>>>I too have tried KMnO4 and sugar + gylcerine.<<<<br><br>It's KMnO4 + glycerine or KMnO4 + sugar, not all three together. I have seen KMnO4 + glycerine start a fire as a "magic Campfire" start. It really inpresses the crowd when you can start a fire without matches.<br><br>There's another technique that uses Iodine crystals, but I have never seen it work. <br><br>Crush 1 teaspoon of iodine crystals to a very fine powder, then mix with 2 teaspoons of powdered aluminium. Add water to produce a flame. It's highly reactive and must be ignited within 10 minutes. I wonder if it were possible to take aluminum scrapings, from plane wreckage for example, and mix with a crushed iodine (potable Aqua) tablet and get enough of a reation to light tinder?<br>