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Post by Bruce Partington-Plans on Nov 2, 2023 12:29:27 GMT
Matches - they don't make 'em like they used to. I refer, of course, to the little sulphur-tipped sticks one uses to light cigarettes, pipes, candles, primus stoves and so forth. Even I can recall the days when they struck easily, burned slowly and evenly and produced that wonderful burnt smell. However the last three boxes I've used have proved very frustrating - matches take multiple attempts to strike or, when they do, take so long to actually light that I've often begun to move them back towards the box to try to strike them again (surely a dangerous hazard!). If they don't strike properly they very often break and when they do burn it is in an annoyingly haphazard way - one can never quite tell if they're going to go out or burn your fingers. Plus the distinctive smell redolent of one's youth is also absent (I suspect a different flammable compound in now used that lacks this particular touch). Even the good old Cook's matches that our family used to use now seem to suffer from these malaises.
My question then is this: can anyone recommend an efficient and reliable brand of matches that a chap might use?
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Post by Bruce Partington-Plans on Nov 12, 2023 17:08:38 GMT
Although I believe they are now owned by the same people as Swan, Bryant & May matches - although extra long - seem to strike well and burn evenly so look to be a short term solution if nothing else.
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Post by baronsolf on Nov 25, 2023 17:45:53 GMT
Matches have long since changed, I do remember in my youth that there was quality. As a pipe smoker I find myself turning to a Bic lighter more and more often. Reliable, semi-windproof and cheap.
I fear the smoking ban killed the quality.
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Post by Bruce Partington-Plans on Nov 25, 2023 17:53:21 GMT
Matches have long since changed, I do remember in my youth that there was quality. As a pipe smoker I find myself turning to a Bic lighter more and more often. Reliable, semi-windproof and cheap. I fear the smoking ban killed the quality. That's most interesting, old chap. I'm not a smoker myself but I'd always understood that matches were preferred over lighters for lighting pipes (and cigars) - something to do with giving a better, longer "burn" of the tobacco? Anyway, it doesn't surprise me that the smoking ban may have had an impact, I agree.
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Post by baronsolf on Nov 25, 2023 18:38:51 GMT
The general consensus is that matches, once the initial sulphur has burned off lights the tobacco with no aftertaste. Whereas a classic zippo lighter, with pipe insert works wonderfully but can leave a butane taste. I guess the bic lighter is the middle ground. Adapted for use huddled in the Club doorway but leaves little taint to the product.
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