I had everyone in my family (6) successfully start a fire by whittling some pine curls and using a ferro rod to start a fire. We used store bought fire wood and pine blocks. I'm not sure what I was doing the first two times. Now the curls just start burning once we hit them with a good shower of sparks. It seems you need a big enough pile so that your sparks will find some wood curls to hit. A handful seems plenty.

Here is my current thinking of fires:
If there is wood and you have a saw you have fuel
If there is fuel and you have a fixed blade you have kindling
If you have kindling, a sharp knife and a ferro rod you have fire.

ergo: if there is wood and you have a saw, fixed blade knife and a ferro rod you can start a fire. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />