They hold up MUCH better than I would have expected.
1. I've got a couple of boxes of wooden strike-on-box matches that I've
had on a shelf in my garage for probably the last 10 years. They've always
worked when I go to grab one. Not exactly an ideal storage environment
for the matches. Snow and ice melt off the cars in the winter, and the
wretched midwestern humidity in the summer.
2. Got an old Coleman camp stove and lantern from my father in law last
summer. Those have been stored in his basement for decades. In the
box for the stove we found a book of paper matches advertising the new
1975 Plymouth Duster. For grins and giggles we tried one of the matches,
knowing of course that it wouldn't work. Fired right up. :thumb:
(And the decades-old Coleman fuel in the stove and lantern -- Yup. Still good also.)
Stored under more ideal conditions like the O.P. mentioned, who knows how
many decades they'll last?
Once I saw how long those paper matches from 1975 held up, I went out and
loaded up on a serious supply of matches. Filled up three one-gallon paint
cans. Hammered the lids shut and stashed them on a shelf. Seems like a
cheap investment in a possible useful barter item if the SHTF. Figured that
the small individual boxes and booklets of wood an paper matches would
make for easy little trade items that might just have some value. If not,
meh, I'm probably out less than $20 for matches and paint cans. O2 and
moisture absorbers in the cans would probably help also, but I just didn't
have any on hand at the time.
