I purchased some of the Tinder-Quick tabs that Doug uses in his PSK and conducted some comparison tests against some other tinders that I own. The first thing that I noticed about the tabs is that they feel very "dry" and feel like they are nothing but pure cotton. I also own some Coghlan's tinder, some cotton balls soaked in Vaseline and Blue Diamond's firestarters (which look like a gigantic match stick, made up of compressed sawdust, with some sort of mix of maybe wax and petroleum jelly). <br><br>The tabs performed comparatively terrible against the 3 others! The flame was nowhere near as high, hot or long lasting, as any of the other 3. <br><br>So, why use the tabs? Are we supposed to be soaking the tabs in petroleum jelly? Do the tinders that contain wax, petroleum jelly or whatever slippery product that they are using evaporate or have a short shelf life? The tabs are great for reducing rattling of contents and for filling in small gaps in the tin, but someone please help me to understand why these are being used as firestarters?<br><br>Thank you very much for all responses!<br>Xavier Phx, AZ

Are you refering to the Sparklite tinders? If so, did you pull them open and "fluff them?" I've never failed to get a fire started with these. Remember fire starters are just that; a start. A roaring bonfire in a box is comforting, but it is OUR skill in assembling and nurturing additional kindling that counts.

I've noticed the same thing about the three cotton types (like Chris, I am assuming you are talking about the sparklite tinders). All three readily ignite from a spark, but the sparklites don't have much "juice" compared to the Coghlans or my current homemade ones with vasoline or sno seal. <br><br>The first several cotton ball and vasoline ones I made were dry to the touch, much like the sparklites - I used just a little bit of vasoline, according to the instructions I had. They burned exactly like the sparklite tinders, surprise, surprise. They also don't coat everything with a film of vasoline (neither do the spark lite tinders).<br><br>I got lazy and used the "molten vasoline dip 'n squeeze" method - those are torches, but need to be wrapped or packed in something. I wrote previously about stuffing them into plastic drinking straws and cutting off the section with the cotton ball inside - that is working peachy so far for me.<br><br>The sparklites tinders work fine and don't coat everything with residue that I can tell, so they seem to be a good idea inside a PSK. <shrug> Just my opinion.<br><br>Tom

Xavier,<br> Just pulled some Spark-Lite tinders out of my billfold that have been there for close to a year. They were very compressed but fluffed easily. One strike from a worn out striker and the tinder caught fire. I too use the Coghlan tinder but keep them in a seperate altoids tin along with striker and matches. I wrap the matches in celophane though because after extended periods time the matches soak up the coating of the tinder and are hard to light. I also carry a package of the tinder/kindling sticks in my shoulder rig. For .99 cents a package they are good insurance. I guess I've wandered off the PSK a little bit into larger rigs. One other note. The old U.S. Military heat tabs will light by just thinking about a spark and burn completely in the pouring rain. Tom is right about the cotton balls and vaseline. I've started firewood with them before.<br><br>Regards<br>B.G.<br>Texas