What are matches made of and why do they burn? Hunting matches: a reliable source of fire in rain and wind.

What are matches made of and why do they burn?

The first real matches were invented on April 10, 1833, when yellow phosphorus was introduced into the mixture for match heads. This day is considered the birthday of the first match.

In Russian, the word "match" is derived from the Old Russian word "matches" - the plural form of the word "spoke" (a pointed wooden stick). Originally, this word meant wooden nails that were used in shoe making (to fasten the soles).

At first, the phrase “incendiary (or samogar) matches” was used to denote matches, and only after matches became widespread, the first word began to be omitted, and then completely disappeared from use.

Work of the Pobeda match factory in the village of Verkhny Lomov. Photo: RIA Novosti / Yulia Chestnova

What are matches made of?

Most match production companies make them from aspen. In addition to this type of wood, linden, poplar and other trees are also used. A special machine for making matches can produce up to 10 million matches in an eight-hour working day.

Why do matches burn?

When we rub the head of a match against the wall of the box, a series of chemical reactions begins. There is a coating applied to the box. It consists of red phosphorus, fillers and glue. When friction occurs, the particles of red phosphorus turn into white, it heats up and lights up at 50 degrees. The box lights up first, not the match. To prevent the spread on the box from burning all at once, phlegmatizers are added to its composition. They absorb some of the generated heat.

Half the mass of the head is oxidizing agents, in particular Berthollet salt. When decomposed, it easily releases oxygen. To lower the decomposition temperature of bertholite salt, a catalyst, manganese dioxide, is added to the composition of the mass. The main flammable substance is sulfur. To prevent the head from burning too quickly and falling apart, fillers are added to the mass: ground glass, zinc white, and red lead. All this is held together with different glues.

What types of matches are there?

In addition to ordinary (household) matches, there are about 100 types of special matches, differing in size, color, composition and degree of combustion.

The most common types are:

Storm - burn even under water and in the wind (wind, hunting);

Thermal - they can be soldered (welded), as they emit a large amount of heat;

Signal - capable of producing colored flames;

Fireplace and gas - long matches for lighting fireplaces and gas stoves;

Decorative (souvenir) - gift matches, often have a colored head;

Photographic - used to create an instant flash.

Matches for tourists. Photo: RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov

What are matches used for?

Matches are intended for:

Receiving open fire in domestic conditions;

Lighting fires, stoves, kerosene stoves, kerosene gases;

Lighting stearin and wax candles;

Lighting cigarettes, cigars, etc.

Matches are also used for other purposes:

For practicing applied arts in the construction of houses, castles, for making decorative crafts;

For hygienic purposes (for cleaning the ear canals);

For repairing radio, audio and video equipment (matches wrapped in a cotton swab and soaked in alcohol are used to wipe hard-to-reach areas of the equipment).

“Tsar Match” 7.5 meters long, which was made in the city of Chudovo. The product claims to be included in the Guinness Book of Records. Photo: RIA Novosti / Mikhail Mordasov

1. Matches with different colored heads (red, blue, brown, green, etc.), contrary to the existing myth, differ from each other only in color. They burn exactly the same.

3. The first Russian match factory was registered in 1837 in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, the first factory appeared in 1848. At first, matches were made from white phosphorus. Safe red phosphorus began to be used only in 1874.

4. According to GOST, a Soviet/Russian matchbox has a length of exactly 5 cm, which makes it possible to use it to measure the size of objects.

5. Using a match, you can remove an ink stain from an oilcloth. To do this, you need to slightly moisten the dirty surface of the oilcloth tablecloth and rub the stain with the head of a match. After the contamination has disappeared, the oilcloth must be lubricated with olive oil and then wiped with a cotton swab.

(You take upon yourself all consequences after reading the article. The material is for informational purposes only.)

IN In this article I want to tell you how to make normal homemade "HUNTING MATCHES"! At the beginning, I didn’t attach much importance to “these matches,” but after thinking about them as an extra source of fire during the “apocalypse,” WOW, how useful they will be...! Yes, and when hunting, traveling, or on field trips, THEY may be needed. Done Right "HUNTING MATCHES": flash instantly, have a high-temperature flame, burn in strong winds, heavy rain, even under water, moisture resistant. Having an airtight container, matches can be stored for a long time without changing their properties.

I watched a lot of videos and articles on making these matches. Some made it from cotton wool soaked in paraffin (which burns slightly and goes out at the slightest breath), someone made it from ammonium nitrate (over time, auto-oxidation destroys the mixture itself - it burns very poorly). They even melted a mixture of sugar and potassium nitrate (“caramel”) and poured it into a cocktail tube through a reusable syringe - this is all problematic..! I don’t impose “my own” on anyone, but I will offer a more convenient way. The only thing is that your hands will be dirty, even if you wear gloves (after a while you will take them off...)!

What do we NEED?

1) We will need ordinary matches (you can take matches of different lengths, the burning time will depend on this, for example, matches for “Fireplace” or for “Barbecue” - long matches). For long matches, you need a container of suitable length where the matches will be stored in the future.

2) We will need an Incendiary Mix. There are a lot of them and they all burn differently. If you have your own proven mixture, use it!

Compositions of black powders:

KNO 3 - 76%; S - 13%; C - 11% burns well, quickly, with an even flame...

KNO 3 - 78%; S - 10%; C - 12% burns well, quickly, evenly..

KNO 3 - 75%; S - 10%; C - 15% burns very well, quickly, be careful..! Possible scattering of burning particles!

KNO 3 - 80%; C - 20% without sulfur... burns so-so

Compositions with aluminum powder give a higher temperature flame:

KNO 3 - 50%; Al - 30%; S - 20% burns very well, fast, bright flame. Be careful! Possible scattering of burning particles!

KNO 3 - 50%; Al - 25%; S - 25% burns very well, fast, bright flame. Be careful! Possible scattering of burning particles! I did it with this Molotov cocktail.

KNO 3 - 50%; Al - 35%; S - 15% will burn quickly. Possible scattering of burning particles!

Compositions without Sulfur:

KNO 3 - 50%; Al - 50% well crushed and mixed can burn very quickly. Scatters burning particles. Be careful, take care of your hands and eyes!

KNO 3 - 60%; Al - 40% more or less. Scatters burning particles. Be careful, take care of your hands and eyes!

KMnO 4 - 40%; Al - 60% well crushed and mixed can burn instantly. Sensitive to mechanical influences. Scatters burning particles. Be careful, take care of your hands and eyes!

KNO 3 - 50%; Sugar - grind 50% and mix with nitro varnish, scatters burning particles. Be careful, take care of your hands and eyes!

Thermite compounds:

MnO 2 - 50%; Al - 50% - - (if it does not light well, add a little more aluminum and a little sulfur or make a transition composition). Scatters burning particles. Be careful, take care of your hands and eyes!

3) We will need "Nitrocellulose varnish."

There are different NTs-218; NTs-222; NTs-243. Anyone will do.

MANUFACTURING.

There is no need to dilute the varnish with anything! First, let's prepare a “mushy mass” from our incendiary mixture and nitrocellulose varnish. I’ll tell you right away, add a little more varnish so that our “porridge” is not loose. The result should be something between “porridge” and “sour cream”. If in the future it becomes difficult to stick to the match, add a little more varnish.

And so, we take a match and dip it together with the “head” in nitro varnish, then quickly cover the match with the prepared “porridge”.

NUANCES.

1) The varnish smells very strongly, and some may get sick and dizzy (strong solvents)!

2) If you have prepared a “porridge” that is too liquid, then apply it in small portions onto a match, while swirling, the varnish quickly dries and hardens (complete drying takes a day)!

3) Cover half of the “head” of the match with an incendiary mixture or transition compound!

4) To prevent the “porridge” from sticking to your fingers, when forming a burning layer on the matches, place a glass of water where you will dip your fingers (don’t worry, the water will not saturate the previously made “porridge” from nitro varnish and incendiary mixture).!

5) As it dries, the porridge will look like plasticine, after which you can give a more beautiful shape to the burning layer on the match. Roll out on some glossy, hard surface slightly moistened with water (an old table, a piece of plastic). I had a piece of metallized PCB for radio circuits!

6) In the VIDEO you will see that when you light a match, the sulfur of the match ignites first, and the incendiary composition takes time to ignite. Yes, this is a big minus! But if you sit longer, this can be corrected: you need a transitional composition (for example, grind sulfur from matches and mix with an incendiary composition). They will ignite immediately. Everyone can show their SMARTness. I made matches quickly. And whoever doesn’t like it can run to the store. And whoever truly loves fire will come up with a lot of things himself!

After drying, YOU will have special matches for starting a fire in any conditions. ATTENTION. BEFORE LIGHTING THE MATCH ON THE BLUE, THE “HEAD” OF THE MATCH SHOULD BE LIGHTLY GRINDED ON THE STONE, CONCRETE WALL, OR KNIFE TO REMOVE THE THIN LAYER OF NITROVARNISH!!! Matches will last you a long time if you store them in Special Waterproof Container. And don’t forget about CHIRKALO, which you can take from the boxes, put in a plastic bag and store in the same airtight container. The striker can be glued to thick cardboard or a piece of wooden ruler, so it will be convenient to strike..!

Today we have useful advice addressed to people who like to wander through nature with a gun (hunting season, its opening, is just around the corner) or go fishing. Of course, they don’t give up their hobby even in winter. Some people like winter fishing even more than summer fishing. But it seems to me that there are still more “heat-loving” fishermen. As you know, nature is very changeable, and fishermen and hunters need to always be prepared for any unforeseen situations, especially if you are somewhere far from “civilization.” Here are hunting matches, this is exactly the “arsenal” that you need to arm yourself with when going out into nature. After all, ordinary matches and lighters are very unreliable during long stays in nature. And such matches can help you out in various situations.

How to do it and what will be needed for this?

And you can make such matches very easily and you don’t need any super materials for this. There are no problems with ordinary matches, except for them you also need ammonium nitrate, you will need nitro varnish to cover the matches, and the well-known silver oxide (it is needed in the form of powder).

The first thing we will do is mix dry ammonium nitrate with ammonium nitrate. We will mix these compositions 1:1. When you mix these two components well, add nitro varnish to them and then mix the entire contents again. You will need to achieve a dough-like state of this mixture.

• When you get this consistency, roll out this “inedible” dough into a thin layer and cut it into narrow strips. The width of such stripes should be a very small millimeter or two.
• Next we will need regular matches. We take one of them and spirally wind on it those narrow strips that we have already cut out. You need to start winding from the middle of the sulfur head down and finish doing this in the middle of the match itself. So, we wrap each match (that is, based on the number of prepared strips) and then let them dry.
• When the matches have dried well, you will need to coat them with nitro varnish. You can cover it with a regular brush, which children use when painting. BUT, cover the sulfur head of the match with this varnish DO NOT! Otherwise, you will simply have problems lighting matches. Some people think that it is much easier to dip the entire match directly into nitro varnish, but again this should not be done, otherwise the head of the match will also be covered with varnish and you will no longer be able to avoid problems with ignition.
• That's it, your hunting matches are completely ready! So you can now safely use them to make a fire, and you can even use not the driest firewood. Such homemade matches can burn successfully even in water, and the wind will not be able to extinguish the flame of such matches.

But in this video they will show you everything well and tell you again. Try it and you will succeed.

We recommend watching this video lesson to everyone who likes to go hiking, fishing or hunting, having a picnic, in other words, in nature. During such a pastime, it is always nice to light a fire, warm up near it or cook food. But in order to light a fire, you need hunting matches that are not afraid of different weather conditions. These are exactly what we will talk about here; we will make hunting matches with our own hands.

The ingredients are based on readily available and simple ingredients that you can easily get in a store or find at home. To make hunting matches, we will need:

• nitrovarnish (NTs-218 is used in the video lesson);
• ammonium nitrate (sold in flower shops);
• silver or aluminum dust;
• matches;
• plastic glass;
• marker;
• teaspoon;
• kebabs skewer.

Mix silver and ammonium nitrate in a one to one ratio. In the video tutorial, each ingredient was taken one teaspoon at a time. Mix both components.

We wrap these strips of dough around a match so that a small amount of sulfur remains. Leave until completely hardened. After this, dip the tips of the matches into nitro varnish and wait until dry again.

Hunting matches are ready. Don't forget to try them out before taking them with you. At the same time, follow all safety rules and do not conduct experiments at home.

People began making fire in ancient times. Several thousand years ago, people learned to make matches. Today we cannot live without fire, either at home or on a hike. However, there are situations when the matches get wet, run out or were forgotten at home, and you can’t do without a fire. Today we will learn how to make hunting matches that burn longer and can help out in any situation. Hunting matches are not afraid of either moisture or wind.

So, first of all, let's watch the video:

In order to make hunting matches with your own hands you will need:
- nitro varnish;
- ammonium nitrate;
- silver coin;
- plastic cup;
- matches;
- teaspoon;
- barbecue skewer;
- felt-tip pen;

Now this mixture is diluted with nitro varnish to the consistency of dough. It is better to use a syringe for dilution.




We roll out the viscous consistency with felt-tip pens to make a thin pancake.

We wait until the matches dry and dip them again in nitro varnish.

Once completely dry, the matches are ready for use. Before we go, you can do a little test.

A Russian box of matches, according to GOST, is exactly 5 centimeters long. You can use it to measure various objects if you don’t have a ruler at hand.