Finally, the near-perfect match case!

Posted by Rob Babcock on 24th Feb 2012

For the most part I'll go on record as not really being a "match guy". Most hikers, campers & outdoors-people will know why, even if they don't fully agree. The first reason is that matches are pretty limiting, and at best you get one fire per match, not good compared to a lighter or firesteel. I also don't consider matches very reliable. Their main enemy is moisture. Even the best matches (eg UCO Stormproof, REI Storm match) won't light on a wet striker.

That said, I think matches do have a place, especially if you take care to keep them dry. One of the most practical ways to do this is a good quality match safe. I've been doing some research and the Exotac MatchCap looked good but a bit small for my tastes. My preferred match is the UCO and only about a dozen will fit. Relatively recently Exotac came out with a larger, redesigned version called the MatchCap XL. I placed my order for the XL in orange since I intend them to be primarily a survival item. When I can I always choose orange or yellow for survival stuff.

Overall this is a very slickly designed case! It weighs only an ounce and a half and is pretty compact. Testing has shown it to be water tight. It has a disc of sandpaper as well as knurling that can both be used to strike "strike-anywhere" type matches. But the best feature to me is the (replaceable) phosphorus strip glued to the inside of the case. Very nice! It's inside of the O-ring sealer portion where it can't get wet. This means it should be good to go when you need it. Exotac includes a spare o-ring as well as replacement strikers of both types. And they sell refill kits as well. One last touch that I like is the cap which has a loop for clipping to a carabiner or wearing on a lanyard.

I can easily fit 25 UCO Stormproof matches in the case, with a bit of room on top. Exotac says the intentionally make it slightly taller than UCO matches (which they recommend) to accommodate cotton balls or limited bits of survival gear. Very nice.

The only thing I might have preferred would be two striker panels. They wisely made the striker significantly larger than on the smaller MatchCap to address the main complaint of users. It seems that as each match uses some of the phosphorus, most people ran out of usuable striker before running out of matches. The larger striker addresses this but better still would be to have two cut-outs to minimize weight but leave two "columns" for strikers. One would probably be wise to tuck a sealed extra striker inside the safe even if that means carrying a couple less matches. Better, say, 23 that you know will light than 26 and a dead striker.

So far this is just a kitchen table review. When I make out next time I'll see how it holds up to use. I'm pretty confident given the build quality and design that it will be a great match safe.