Our Award-Winning Titan Stormproof Matches™

CHEERS! (We’re celebrating over here.)

We are extremely honored and ecstatic about our Backpacker Editor’s Choice Award! Of course, we had a feeling that our Titan Stormproof Match was amazing, but it’s always nice to have some validation. A LOT of hard work and intention went into the creation of this bad boy, so we’re giving you the breakdown on how it came to be.

To create a striker that won’t give out, we made ours out of red phosphorus. It requires both the chemical and friction to achieve ignition. These are safety matches, so friction alone won’t light it. The brown head of the match that’s made of sulfur has to chemically combine with the phosphorous to light the match. Translation: We’ve got you covered.

The unique construction of the match creates the components that make it stormproof. The potassium chlorate coating, in orange, runs down half of the matchstick, essentially extending the match head so that it burns for up to 25 seconds. If you think of a standard match, the head exists to ignite the wood in a quick flash of flame, but only stays lit for 7 seconds or so. By extending the length of the head, you get that same intense heat, but for a much longer time.

If you stand down wind from a burning Titan, you’ll know it. Similar to that eggy smell we all know and love, the match releases sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide gases while burning. Another cool feature is the carbonized splint, which strengthens the match stick after it’s completely burned. This helps keep the hot ashes from falling where you don’t want them.

So, if you want to be prepared to make fire in a windstorm or light a flare in the rain, the Titans are scientifically designed to help you stay lit. But if the science isn’t enough for you, pick up the November 2015 edition of Backpacker and read about our award-winning match for yourself!