Matches

Hard Kit is all other accoutrements that are not clothing, weapons or armour. This includes pots and tents, and flint & steel, and other things like that.

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Shadrack
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Matches

Post by Shadrack »

So! One of the things that I feel has been stopping me from getting out and about in my kit has been my abysmal lack of skill at getting a fire started using historical methods. This is something I want to remedy over the coming year but it’s going to take a lot of practice. In the meantime I wanted a more reliable alternative that maintains immersion and produces consistent results. Lucky for me, Tolkien makes a couple of pretty explicit references to matches in middle earth, most notably the passage from riddles in the dark; “After some time he felt for his pipe. It was not broken, and that was something. Then he felt for his pouch, and there was some tobacco in it, and that was something more. Then he felt for matches and he could not find any at all, and that shattered his hopes completely. Just as well for him, as he agreed when he came to his senses. Goodness knows what the striking of matches and the smell of tobacco would have brought on him out of dark holes in that horrible place.”
Again from the scouring of the shire albeit less explicit and used in a metaphorical context: “‘Raise the Shire!’ said Merry. ‘Now! Wake all our people! They hate all this, you can see: all of them except perhaps one or two rascals, and a few fools that want to be important, but don’t at all understand what is really going on. But Shire-folk have been so comfortable so long they don’t know what to do. They just want a match, though, and they’ll go up in fire.
Especially in regards to the first passage, I’d say it’s pretty safe to assume that Tolkien is referencing more modern, self igniting matches as prior to these, the only matches I can find mention of require pretty complex methods of ignition. Not exactly all that convenient when you’re stuck in a pitch black cavern. “The striking of matches” also implies, you know, striking a match. Not necessarily a modern safety match, but at least something friction based.
As far as I’m aware, (though I’d be happy to be proven wrong) matches only seem to be referenced by hobbits so it looks like it’s one of those fun little victorian anachronisms that we tend to avoid. In this case though I don't think it would be much of a stretch to assume that a ranger patrolling the wilds of Eriador, in and around the borders of the Shire, would happily keep a small, lightweight, and quick method of getting a fire started in his kit. If only as a last resort.
All this to say I made up a little proof of concept for what a match box could look like in the world of middle earth. After a couple of preliminary sketches I came up with this design and polished it up in illustrator.
old willow-01.png
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The translation is meant to say “Old Willow”, the idea being that it’s the name of the company producing the matches. I had a look at old matchbox designs to try and get a feel for any common naming conventions from back in the day and my conclusion is that it was basically a free for all. People were just coming up with whatever they wanted. ‘Old Willow’ felt like it would fit into the context of the shire to me but if anyone has any names they think would be better I’m open to suggestions! The Tengwar translation was done over here: https://www.tecendil.com/?q=Old%20Willow (Learing the english mode of the alphabet is also on my to-do list this year) If it is wrong/ inaccurate please let me know cause I don’t have the slightest clue!
stamp.jpg
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After finalising the design I transferred it onto a lino-block and carved out a stamp for it. It came out pretty rough, especially in the lettering but as a proof of concept it gets the job done I think.
matchbox1.jpg
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matchbox2.jpg
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Here’s the final matchbox as it stands now. I want to experiment with adding some colour in the background to make it pop a bit and I’d love to figure out how to put a striking surface on the side without just cutting one off a modern box and gluing it on, but let me know what you guys think!
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Shadrack
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Re: Matches

Post by Shadrack »

Oh and if anyone wants to use the design go for it
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Manveruon
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Re: Matches

Post by Manveruon »

What a great idea! I love how the stamp came out! I also like to carry modern matches with my kit, if only as a last resort, as you say, and occasionally to light a pipe as well, so something like this seems like it would be a great way to help keep them a little more authentic feeling than a modern matchbox.
Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains
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Iodo
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Re: Matches

Post by Iodo »

Awesome stuff :P

as for striking surfaces, if you can get hold of swan matches that aren't safety ones, they will strike on sand-paper, and some sand-papers can look quite rustic, maybe you can use that ?
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Eofor
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Re: Matches

Post by Eofor »

I really like the linoprint and think that the fact that it's a bit rough only adds to it's charm.

All my books are packed away at the moment but there's at least one more matches reference in the Hobbit. Can't quite remember where but Gandalf has to start the fire as the Dwarves are unable to with their tinder boxes 'having never taken to matches'.
I wonder if the hobbit preference for them isn't due to the fact they are the group into pipe weed. I haven't tried but I can't imagine lighting a pipe with flint and tinder is an easy task.

It is possible to make your own strike a light matches. I haven't tried it myself but looked into it a while back.
Basically you need to scrape the red phosphorous off the strike side of the matchbox, turn it into a slurry and mix it with a binding agent like pva glue. Then dip your matches in it let that dry and they should be self striking on rock or stone.
You can give them a wax coasting to reduce the risk of them going off which also makes them waterproof

If you want really rustic looking matches then you can cut your own sticks, crush the powder from the top of matches and glue it to them before adding in the steps above.

If you do decide to try any of this then make sure you research it first as it does carry some risks.
But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest.
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Shadrack
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Re: Matches

Post by Shadrack »

Iodo wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 9:03 am Awesome stuff :P

as for striking surfaces, if you can get hold of swan matches that aren't safety ones, they will strike on sand-paper, and some sand-papers can look quite rustic, maybe you can use that ?
No such luck for me unfortunately. While I don't think they're outright banned in New Zealand, as far as I can tell strike-anywhere matches have pretty much been phased entirely out of the market. I'll be keeping an eye out for sure though!
Eofor wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 12:18 pm I really like the linoprint and think that the fact that it's a bit rough only adds to it's charm.

All my books are packed away at the moment but there's at least one more matches reference in the Hobbit. Can't quite remember where but Gandalf has to start the fire as the Dwarves are unable to with their tinder boxes 'having never taken to matches'.
I wonder if the hobbit preference for them isn't due to the fact they are the group into pipe weed. I haven't tried but I can't imagine lighting a pipe with flint and tinder is an easy task.

It is possible to make your own strike a light matches. I haven't tried it myself but looked into it a while back.
Basically you need to scrape the red phosphorous off the strike side of the matchbox, turn it into a slurry and mix it with a binding agent like pva glue. Then dip your matches in it let that dry and they should be self striking on rock or stone.
You can give them a wax coasting to reduce the risk of them going off which also makes them waterproof

If you want really rustic looking matches then you can cut your own sticks, crush the powder from the top of matches and glue it to them before adding in the steps above.

If you do decide to try any of this then make sure you research it first as it does carry some risks.
Interesting stuff! That reference almost implies a wider trade (or at least an attempt at one) of matches than I thought! I may do some more research into the diy matches but at the present I don't have much space for playing around with chemicals so it may have to be a project for a later date.
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Manveruon
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Re: Matches

Post by Manveruon »

I will say though, from experience, that wax-coating match heads can make striking VERY difficult, especially in the outdoors, under non-ideal circumstances. You’ve REALLLLLY go to make sure that all the wax is off before trying to strike them.
Maerondir Perianseron, also called “Mickel,” Halfling Friend - Ranger of the Misty Mountains
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