especially if applied to a canister or liquid fuel stove...

I think we've all been there.

My "uh-oh" firelighting moment came after a day of dense fog. Pretty unusual around here. I couldn't get dry spruce twigs from under the tree going with a Bic; they were utterly saturated. A bit of lighter fluid finally got things going. But I earned a fair bit of humility that day. And a candle became standard kit always.

Since then, it's been a hobby to use things like thistle or cattail down to make a fire with the most feeble of sparks. In comparison, a modern firesteel is a godsend; the amount of heat generated is amazing. But pushing the envelope teaches the importance of slow, deliberate preparation; and I think that translates into a greater depth of skill when conditions are vile. Confidence, too.

BTW, making a friction (bowdrill) fire is on my bucket list. So far, smoke + blisters + cursing. Argh!

A Bic lighter is currently my ace, but still I've had one fail on me for no apparent reason and another one fail at high altitude. Some old wise dude said carry three fire starters. I'm comfortable carrying two good ones, a Bic lighter and a fire steel. The minute I get cocky about one is usually the same minute it fails.

Juniper bark, Cottonwood inner bark also work very well for a tinder bundle. If you have Pine trees in your area, you are sure to have some "fatwood" "pitchwood" or whatever you call it locally. It is the yellowish, hard, pitchfilled wood from an old stump or fallen tree. Where a branch joint was usually. Have someone that knows wood point out how to find some, it is all over in a pine forest. Shave some of that into a tinder nest and spark away, should take right off. You can buy fatwood at most grocery stores, it is used to help light fireplaces and usually on the isle with the charcoal and lighter fluid, comes in a package. That will let you practice lighting the fatwood. Hope that helps.

Around here the goal is to find what they call a "lightered" stump. Take a hatchet and knife, or a machete, with you and find an old, partly rotted, pine stump. Often you will see a section of the sump hasn't rotted or burned sticking up. You might need to dig it out a bit. Cut into the solid section and give it a sniff. What you should smell is some thing like turpentine or pine oil. Cut out a section big enough to liberate a matchstick size piece.

I like to hold the test piece in the pliers head on my Leatherman because burning pine resin is like napalm. If it gets on you it tends to melt on and take the skin with it. Touch a flame to it. The fire should catch very quickly and the piece should burn hot and for a long time for its size. The combination of strong smell, quick ignition and long hot burn tell you you have the real deal.

Chop out a goodly section. try to get a piece about the size of a small paperback book. Once you have your prize cover up any wood chips and signs of your being there. The exposed lightered wood, being a light color, shows up well so I cover it with branches or mud. Once you camouflage your find look around and make mental bores of where it is so you don't have to go hunting when you need more.

In much of the rural south people have their favorite lightered stumps and they keep them a secret. Often the location of a really good stump or stumps is handed down from generation to generation. Around here they aren't that rare, find some old pine stands that have been harvested or burned and there is almost always a one or two, but if you find one that is particularly good you still don't advertise it.

I've played with fire steels for a lot of years, since I was a kid I always thought they were neat. Pre-dating finding the magnesium, Doan's type fire steels, one of the earliest instructions I received was to slowly, carefully scrape the fire steel into the tinder. Once you have a little of the fire steel scrapings on the tinder then strike the steel normally. The little pile of dust sparks up and helps light the tinder. Essentially its like directing your sparks exactly where you want them to go. I've had success doing this on natural tinders though they are always harder to light.
Be ready thouggh, sometimes you end up sparking them before you're ready.

Dave