Waterproof matches are an ignition source: strikeable, wind- and water-resistant matches that light reliably when ordinary ones would fail, so you can start a stove, a fire or a candle in wet or blustery conditions. Stormproof versions keep burning even after a dunk in water and stay lit in a stiff breeze. On their own they produce a few seconds of flame — their job is to get something else going, not to give you light or warmth for the evening. Kept dry in their sealed container they store for years, weigh almost nothing, and belong in every grab bag, car kit and camping box as a backup to a lighter or fire steel.
Emergency candles are a light and low-heat source: long-burning candles designed to give hours of steady light during a power cut, plus a small amount of warmth in an enclosed space. A single dedicated emergency candle can burn for many hours, and tealights or a candle lantern give you gentle, no-battery lighting that does not run flat. What a candle cannot do is light itself — you still need matches, a lighter or a fire steel to get it going. The two work as a pair: the matches provide the spark, the candle provides the sustained light. Used with obvious care around anything flammable and never left unattended, candles are a cheap, reliable backstop when torches and lanterns run out of charge.
