Go for it GarlyDog, it's not called stealing, it's called sharing.

This fire starting method is called a "Prison Match" I do not know where I saw it years ago, but I think Les Stroud used it in one of his "Survivorman" Shows?

For the race I removed the windsheid from a bright red lighter and concealed the altered end of the lighter in the cotton balls, all within a plastic bag. That way the participants expected to get a lighter but were not aware the lighter was defective until just before they tried to light the birchbark. This did not allow them time to pre-think the problem until the pressure of the competition was on.

After the event I had each team promise to not share the information about the lighter defect with any of the other teams.

Have fun,

Mike