In the wilderness you can never have too many ways to make fire. Yes, Bear Grylls can make a roaring fire by rubbing two cockroach skeletons together while swimming in the Amazon dressed only in a feather boa. But in the real world we're often tired, it may be wet, it may be windy, the tinder may be damp, and all manner of other nuisances come into play. Not to mention the fact that you're unlikely to have an obliging film crew standing by with backup methods just in case. So by all means carry a magnesium block and knife (I do, always) and by all means have a Bic lighter or similar. But please also have these stormproof matches. The container keeps them dry, there are enough to start several fires, and a fire may save your life.

I bought these for use in a bug out bag. I was reviewing the contents of my bag, and decided to test a match, stupidly forgetting the "storm proof" part. While idly sitting on my bed, I lit a match and then desperately tried to blow or shake it out before it burned my fingers.

The panic wasn't necessary though - when the red part was burned through the flame calmed down immediately, and that came long before my fingers. But I am impressed (though in the moment, intensely concerned) that even soaking the flame in the sink wasn't enough to stop the fire before it got through the red part. Even after it was held directly in the stream of water, it immediately sparked back up again as soon as it was removed.

All the qualities that make it inconvenient for lighting in a bedroom make for a great match in a damp camping or emergency setting. Thank you for the great matches. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to air out my studio, it smells like smoke and flame accelerant.

These matches work as advertised. The tip appears to have extra-long-lasting magnesium flare, so you have to take that into account--you can't hold the match long enough to use it in more than one area, so it might be helpful to have a candle handy--just in case. It comes wrapped in plastic and with extra sheets of striker material. This is all great for a survival situation, but only if it is short-term. There are about 25 matches, so over an extended survival period you might well run out, unless you can keep a fire going. That and the difficulty of handling the extra-long flare of the match are why I took off a star. The extra-long flare, however, may be a life-saver in windy conditions, as the match is not going to blow out.

Finished up a 5 day trip, 3 of which were in pouring rain, day and night. Lighting a fire was tough, even with the matchea, due to soaked tinder. Something to keep in mind is that while they're great, they still won't save wet tinder. I ended up needing to feather stick AND Vaseline soaking a cotton ball to finally get a good flame. Matches didn't let me down, though the striking surface wears out very quickly. After 10 lights, I had to replace it, though I wonder if the wet contributed to its quick wear.

Still, I recommend these. Without them, my fire wouldn't have gotten going.

This is a very good product. Plastic container is sturdy and very visible. Comes with extra strips for striking your matches and a bit of cotton to help keep the moisture level in check could also probably be used as tinder. My only real complaint is that a couple match stick's protective coating stuck to the cotton ruining the wax seal. Not a big deal at all in my case but I worry some containers may have more matches that have been unsealed. I would definitely recommend closely inspecting the matches if you are planning on keeping these for emergency purposes. That aside, this is an excellent product and I will be purchasing more in the near future.

(I've included an image of the two damaged matches with a good match for reference.) You could probably reseal the top with some candle wax for an easy waterproof fix.