I looked at these in the store before and the action of the five or so I tried seem to be smooth. I can not attest to the fire making abilities, but the flashlight was good. It made a nice spot about 15ft away with the cheapo battery it came with. It might be good for the wife or if you had limited space for storage. It felt surprisingly comfortable in my hand and allowed for some odd positioning of the knife in my hand which might be useful in a tight space or around a bend. The one I tried did not have the whistle it must have been an older model I saw it about 3yrs ago.