When we went to light the citronella candle on the table the other night, my husband asked why we don’t have a lighter when we camp the way we do at home. I thought about it for a moment before blurting out “because we have camping matches!”.

It’s true that after years of testing a variety of types of matches and other methods for quickly lighting the camp stove, candles and fires, I have settled on something that is tried and true—UCO Stormproof Matches.

These are matches that light a little like a firecracker and they sizzle and burn bright for 40 seconds or so before burning out. I have two waterproof containers for them that you can put new striking flints on the side of when they rub down. They make it easy to have handy at camp and impervious to any rain if they get left out. I like to drop the sticks in the fire once they are fizzled.

For some reason I feel they are safer to carry in the camper than those long butane lighters we use on the patio at home to light the candles and grill. And I keep a box or two of spare matches in the spares box in the camper in case we run out and need to refill the containers.