I am kind of new at this whole survival minded thinking. Other than playing with fire when I was a kid and hunting all my life, I am pretty much starting from scratch.
Two ways I have found to be great are either using a match or the striker on a magnesium firestarter to light a greased cottonball. That is what I prefer, since it has proven to be almost foolproof, even in rain.
The other is old fashioned flint and steel with a peice of charcloth. This one is harder to master, but it is more reliable for me than just using matches.
What do you guys use? Are there any commercial products that are worth looking at? What about the Sparklite? (I have been looking into them.)
Thanks.

I would suggest running a search (set for all posts), as there have been numerous threads on fire making and fire making equipment. A lot of good and useful information is available both on the forum and in a number of Doug’s articles and reviews. Pete

Yes there is a lot of great information in old posts but times change, equipment changes, peoples experience and opinions change and the board membership changes and I, like many others like to see people's current ideas on certain subjects.

I think I use them [fire starting methods] all at one time or another minus the expensive refillable lighters which I never use. These are the methods I use on any kind of a regular basis.

Lifeboat matches
W/W Matches
Mini Bic Lighters
Ferrocerium rods with Magnesium Tinder
Ferrocerium rods with wax impregnated cotton
Ferrocerium rods with dry cotton
Ferrocerium rods with natural tinder
Bow Drill with pocket lint
Bow Drill with natural tinder (usually pithy from dead plant stalks)
Permanent Match.

Oddly enough although I am consistently good with a bow drill I am a lot less desirable with a hand drill so that is what I have been practicing a lot with lately. IMHO skill with a hand drill is extremely valuable. If you master that then you can make fire with no man made tools at all. All you need is two good arms, a couple pieces of wood and a couple rocks (for smoothing the drill and nothing the hearth). The same goes for the bow drill although improvising a cord and hand block is more difficult in many environments. The hand drill is a lot harder than the bow though (for me anyway) so I suggest you start with the bow. Another thing I am toying with is the fire piston. I think I am not exactly the norm around here on ETS though. I tend to value primitive skills more than many others do. Oh, I almost forgot, I also own a couple sparklites but I don't use them regularly. Love the tinder though and use it a lot. Sparklites are great because they can be used one-handed, however, a Bic lighter with no fuel will also shoot plenty of spark for lighting the same type tinder, so if you carry a lighter then IMO also carrying a sparklite is a bit over the top. Okay so that?s what I use.

Now for what I actually carry and use a lot. #1 is the hand drill which but this is strictly because I think its a very important skill and I currently stink with it and am trying to practice to get better with it (lots of blisters) <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> . For EDC I always have a small ferrocerium rod on me as well as a knife to strike it with. I often also EDC a small dry piece of cotton ball which is great tinder and doesn?t get all gooey in your pocket. I recently put together a small kit, bigger than the average ETS member's PSK but much smaller than the average BOB. In this kit is a smaller PSK-size kit. In the smallest Kit I have the following fire making materials: a ferrocerium rod with magnesium tinder, 6 sparklite tinders, two alcohol swabs, a mini Bic lighter, w/w matches with striker and a another separate small piece of ferrocerium. I also carry a metal knife, saw and file which are excellent for striking natural flint and ferrocerium rods as well as useful for constructing primitive fire making tools.

What about the surplus WWII flamethrower?

Two words - Coleman fuel.

I would guess that Coleman fuels is pretty darn explosive - nearly as much as gasoline. It seems kerosine or charcoal lighter filuid would be much safer and still provide a very impressive first light.

Regarding the use of vasoline-covered cotton balls, I read somewhere - maybe one of the threads here - the recommendation of doping only every other cotton ball and then stuffing them into the container alternating with dry cottom balls. This makes lots of sense. It almost ensures that you'll have some dry cotton that will catch a spark well. I'll have to try that.

I don't use vaseline on mine, mostly because I didn't have it when I started making them. I use Crisco shortening because it comes in a huge can. Seems more cost effective to me.
Anyhow, I have tested the ones I make by saturating them with Crisco, then submerging them in a glass of water for twenty minutes. I pulled them out, wrung the water out, and lit them with matches. I couldn't get a ferrochromium rod to catch on them (big suprise, huh?). I found that if I fluffed them out into a teepee sort of shape, then lit the bottom, the flame would dry out the upper part as it burned. Even thoroughly soaked, they are better than alot of the stuff you could find on your own in the woods. That is about as good as I can expect.
BTW - Even the saturated greased cotton balls catch a spark very well when dry. A whole cotton ball will burn for about 5 or so minutes with a flame about six inches high. It works for me.

Of course it's explosive! That's the whole point. You want a roaring inferno in 5 seconds flat or some wee little flame that couldn't even scorch a fly???

Send me one and I give it a try. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I bet it won't produce blisters like these #$%^ hand drills I've been making lately. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Read this and several related site forums over a period of time and trends ( dare I say fads) become obvious. Currently it's a Nessmuck or Bushcraft blade with a metal match snug in a papoose sheath. My first arctic instructor used state of the art Ontario/Camillus USAF survival knives and wooden matches. Somewhere in between I figured out every system has it's merits and drawbacks. Rather than pose your question "What do you guys use to start a fire?" Lets ask "Why do you start a fire?" DUH!!!!! Chris, because we are cold and it's dark and scary and we need these 3 signal fires for the black helicopters to see. O.K. did you just emerge from a freezing lake and shivering so badly the entire box of 250 strike anywheres flew into the snow( Metal match gets the nod)? Is one arm shattered by Bart the Bear before fleeing under the retaliatory blows of your Swiss Army knife? ( Sparklite) Your at the New Mexico hot air balloon festival and the ETS promo balloon suffers a blowout ( those guys seriously denude quickie marts of disposable lighters and carry several.) No one situation can possibly be handled 100% effectively 100% of the time by one method alone. Bowdrills just don't cut it in a descending hot air balloon. Skills aren't something done by consensus or whats popular. Learn each and every method, regardless of your personal opinion ( I hate magnesium bars) and pack at least 3 systems with different advantages. The first guy with a fire going and fixings for smoors wins <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />