Waterproof Matches

You can make your own waterproof matches with a few common household ingredients. Be prepared!

KAI: I like to make things and learn about things. I’m Kai and I’m a hacker.

KAI: Today’s hack is about making matches so even if it’s pouring rain out or your pack falls in the water, you can still have a fire. Fire was important to our ancestors, even sacred. In Cree, we call fire (Language) Fire is to be respected at all times. Even a match can cause lots of damage. Fire is a chemical reaction that gives off light and heat. Matches use that chemical reaction through friction, sulfur, and phosphorus. I could show you how to make a fire without using matches or lighters, but that’s for another hack. Let’s start with some waterproof matches. This hack we’re gonna need scrap paper, matches, and nail polish. You can also make waterproof matches with wax. Dip the whole match head into the wax and it only takes a minute to dry.

KAI: The problem with wax is that it can easily scrape off after it, it dries. First we’re gonna do a light coat of nail polish on the match head. If you put too much, it won’t light. I’m gonna do a bunch here. Now I’m gonna let these sit here for about 15 minutes to dry. We can speed the process up by using a hair dryer. That will only take about 5 minutes for the match heads to dry. They should be dry now. As you can see the nail polish is harder to scrape off. Let’s give ‘em a test. Just kidding, that’s not gonna happen. So they light fine, but let’s put them to the test. So there you go, waterproof matches.