I was cleaning out my camper a couple of days ago and came across the box of matches I put in it when we first bought it and stocked it with the things we thought we needed. The box is still nearly full - if not completely full. I don’t ever remember using any of them and we’ve had our camper for five years.

But, what I rely on instead and consider indispensable are adjustable flame butane lighters. The one pictured below is a refillable one by Coleman but I don’t usually mess around with refillable ones and instead buy disposable ones for about $3 each at WalMart or Target (look in the camping section or the grilling section).

The lighters are really easy to use and stay lit in the wind better than matches do. Plus the flame is adjustable and doesn’t burn out after a few seconds like a match does, nor do you run the risk of burning your fingers as you are trying to light something while watching the match burn up and closer and closer to your fingers.

Sometimes it’s the little things that make camping easier and I think the long stick-like butane lighters are one of those things. I always have two or three in my camper.

I can’t seem to give up the matches though. When I put things back in the camper after cleaning it, the matches went back in too - just in case.