OM, one match skills are vital! At one point in my checkered career I was giving campfire talks, the really traditional kind with an actual campfire. No matter when you lit the fire, you always had an audience. If you took more than one match (this was back when they were still good) your credibility took a nose dives and you got rotten tomatoes all over your uniform...

So one evening I lit the fire and then turned my attention to talking with one of the families (probably the one with the nice looking daughter) when I noticed that the audience was laughing, giggling, and pointing at the campfire. To my horror, the fire was merely smoking. Disaster! I got down on my knees, fussing and fidgeting, feeding tiny bits into the coals, and blowing gently. Finally I got flames again without using a second match. The crowd applauded....

I think you are right about the present matches. REI stormproofs work a whole lot better. The point of using a candle is that it is easy to light and then you have a stable flame that you can use over and over again to get the pile lit - as long as the wind isn't blowing.