UST BlastMatch Fire Starter with One-Handed Operation and Lightweight Design for Camping, Hiking, Emergency and Outdoor Survival

I watched the youtube video and this match blaster appeared to be the way to go. Most of my family is in the out doors a lot, we all see the need of having the ability to build a fire no matter what conditions prevail. This is one device in addition to matches and a lighter and at first it appeared to be a great that could be relied on when all fails. I bough 6 of them for Christmas. One arrived early with the flint bar bouncing around the package. I ordered one more to then return this one. Come Christmas morning 2 out of the three we opened were broken with the flint bar falling out. It appears that the reason for this was because when the flint bare was glued into the housing the housing was broken when the flint bar was inserted. With a little glue holding it together it made it into the package. It seams that quality control is nonexistent.The one that did not break seems to work well. My son discovered that in order to get a fire you need to pump a steady stream of sparks. Just one spark as seen on youtube doesn't work.I have now taken one completely apart and I am going to improve on the design with parts from the hardware store. I'm going to add a spot for "wetfire", some cordage, and maybe something else. A flint rod would have cost about as much so nothing but confidence in UST is lost.

I've been using flint and steel style fire starters for a while now, and when I heard about how you could operate a Blastmatch with one hand, I got inordinately excited and bought one right away. Unfortunately, my experience with the Blastmatch has been very hit or miss so far. Due to the scraper's design, when you get a good strike it creates a seriously big amount of sparks, with a surprisingly long lasting burn. The problem is getting a good strike in the first place. First, the bar has to be wedged against something solid for the device to function. This can be an issue when you're trying to cast the sparks into an unstable pile of tinder. I've had some success gathering my kindling on a small rock and then moving it after I start it burning, but that's an extra step you don't have with a normal flint and steel. Second, and more importantly, my Blastmatch only sparks about 2 out of every 5 times I scrape it. Instead of generating sparks, I just end up scraping a little material off of the bar and disturbing my tinder. Now, bear in mind that this product does work well under the proper circumstances, and it generates a lot more sparks than your average flint and steel. However, the difficulty of use means that the Blastmatch gets left at home in favor of my more reliable Firesteel.

My friend showed me his that he has had well over 20 years and I was very impressed with it, solid sturdy construction. I received mine today and it was broke before I even opened it. Not only that, but the plastic case is of a brittle and thin plastic. In the picture you can see where the ferro rod seats, the seat is broken. If I could give this product a -5 stars I would.

Quite simply the ferro rod continues to fall out.of the case. As I see it, you have 2 options.1. Super glue the rod into the housing.2. Use the 2 1/2 inch and 1/3 thick ferro rod by its self. I will keep mine separate and stash it in a survival tin.

I got this as a "let's see if I can do this" type of thing. I've determined that if I'm ever stranded in the wilderness and I have my Blastmatch, I am still going to die from hypothermia. No fault of the device - it works as advertised to create hot sparks. But after experimenting with it on two occasions, I find that I can't ignite a flame simply with the tinder found on the forest floor. I've been successful when I strike the sparks onto clothesdryer lint or cotton swabs, more successful if those materials are laced with petroleum jelly (these were tips I learned from various fire-starter videos). So if I'm carrying that stuff along with the Blastmatch, I'm confident of lighting a fire. But I think that goes for any fire-starter, in my hands anyway.As for the tool itself, after a couple of outings and a couple of hundred depressions of the flint, it's wobbly inside its handle as I had read in another review, but I can't really say that this is a problem. This is because in order to create sparks, one must apply FIRM thumb pressure to the striker against the flint (IMHO, this fire-starter may not be the choice for those whose grip strength is not strong) and that prevents it from wobbling while being depressed. So my reason for four stars instead of five is this play that develops in the rod, which makes it feel as if the tool is about to break, but let me be clear that it still works fine. I love the design aside from that, how it hinges open and closed to protect the rod. I like the one-handed idea, and in my limited experience, it seems that directing sparks into tinder accurately is easier with the Blastmatch than with a two-handed device.

After days of waiting and highly anticipating the arrival of my UST Blastmatch Fire Starter it was finally delivered. I opened the packaging and marveled at its ingenious design and then went outside to test it. Within the first couple of attempts to light a fire the adhesive that holds the flint rod in place failed and the rod fell on the ground... judging by the glowing reviews I'm assuming mine was defective but it seems like there is a weak point in the design, chiefly the method in which the rod is retained in the body of the fire starter (adheasive). I won't utilize this as anything more than an instructional aid and will make note that there are better options available for less money.

Followed the directions on the package to make it work. Ordered two. Neither of them work, and one flew into pieces after the third attempt. The package says it's a "high performance one-handed sparker". The truth is that it is a cheap, no performance waste of time and money, and the sellers want me to pay for the return postage. That makes this a total rip off in more ways than one. Do yourself a favor, and don't get one of these. And, whatever you get, always try it out before adding it to your emergency supplies. This could have been a major problem someday if I had not tried them first.

Absolutely useless product. Just couldn't get it to work at all. Absolutely pointless gimmick. I've never had any problems with traditional flint strikers - I'm going to go back to them...

This is my second Blastmatch. The first one had a harder, more brittle ferrocium rod which sparked more freely. Even at first time of use. This one is taking more effort/strikes to achieve same.

Unbelievable amount of sparks produced. Lights shavings in no time, the Sparks are very easy to direct once you have the method mastered.

As described at best price on internet for the UK. Works surprisingly well. Good buy.

This blast match is a poor excuse for a fire starter. The sparks it throws are quite hard to make appear. I took this out camping this past weekend. On Saturday morning I went to light the fire, temp was about 4 degrees, I open the top press the scraper button which snaps off. Definitely do not count on this as a survival tool. You are better off with a plain ferro rod easier to direct sparks and wont break when needed. Over priced and cheaply made.