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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Waterproofing Matches


Waterproofing Matches
(4 popular ways tested)




 Shellac, Wax, Turpentine, Nail Polish


 Shellac, Wax, Turpentine, Nail Polish

I wanted to share a few of the ways I tried to waterproof matches for camping/survival.  I had four of each type done.  I took one of each, sprayed them with a mist of water, patted them dry, and lit them.  I did that until I used up all of them, (so four different times).  I was most impressed with the turpentine ones. 

  
The first four I sprayed on the back of the little paper plate; 
but the rest, I set on the counter so they were actually lying in water. 

Turpentine
Soak the matches in turpentine for 5 minutes and then let dry.  It is said to have a higher flash-point than the acetone in the nail polish ones.

Nail Polish

Brush the nail polish on and let dry.

Wax

Dip them in melted wax and let them dry.  The wax tends to flake off or crumble over time, specially if you are on the move, so I don't care for these ones.

Shellac 
Dip the matches in the shellac, head down, and let dry.  You can make a tape strip of matches for easy dipping.



The results

The shellac and wax ones did the worst.  Most just fizzled on the end and that was it.  The nail polish didn't do as well as I thought it would.  Two of the four burned just on the end and fizzled out.  I was surprised by how well the turpentine ones did.  They didn't  even look like they had anything done to them, but turpentine was the clear winner of my test.  All four lit and kept going.  


You can also seal matches in drinking straws.  Just cut to the length you want, put the matches in (or whatever you want to seal), pinch the ends closed with plyers, and melt closed with a lighter.



Thanks for taking the time to check this out.  :)

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Such a wonderful post. It was great that you pinned down every aspect of waterproofing solutions
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  3. Would you like to stay safe and build a fire whenever you need one? If your answer is yes, then you need to know more about the best waterproof matches available on the market. Depending on where you think you will use these matches, you have a large variety you can choose from. See more http://wildernessmastery.com/survival/best-waterproof-matches.html

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  4. This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value. Im glad to have found this post as its such an interesting one! I am always on the lookout for quality posts and articles so i suppose im lucky to have found this! I hope you will be adding more in the future... Walter

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  5. This sounded like a great idea but I switched it up! OOP'S HAHA, I processed some pine pitch and dipped the top 1/2 of the match into the glorious goo. After letting them sit and cool off for 10 minutes or so it was time for the test. Out of the 6 that I did, only two managed to actually ignite. Three of them just blew out smoke and there was one that just refused. Not putting the idea down in any way, I think it's great. I'm just giving a summary of my foray into the waterproof match pool! Thank's, loving reading this website.

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