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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

UCO Stormproof Match Case



The new UCO Stormproof match case caught my attention right away.


I already knew about UCO Stormproof matches. These are the best stormproof matches you can buy, larger than normal “nato” stormproof matches as the picture shows, and they burn for 15 seconds give or take. This is more like the offspring of a match and a flare, a waterproof, stormproof match on steroids.

While UCO matches have been around for a while the case is pretty new. What I like about it? It’s well made, the quality of the plastic is good, it fits the large UCO matches (which the green match case pictured doesn’t unless you cut them down some) and most important, it can hold a lot of them.
While there are cases like the Exotac MatchCap Case that fit this kind of matches, the capacity is low. Both the typical case like the green one pictured and the nicer Exotac only have a 12 match capacity. 12 matches isn’t that much during an emergency, and it would be hard to deal with a long term emergency with so few of them.

The UCO match case has a capacity of 25 matches. The construction is solid and the generous o-ring makes it water proof. While the strike surface is clearly the weak point being on the outside, there’s also another striker kept on the inside in case it gets wet.
The case isn’t pocket size but would fit nicely in an emergency kit and that’s its intended purpose. It comes both in green and yellow, but I’d recommend yellow for better visibility. You don’t want to miss your match case when you need it the most.
UCO Stormproof Match Case Kit - Yellow
UCO Stormproof Match Case Kit – Yellow
I believe the price to be reasonable. For a couple extra bucks you get one of the nicest made cases I’ve seen, with generous capacity. I’m of the line of thought that buying quality makes sense, especially when it comes to such essential gear and the price difference between normal stormproof matches and the best ones you can buy is so small.
FerFAL
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never seen these match cases before, thanks for writing about them.

I've used old medication prescription bottles with pretty good results. I tape the strike paper on inside of cap, MAKING SURE THAT MATCH HEADS ARE ON OPPOSITE END!

Better safe than sorry.

Don Williams said...

I don't see a spare striking flint on the outside (to give an additional firemaking capability if you run out of matches.) The NATO case has a small one on the bottom.

An easy fix is to buy one of the common magnesium bars with the striker attached and simply cut the striker off the bar and put it into the match case.
Of course you need a knife or something metal to strike with the flint (car key?).

I don't think you should put a metal striker inside the match case with the flint --it might ignite the matches. Maybe you could glue a piece of hack saw blade on the outside, with one side
sharpened to use as a knife.

Don Williams said...

Correction to above: Duct taping a piece of hack saw to the match box would be a better fix than glueing it.

Anonymous said...

Good point about striker inside case. A small knife that MIGHT work would be the BFELabs Ultralight knife, basically a hacksaw blade knife. About $15.

That way, you have a blade AND fire together, not a bad combination. Just am not sure this container is long enough. Web site sez entire length of blade is 3 5/8", more or less.