I did a forum search and didn't find any discussion of Sure2Burn fire starters. I found them at Home Depot--$3.95 for a package of 12 (33 cents each). Each one is small plastic bag about 2x2 inches square, filled with a solid listed as "Aliphatic hydrocarbons, Urea based resins, and Parrafin."

The box states:

Convenient, easy to use
Replaces lighter fluid
Non-petroleum based--prevents unwanted odor and taste
Lights even when wet
Safe, non-toxic
Ideal for lighting charcoal grills, fireplaces, campfires, and more.

I tried one a couple of days ago to light a charcoal fire using a metal chimney. I had to do a little improvising as the chimney is designed to use a wad of newspaper directly set on the grill. I couldn't put the Sure2Burn pkg on the grill since I feared it would fall through. So I put one layer of charcoal in the chimney and then I lit Sure2Burn and placed it on top of the layer. Finally, I filled the rest of the chimney with charcoal. The starter worked great. It is much better than newspaper which smokes a lot and generates ashes.

There is a youtube video review here.

As he states in the video, they can be burned when wet, and they last for 7 minutes at full burn, then 2 minutes more at a reduced burn. With a little prep (again shown in the video) they can be started with a sparking device.

They company that sells them is Char Broil although I couldn't find the Sure2Burn listed on their website (charbroil.com). I note that at one time Coleman used to sell a product by the same name (I saw this on Amazon but it is no longer available). I think I saw somewhere that Walmart carries them too.

I am going to put several of these in my BOB.

I have carried these before and they worked pretty well. You need a flame to start them in the plastic wrapping, but I was able to open them up and get them started with a spark.

Thanks! I'll take a look at these!

It looks like the same stuff as Wetfire tinder and Weber lighter cubes.

Wetfire is the most expensive.

Weber lighter cubes are MUCH cheaper than both Wetfire and Sure2Burn but is packed in a single tray of 24 which is not that convenient to carry since once they are exposed to air, the stuff deteriorates. I have tried coating it in wax to preserve its function but have figured out no good way to prevent the wax coated cube from shattering when carrying it around.

Each Sure2Burn is about half to a third the size of the Weber cubes but has the convenience of being individually packed. Even if the stuff shatters inside the package it is still no big deal.

I can use a Weber cube to make a cup of tea in a canteen cup but Sure2Burn is useful only as tinder.

My perfect solid fuel tab would be sold as individual tablets that is large enough to boil one water for one canteen cup and is doesn't soot up my cup. I have yet to find it.

Conway Yee

This looks like good stuff. If you only have a ferro rod and this stuff, you can still get a fire going if you open the bag.

One thing that concerns me is a bag leaking without my knowledge. If it's like the Wetfire stuff, then it will deteriorate. Even if you don't have a leaky bag, there's a shelf life. Plus, I don't know how long it has been sitting on the store shelf. I wouldn't put these in a BOB. In contrast, PJ cotton balls do not have these issues.

The best way I've found to keep the weber cubes from disintegrating is to tightly wrap them in aluminum foil. As to keeping them from being crushed... It's never come up for me. Perhaps both problems could be served by storing them in a largish pill bottle.

The contents are one solid mass, so they won't leak unless they deteriorate with exposure to air.

Granted it would be nice to know the working shelf-life. I plan to store a few for later testing.

PJ cotton balls are messy so I would prefer a better solution. However, it might be prudent to have both cotton balls and Sure2Burn in a BOB until we know the shelf life. One could also rotate the Sure2Burn out of a BOB and replace with new ones, every six months or so.

I'll have to see if I can find them to try them out. The same guy you linked there has a video on wax coating the Webers, and they look pretty durable when coated. I've got a pretty hardcore commercial chamber vacuum sealer that I use for packing Weber cubes and I've yet to have one fail (even the ones I did almost a year a half ago, before I got my uber-sealer). Now I use mylar baggies.

Although it does have some residue when burned, the smaller 4 gram Esbit tablets are great fire starters, too.

Petroleum Jelly/cotton ball is VERY tolerant to abuse. I am keeping some underneath my canteen where it is bounced around and otherwise abused.

I kept a two weber cubes in the pocket to the side of the insulated canteen carrier where they are bashed around constantly. The Weber cube fell apart from abuse.

Conway Yee

I have never had a Sure2Burn open up, and I have abused them a bit. In fact, they are not the easiest to open without a knife or scissors. The individual packaging is pretty durable.