Just burned a Creek Stewart match (tampon, one UCO match, several wax dips); produced 17 minutes of substantial flame and over five minutes of glowing ember. It takes a little more production time, but an alternate source.
Love the super match, used what I had on hand, 4 inch long 1/4 fatwood stick, 4 UCO storm proofs 2 sets of 2 end to end for a great second big flare ignition as it burned down, 2 trick birthday candles end to end, triple layer wrapped them in jute twine to hold them all together then wax dipped. Big flame from start to finish of a 20 minute burn. Thank you very much :)
Whoa, this is actually extreme! One of these matches ALONE lights up like a mini-flare. 4 of them in a hard wax tube is trying to get them to rocket level! I'm gonna try this for sure!
Other materials could be used. But the point here is four of the best longest burning matches. Even if a match is a dud. There are four of them available to try to light. In the most unlucky situation direst of circumstances, this super match will still do it's job. 4 UCO Titan is the best possible design.
Cool little torch, I will have to make some of these for my boys. One important tip for everyone - Water proof matches are only as good as the striker! Strikers are NOT water proof and need to be waxed as well or otherwise protected as they become useless when wet. Love the Opinel, I haven't seen one of those for years.
I use one of those electric potpourri crockpots that I bought at a thrift store to melt wax for projects like this and leather work. Safer than an open flame, and it seems like thrift stores always have them for a buck or two.
Cool project. I save all the dryer lint. Glad you mentioned the safe way to heat and melt wax. I have only seen one or two other videos on RU-vid where they used two pots.
A note about cotton wrapping: make sure that whatever you use has NOT been treated with flame-retardant like so many products are today. If you have a ferro rod, confirm that sparks from the ferro rod will ignite the cotton. I was appalled to see that cotton gauze bandage I tried using to make fire starters would not take a ferro rod spark.
Great video and idea; I already have a stash of the matches themselves. I'm definitely going to make a few of these super-matches for our winter adventures for when you really need the darn fire to start.
I just made one of these to try, haven’t used it yet. I didn’t have any cotton balls or squares but I made it with a long 3/4 - 1 inch strip of cotton Tee shirt, it was really easy to wrap up the matches.
ive been making something similar for a while now, saw it on survival Alaska (toilet tissue, candle wax and old strike anywhere matches.) yours look far better
I bought a used one, (reshaped the handle a bit), and I love it despite the fact that all my other blades are 1/8th of an inch and heavier. It's nice for fine cutting.
Thank you. So far, you're the only one I've seen double-boiling the candle. Others I've seen, they directly melt their candles failing to realize that it can start a big fire. I double-boil too. So watching others using direct flame to a can full of wax is cringy. Cool vid. Thank you!
I use to soak wooden matches in paraffin, excluding the tips, but this is going to be my new method. Although I'm thinkin' 'bout just using three matches per bundle instead of four.
Looks interesting. Probably a good firestarter for damp tough stuff, quick heat source or a signal device. (Firefighters secretly love playing with fire ;-) Gonna give it a try. Thanks
I have done a similar, smaller version. Wrapped paper towel around 2 strike-anywhere matches paired to a stormproof match. Left the matchheads exposed. Slathered the paper towel wrap with petroleum jelly. Slipped the whole thing into a fat , plastic drinking straw. Melted and pinched the ends of the straw shut. The strike anywhere makes for easy ignition. The strike-anywhere function works for months, until the petroleum seeps into the head, and it might not strike anywhere. Even then, it will still strike lit on a normal matchbox strip. The plastic tube, and the rest, burn for 2 minutes. Had I found an even fatter plastic straw, I might've added another stormproof match or two.
Different point of view for melting wax. Go to a thrift store and buy a SMALL crock pot for about $5 or so. Put the wax in the crock pot and put on high. It takes a little while, the wax will melt then put on low to maintain the melted wax. No flame, no costly propane. Leave a little wax in the crock for next time when it is melted then add new wax, I use candles from the thrift store. You can shave it for a faster melt I just place the candle(s) in the pot and put the lid on go do something else then check it from time to time. it is a crock pot after all. Safer than any double boiler setup DO NOT leave the wax on high after it melts it will get too hot. You can start on low it just takes longer. I don't pay more than a $1 per pound for candles at the thrift store. If you have one, the ARC stores have items 50% off on Saturdays I buy all of the ugly ones that no one wants as I don't care what the finished product looks like. Get there when they open on Saturday or pay full price if in a hurry. Also watch stores after Christmas for candles on sale. For me wax is wax. While you have the crock pot fired up go to Walmart and get the big bundles of wood shavings and cedar shavings used for bedding of animals, some COTTON cotton balls and the cheep Vaseline. Collect paper egg cartons (eat the eggs first :)) take a more or less equal mixture of the white wood and cedar shavings, fill the egg holder part of the carton with the wood mixture (compress tightly), pour wax over the wood (don't drown the wood with wax just glue it together) before the wax on the top dries push a cotton ball into the hot wax on the top. Let it cool then put some Vaseline (generic version) on the cotton ball. When cool cut into individual egg holders, put into plastic bags or containers of your choice. The cotton ball vaseline combo will light with a strike from a ferro rod, match or ember. It will burn with a good flame for 10 minuets + 3-5 more with a reduced flame/hot embers. Next, while you are at it, take the pressed ( the rounded style not the square ones) paper 4 drink holders line each pocket (separate pieces of paper) with the brown packing paper you get from Amazon. Do the same thing as above. When cool pull each "ball' out from the holder and fold the paper over into a compact ball for a super fire starter or short term fire to boil water. Time will very depending on how much wood and wax you use don't over do the wax. You can use one or the other of the wood bedding if you only want to buy one bundle. The white wood lights a little easier the cedar burns a little hotter. I found a stainless 4oz scoop to dip and poor the wax with at the thrift store (see a pattern here?).
Like corporals corner, you teach in a great manner. Love the green bearded gray beret. Lol Know why corporal recommended you. 👌 Thank you for what you do.
I was thinking the same. If you can't light a fire with one of those matches, you've got issues. I suppose if you fell in the river in winter and it had been raining and everything is all wet...might be worth keeping one of these overkill matches. I think I might make one as a last resort thing, but I will tape a small piece of the strike strip in with the masking tape, so it's waterproof and attached to the match.
Bump up Instead of 4 matches how about substitute a sliver of fatwood for some of the matches. Wrap with duct tape in stead of masking tape . Wax and cotton the same.
Old oil bottle full of cotton or cardboard with used waist oil and a water proof fuse ! Seal the top . poke a big hole in the bottom before you light it and boom 25 minutes of fire !
In a video I watched yesterday you also mentioned these matches again, but I thought that I heard you say that you soaked the cotton in liquid stove fuel before coating with wax. Did I get that wrong? I want to try these because it is so hard to start fires here in the super-wet Pacific Northwest. Thanks.
James Fleming, I think you might be combining the matches with the emergency tender made with cotton rounds that are soaked in an accelerant, then dipped in wax.
Hi Josh, I do like a good bit of pyro and this is very similar to something I did with a highly burny substance and 4 inch long kitchen matches - instant handheld flare, or start a fire by sticking it into anything vaguely combustible. Can I offer a suggestion for your match, Sir; when you are attaching the cotton around the matches use rubber bands to hold the cotton in place then proceed as before. Rubber bands burn very well and are an aid to fire-lighting, its why I still have a dozen, or so, around my survival kit which goes everywhere with me even though I am no longer employed by the Queen. I do like your videos, keep up the good work mate. :-)
Excellent presentation! One question: What happens if you put one in your back pocket and upon sitting down crush the heads of the inner matches together?
I tried it this past weekend, almost felt like a kid with one of those giant sparklers, my friends were quite impressed, but alas I am now out of matches, gonna make some more for my packs!
Great idea to say the least. Now that i see this i am definitely going to have a few stashed for emergencies. Ya never know when you're gonna end up with hypothermia and lose dexterity of your hands. This could save a lot of peoples asses. If I were you man I'd seriously think about mass producing these and selling them. Also I was thinking while watching you wrap and soak the cotton, what about maybe dipping it in the wax then rolling it in saw dust the repeating those steps until it was a bout twice as fat and seeing how much longer you could get it to burn by doing that or something similar with other materials. Just a thought. You get settled in up here let me know. Maybe we can get together and test some stuff and compare notes. My ambition is to start a survival school up here where I teach the city boys what to do after they bug out to the woods. Everyone focuses on getting out of the city and never really gets too into what's next. I think there's a lot of money to be made in that niche and this park has endless places to test endless techniques and scenarios. You're gonna love it here. 😁
I've seen some similar to this and I'll say you're waisting 3 of those matches. Do you want to start 1 fire using 4 of matches in your "super match" or do you want to light 4 fires with 4 super matches? Also one of these super matches I've seen that is similar to the one you made uses the smaller stormproof matches. So they're half the size of the ones you made and they burn like 10 minutes.
I have a question concerning the wax on the match. How do you keep the wax from melting in your bag? I live in Alabama and it gets really hot. I used to carry a small candle in my bag but it ended up melting in my bag. I apologize if this is a really stupid question. I love this idea and I am going to be doing this with my wife and two kids.
deltadogification if I was having issues with the wax melting I would use beeswax instead of paraffin, it has a higher melting point according to my research. Also, in hot areas I would wrap them in brown paper like a brown paper bag, if it does melt, the paper should soak it up pretty well and make great tinder for the whole mix
At the risk of verifying something that I haven't actually done first hand, reading the ingredients list leads me to believe there is no reason you couldn't, its a mix of paraffin, beeswax, carnauba, and other waxes so it should work.
Sorry for being late to the party. 2 questions 1. I have some guaze bandages that got wet, and are no longer sterile. Could I use that instead of the cotton squares? 2. In another video, you mentioned using birthday candles as part of your fire kit. Could one be wrapped in the center to add a little burn time? Storm proof matches are a little easier to aquire for me. So I was curious if I could squeeze a few more minutes out of them. Thanks.
Hello. Great Stuff! I made a couple dozen of these things. The 2x2 gauze pads i had were synthetic so I used toilet paper as a wrap before the paraffin dip. But a couple of my little jewels were like rockets! I mean literally shot across the ground? And a couple were all smoke and would not ignite. i tried a new box of matches with same results. I may be wrapping too tight. Seems like a great concept but was hoping for more consistency. Any suggestions??? Thanks
It sounds as if you are using different matches that are being snuffed/drowned by the melting wax possibly. Are you using UCO Stormproof matches? They can power right through the melting wax, especially the Titan matches.
Stephen Dowless try dipping them in liquid paraffin (lamp oil) prior to sealing them with the wax. The only other suggestion you might try is to tape more of the head to keep a bit more of the wax off it to give it time to get going
What an amazing idea! Thank you so much for taking time to make and share this awesome video with us. Just found your channel and subbed. Looking forward to watching more of your videos. ATVB. Take care mate, Steve. 👍👍
Shouldn't y'all be learning fire skills and the characteristics of the materials common to your AO? Why lessen your skills with a so called "Super match" when mini road flares are cheap and easy to buy? The Super match fad is a regression of knowledge and skills. So sad.
Your argument is a bit conflicting, wouldn't you say? You are saying that a commercially available mini-road flare is a "cheap and easy" option, but making your own version of that, with your own hands, will "lessen your skills" and is a "regression of knowledge and skills". I am not following the logic where it takes more knowledge and skill to purchase something than it does to make something from household items.
