Minime;

I agree. There seem to be two schools of thought "furiously agreeing" in these threads. One school concentrates on the best material to have with you, and that's all well and good. If you're the type of person who never leaves home without a Trioxane bar, a handful of Esbit tabs, a Propane torch, or a WWII surplus flame-thrower, then more power to you. For myself, I'm so absent-minded that if it's not in my wallet, on my key-chain, or in the glove compartment, I don't feel I can rely on it. (And what's in the glove compartment is only available if I'm in or near my car, duh!)

Personally, I've found the FeCe rod on a Coghlan's mag-flint block to be superior to the Swedish Firesteel, and if you can shelter it from the wind and avoid having the flakes blow all over the place, ISTM that a pile of magnesium shavings will ignite just about anything that will burn. :-)