Whether you want to light birthday candles or start a fire, matches are an important item to have on hand, especially during an emergency. Matches are considered by many to be one of the top ten most important things to stockpile in case of a wide-spread disaster. And since they are relatively inexpensive, they’re a really good thing to stock up on.
Now you might think that a match is a match is a match.
No so.
What’s in a match?
Matches are a genius invention of the early 19th century. The head of the match was a dried paste made of potassium chloride and antimony sulfide. When it was struck on a rough surface, the friction caused the two ingredients to interact and ignite. And voilá! You have a fire.
All it takes to light these matches is friction. Shaking a box of matches could ignite them. Now, it would take a lot of vigorous shaking to create enough friction, but it certainly is possible, especially with the constant joggling of 19th century trains and wagons. So it didn’t take long (actually, 1855, about 27 years after the invention of the first match) for some clever inventor to create the safety match.
So what’s the difference?
As I said, it takes a special mix of chemicals to make a match ignite, phosphorus being an important one. While the formulas for the ingredients in match heads has changed over the years, the concept is still pretty much the same.
On a strike-anywhere match, all the chemicals are in the head of the match. When you draw the head of a strike-anywhere match across any rough surface, those ingredients mix and ignite.
But on a safety match, the phosphorus is not in the match head. Instead matchmakers created a strip that has ground glass (to create friction) and sulphur (to mix with the rest of the ingredients in the head.) When you draw the match across this strip the ingredients combine and the friction causes them to ignite.
So Safety Matches are best, right?
Knowing how matches work, it seems obvious that safety matches are the best kind of match to store for emergencies.
Not so fast.
Safety matches do have their drawbacks. First, they are more susceptible to decay from moisture. If you live in a humid climate, you may find that after just a few months in storage your safety matches won’t work. However, if you store them in airtight, waterproof containers, you may find that storing them long-term is not a problem.
But there’s a second problem with safety matches. The ingredients in that specially formulated strike strip are consumable. That means that after you’ve struck a bunch of matches, it becomes increasingly difficult to light a match. Eventually the strip becomes so depleted that you can’t light anything.
In my experience, these strips only last for about 1/2 to 2/3 of the matches that in the box. Then you just have to toss the rest of the matches. That’s why we began buying strike-anywhere matches.
So strike-anywhere is best, right?
Well, yes. I think so. But there are drawbacks to the strike-anywhere version. First they are more expensive, about double what safety matches cost.
Second, they can be difficult to find. I can’t find them in any of the local grocery stores. I’ve only been able to find them in a couple locally-owned hardware stores.
And don’t think you can just buy them online. Since these matches can ignite with repeated jostling, you cannot get them shipped to you via USPS.
Speaking of ordering online, you can order strike strips for safety matches online. The reviews for these are mixed, with about a third of customers saying they don’t work at all.
So if safety is your primary concern, you may want to stock up on safety matches and buy extra strike strips. I would suggest storing them in an airtight, watertight container to reduce the risk of decay.
If reliability is your primary concern or you live in a humid climate, strike-anywhere matches are probably your best bet.
But in any case, matches are such an important part of emergency preparedness, you should include plenty of them in your non-food storage.
