- Joined
- Feb 8, 2000
- Messages
- 617
I found a couple boxes of these "waterproof" safety matches while going through one of my old packs this morning. I guess I never used them while camping and I always just assumed they wouldn't work that well when wet, compared to my mag/ferro stick. Well, I was right - sort of.
So I figured I'd try them out at home, where my life or comfort wouldn't depend on them working:
First, I tried a couple from each box (2 different manufacturers) to make sure they lit up fine when dry. Took about 2 strikes on the side of the box for them to fire up.
Next, I dipped each one in a cup of water and tried to light them up. Again, it took about 2 to 3 strikes but they still went up, no problem.
Then, I put the head of each one under running water in the sink for a minute. This time there was some minor crumbling of the matchhead when I tried to light but they all still went up after 2 to 3 light strikes.
Last, I left a few floating in a cup of water for just over an hour and then tried to light. Unfortunately, the matchheads all had gotten soggy and either crumbled or smeared and none of them could be lit.
So, calling these matches "waterproof" isn't exactly false advertising. They did resist a little wetness and would probably work fine outdoors if only temporarily wet or submerged. I also found that, when wet, light pressure worked best (to avoid the head crumbling) whereas more pressure lit the match faster when they were completely dry. Not exactly scientific, I should've had a control group (some regular "strike anywhere" wooden matchsticks maybe?) but a fun and "illuminating" experiment nonetheless.
So I figured I'd try them out at home, where my life or comfort wouldn't depend on them working:
First, I tried a couple from each box (2 different manufacturers) to make sure they lit up fine when dry. Took about 2 strikes on the side of the box for them to fire up.
Next, I dipped each one in a cup of water and tried to light them up. Again, it took about 2 to 3 strikes but they still went up, no problem.
Then, I put the head of each one under running water in the sink for a minute. This time there was some minor crumbling of the matchhead when I tried to light but they all still went up after 2 to 3 light strikes.
Last, I left a few floating in a cup of water for just over an hour and then tried to light. Unfortunately, the matchheads all had gotten soggy and either crumbled or smeared and none of them could be lit.
So, calling these matches "waterproof" isn't exactly false advertising. They did resist a little wetness and would probably work fine outdoors if only temporarily wet or submerged. I also found that, when wet, light pressure worked best (to avoid the head crumbling) whereas more pressure lit the match faster when they were completely dry. Not exactly scientific, I should've had a control group (some regular "strike anywhere" wooden matchsticks maybe?) but a fun and "illuminating" experiment nonetheless.
