A friend of mine is a sheriffs deputy, and on their search and rescue team. He carries a variety of fire starting goodies in his pack, and his sure-fire-never-fail fire starter is a cut down flare. He cuts the butt end off, leaving a flare with an overall length of about 2.5 inches. He then makes a small wooden plug to fit into the cut off end and nails it in place with some short nails. Not worth a damn for scaring off anything, but it gives him five+ minutes of super hot flame that will dry out then ignite almost anything...