Well, this is disappointing....

I don't know about the rest of you, but in the last few years I've found it impossible to find strike anywhere kitchen matches that work worth squat. The Diamond green matches are worthless. The diamond red and white matches for the last few years before they discontinued them for the green ones don't work well either. Thin sticks that break, very little match compound, and hardly any of the white phosphorus at the tip...
I recently found on ebay three boxes of the old diamond strike anywhere kitchen matches that were 40 plus years old and won the auction. When they arrived and I opened them, my heart soared. They had the great old thick wood sticks, lots of match compound and huge white tips just like I remembered from the old days.... All was wonderful until I tried to light some of them... Nothing... And I do mean nothing. They wouldn't light. not on the strip on the box, not on concrete, not on anything. I even tried lighting them with a lighter, and even then the match compound would barely burn and would go out before even half of it burnt. Apparently, they don't age all that well....

So, I'm back to having no decent strike anywhere matches. The reasonably decent ones made by Uco are no more because Diamond bought them out and then discontinued them because they compete with their pathetic green matches.

So what's a guy to do? Rely just on butane lighters and give up on matches for use outdoors? Is there some secret source for strike anywhere matches that actually work? What's the world coming to?????

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but the light and stay lit!
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=windproof+and+waterproof+matches&tag...

--
Of the Troops & For the Troops

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1128 views

They are like gold.

Everything you described is the current situation with strike anywhere matches.

The best ever made were Fire Chief and I haven't seen them on shelves in years.

Thanks to Uncle Sam worrying about us hurting ourselves etc. they are pretty much a thing of the past.

I saw it coming years ago and bought a bunch of Fire Chief matches for "posterity."

(Lard cans gold more than lard.)

The same thing is happening with other common items with which we grew up.

Incandescent light bulbs, Drano type products... you know the way it goes.

Good luck.

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1061 views

Chinese curly mercury filled dim crap. I love the new brighter long lived more efficient LED bulbs...
Matches... The Life boat brand and other Wind Waterproof are great. as are Bics,I hate that good old Diamond matches are barely usable trash these days.

Try and find a metal gas can or canteen or desert water bag or canvas or metal tool box...

--
Of the Troops & For the Troops

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1064 views

http://www.can-spec.com/canspec/products/products.php?ID=14

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999 views

Back before Y2K I bought a case, maybe 24 boxes of strike anywhere matches. Put them in ammo cans with desiccant. Every couple, three years I grab a box for the woodstove.
Never had an issue yet.

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1067 views

I may be wrong, but one of the chemicals used by meth cooks is red phosphorus. To my understanding, the match heads contained red phosphorus and the cooks would extract it using some form or method and it went into the mix.

I wouldn't be one bit surprised if the government put regulations on companies that make strike anywhere matches to remove that chemical in an attempt to curb the meth problem. 6-7 years back, seems every small meth lab our local law enforcement found had matches with the heads removed.

It's insane what those people use in make shift labs to produce meth. Worse, how can any sane person put a needle in their arm and inject themselves with it? They have also found a use for lithium batteries in the production of meth.

It's a crazy world out there. Just thought I'd throw this in as food for thought. Feel free to Google matches used in meth to see what I am saying.

On a more positive note, I ain't happy a bit about not being able to find decent strike anywhere matches than the next person...sigh.

Murphy

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1073 views

What the cooks actually use is the stuff in the striking surface not anything in the match head at all. What you'll find in the trash if someone is cooking dope using the black and red method is loads of scraped off match strips (if that's where they're getting it from,there's more than one way to skin a cat). Good strike anywhere matches are easier to combust accidentally in the box or what have you so manufacturing and shipping along with liability have killed them inside the US.

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1098 views

There were people using the old "strike anywhere" matches to manufacture explosives like pipe bombs. Many of us also experimented with using the tips to remanufacture small arms primers. It's pretty silly in a way, there is much better information on making explosives and priming compounds on the internet- for now.

I've taken to buying the UCO "Stormproof" matches, and keeping them in a waterproof container with extra strikers for emergencies. BIC lighters are a favorite, plus good old flint & steel, which is weatherproof, but really difficult to light a fire with during a monsoon.

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1066 views