Fire I Carry 3 Items Always: Lighter(to use till it Stops working & to save Matches for Critical Times), 25x Strike Anywhere Matches(Stored in a Waterproof Container), and as a Backup a Good Quality Striker.

This is My Present Survival Kit on a String


It is just to dangerous to really on one method of lighting a fire in the Cold Forests I travel and teach in

Why not carry enough of something that always works?

Because nothing always works. I carried a very nice lighter for my stoves and fires for over fifteen years (at least). It stopped working after I left it carelessly exposed to morning dew a few months ago. I too carried matches as a backup.

Looking back over the really critical fires i have had to light, matches have almost always worked, but there are times when the "Bic" is preferred.

this is why i always end up with too much stuff on canoe trips!
once out on the lakes there is no where to resupply so you better have back ups for just about everything.i end up with at least four fire starting methods,a spare burner in case the main stove
breaks and just not extra battery's but several camp lights including a candle lamp.a couple knives and back up fishing pole and reel.i could go on but this is from 30 years of wilderness
tripping and not "new guy nerves".
i once read a old book about the trappers in Canada and someone
said everything that could break would and everything else would
get lost.

There are a few things that I carry backups for. Fire starting is one of them. Spark light, ferro rod, matches, mini bic. I will have some water purification tablets in addition to my UV pen.

For most part, I make sure to maintain my gear in good shape, ensure that I have extra batteries, and things that are crucial are on my person and not my pack.

I thought the rule was: One is none, two is one, three is spare, four is backup, five is best.

...six is a collection

I've always though using bad math was silly; Also, you can't give 110%.
This poor 'rule' leads to over-buying and over packing; too many edc and GHB bags topping 10 kg. (without water)

LOL! Good one! Russ.

maybe you can't, but regardless, i've read that 92.38% of all statistics are made up