing is that you have dependable matches and firestarter with you at all times.

Return from Matches & Firestarter to Ten Essentials

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