Two-In-One Match...Splitting Matchheads! ©

 

An excerpt from Scouting Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 2, March/April 1982

  

Splitting hairs is pointless, but splitting matchheads could save your life!

Today, very few people choose paper-matches as their primary means of starting a fire in the bush.  Most people who make a habit of going out into the wilderness bring a butane lighter, strike-anywhere matches or a ferrocerium rod, and in my case all three!

However, you never know when you might get dumped into a survival situation with just what’s in your pockets to help you survive.  And just like Les Stroud, the Survivorman, who in the first episode of season one, which aired in 2004, found himself stranded in the Canadian boreal forest of northern Ontario, you might only have only one paper match left!

Now, you might be asking yourself, “Do I attempt to split the match so that, that one match becomes two?”  Maybe you are asking, “What are the pluses and minuses of splitting a paper match?”  Most likely, your question is, “How do I split one paper match into two?”  These are all good questions that deserve answers.

“Do I attempt to split the match so that, that one match becomes two?”

Well, if your supply of paper matches is limited, by splitting the ones that you do have, you will be double your total number of matches.  Twice as many chances of making a fire, is always a good thing, right.  Usually yes, but just like anything there are pros and cons, pluses and minuses to be considered before you attempt to split the match.

“What are the pluses and minuses of splitting a paper match?”

The biggest plus of splitting your paper match in two, from a survival perspective, is that you now have twice as many opportunities to light a fire as you did before you split it.

There are several minuses to splitting a match.

Match splitting is unpredictable, and you run the risk of ruining scarce and irreplaceable matches.  The largest minus that you face is that you might break off or damage the chemical head of the match.  And, if that happens, you have just gone from one match to no matches!

The second largest minus is that split matches, because they have only half as much stick, burn out in half the time, that the original, whole match would have.

Tim MacWelch, in his article titled “Survival Skills: The Pros and Cons of Splitting Matches”, states that split matches are also more vulnerable to wind and moisture, than the original whole match was.

Unfortunately, and just like everything in life, there are more minuses than pluses and, in the end, you have to weigh the minuses against the plus of having twice as many chances of lighting a fire and make your own decision.

“How do I split one paper match into two?”

 

A paper match from a matchbook is the simplest to split¹, photograph by the author.

 

To start, rip a match out of the book, and carefully with your fingernails, starting at the torn end, peel the match down the middle of the “stick”, photograph by the author.

 

Make sure that there are equal amounts of paper on either side the split paper-stick, photograph by the author.

 

When the split gets to the chemical matchhead, with a careful pull, you should be able to pop it apart into two matches, photograph by the author.

 

As long as you are careful, you should be able to light both halves of the match, photograph by the author.

To watch a video demonstration of how to do this, watch “Two-In-One Match...Splitting Matchheads!”, HERE.

Hopefully, you will never find yourself in a survival situation where you have to rely on only a couple of paper matches, but if you do, and you have practiced this little trick at home, you will have twice as many chances of starting a fire!

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Notes

1Paper matches are the easiest to split, however you can still split wooden stick matches.  Tim MacWelch wrote about how to split large kitchen matches in two with a razor blade or a sharp knife.  He explained that by pushing the point of the razor blade or knife into the stick, just below the match head and rocking the blade, you would be able to carefully cut the match in two.  As the stick splits so should the chemical match. 

Tim MacWelch, “Survival Skills: The Pros and Cons of Splitting Matches” June 10, 2015,

Sources

MacWelch, Tim; “Survival Skills: The Pros and Cons of Splitting Matches” June 10, 2015, [© 2020 Outdoor Life, A Bonnier Corporation Company], https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/survival-skills-pros-and-cons-splitting-matches/, accessed April 13, 2020

“Two-In-One Match”, Scouting Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 2, March/April 1982 [Boy Scouts of America, Irving, Texas], p. Scout 2 Jun 82, https://books.google.com/books?id=XSsbxPzAVfUC&pg=RA5-PT21&lpg=RA5-PT21&dq=scouting+%22we+ought+to+take+a+minute%22&source=bl&ots=vxOmVqq7Ak&sig=ACfU3U02ibVcmaTtuT10LmaPJSeYRwcNWA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-s8PJxY3oAhUOTN8KHVNNDQcQ6AEwAHoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=scouting%20%22we%20ought%20to%20take%20a%20minute%22&f=false, Accessed March 9, 2020