I just bought Doug's Pocket Survival Pak. I fell in love with the idea of survival preparedness and learning ultra basic survival skills. Buying Doug's kit is my first move towards learning some new skills.

Right now I'm practising with all the contents in my backyard & frontyard at night. It generally takes about 20-50+ attempts to get something to light with the Spark-Lite. I'm trying not to use much of the Tinder-Quik (I've used a little) I'm more relying on cotton balls and cotton paper towels. It's with those I'm having a lot of trouble with. The paper towels aren't the Bounty or generic type towles, their really thick and feel almost cloth like. You can pull them a part and see the cotton fibers.

You guys that are used to making starting fires, how long does it usually take for you? Does it take 1-2 sparks or does it take a few minutes worth of sparks? After making 6 little micro fires (size of my fist) my thumb is really sore from using the Spark-Lite. lol.