How to Make Emergency Survival Kit Waterproof Matches

How many times have you almost burned your fingers on a match that burned down too quickly? In a few minutes you can make matches for camping and emergencies that will burn longer than the average match.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wooden matches
• cotton yarn
• candle or Gulf wax
• small sauce pan
• small heat tolerant glass jar
• peanut butter jar lid
• hot pads
• scissors
• waxed paper

1. 

   Fill the sauce pan half way with water, and place it on the stove over medium heat. Put the wax into the glass jar, and place the jar into the pan. The water will slowly begin to boil and melt the wax.

2. 

   While the wax is melting, wrap a match in the cotton string, leaving enough room at the bottom to hold on to. Cut the string and set the match carefully aside so that it doesn't unravel too much. Repeat with the remaining matches

3. Place a sheet of waxed paper on your work space. When the wax is melted, use a hot pad to remove the glass jar from the water. Pour the wax into the peanut butter jar lid.

4. 

   Dip the match into the wax so that the string is completely covered. Remove the match from the wax, and let any excess wax drip off.

5. 

   After about 10 seconds smooth the loose end of the string down so that it sticks to the match. Place the match on the waxed paper and allow it to dry completely. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for all the matches. If the wax begins to cool too much, pour it back into the glass jar and reheat it in the water over medium.

6. Store the dried matches in a sealed container such as a Ziplock bag and the container in your emergency survival kit or with your camping equipment.

Tips & Warnings

• You can dip the end of the matches in wax after the tops have dried to ensure complete waterproofing.
• Gulf Wax can be found in grocery stores often by the canning supplies.
• The boiling water might spit and the wax is very hot. Use caution when removing the glass jar from the pan and pouring the wax.