Ok what's the most reliable mechanical match? I carry the Blastmatch along with a magnesium bar with a flint attatched and a film container with vaseline saturated cotton balls. But is there a more dpendable combination?

I have a BCB type permenant match which has proven to be reliable and the fuel doesent seem to evaporate as fast as my zippo (its also about half the size)

Why do I feel an arguement coming on <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Sounds like you have things covered. I carry a small magnesium bar with attached firesteel on my keyring as well. I keep mine wrapped in heat shrink tubing to protect it. I have a BlastMatch in my Ultimate Survival Deluxe Kit which gets thrown in any pack I'm using.
I have other firesteels stashed in different kits, and I have recently got a Spark-Lite which I sometimes EDC as well.

For 1 handed use the Spark-Lite is a bit better to use than the BlastMatch, but the BlastMatch seems to throw a little more sparks. The BlastMatch has a greater chance of accidentally spreading your tinder. For manmade tinder the Spark-lite is fine, but I'm not confident that it is anywhere near as good as a good firesteel or the BlastMatch on natural tinders. I have to have a bit more of a play <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Firestarters are very much a personal prefference. I keep a variety around the place and a variety of different tinders as well.
Over the summer break (yes its getting hotter down here at the moment) I plan to have a play with a few new additions to my collection to see how they go. Ive got my new Spark-Lite and one called the Aussie Survival Tool to try and schwert got me interested with the fire pistons, so Ive got one of those coming aswell.

I've played with a bunch of different fire-producing products.

Blastmatch - this does create quite a lot of sparks, but it is heavy and unless you can place your firestarting material on a sturdy flat rock, it has a good chance of knocking the material around while striking.

Sparklite - Incredibly small and light - almost makes me wonder what's missing. One-handed. Easily creates sufficient sparks to ignite a cotton ball (with the outter surfaces impregnated with petroleum jelly). I find the handle a bit small for my big clumsy hands. I have a slight concern that the wheel could jam up, leaving me without any sparking capability, BUT have not encountered such a problem.

Boy Scout Hot Spark - Very inexpensive. Almost as small & light as the Sparklite - almost. Available at most any Boy Scout store around the U.S. This is a small version of a fire steel. Really not much to break or malfunction.

Kershaw Fire Steel - I think this is the typical fire steel imported to the U.S. by Kershaw. I'm not thrilled with the striker - may switch to hacksaw blade. Somewhat large. Not too heavy. Two-handed. Easier to spark than Hot Spark just because its larger.

Piezo Lighters - Windmill, Storm - creates a strong, but almost invisible flame (need a glow-wire that glows to let you know its working). The Windmill lid flips farther away from the flame than does the Storm (the Storm's is simply too close for easy use - hits the firestarter). I hear that if these get wet they will malfuntion until they dry out, but haven't experienced that yet.

Bic Lighter - No lid to get in the way. Gives a nice-sized flame. Over time the mechanism can corrode and sieze-up. Pretty reliable.

When car camping I like the long butane lighters. Earlier Bic models had a nasty habit of not lighting. It appears the newer model has fixed that. I wish someone would make a shorter version this still gets the flame "out there" but could be carried more conveniently.

I thought you were posting about mechanical WATCHES before I rinsed the sleep out of my eyes with coffee. All systems have shortcomings. You must practise with all until it's beyond automatic. Anyone can wow a crowd with a tunisian ice lens at a boat show. Try starting a fire with a broken ( and main using) arm with a single match from a paper book. MULTIPLE SYSTEMS ARE MANDATORY in this most basic of needs. I use the following story to illustrate: Lundgren, Kochanski, Brown And Mears are at a survival seminar and get hit by an avalanche. A troop ofGirl Scouts troops by and nudges the hypothermic victims with their toes. Hey misters! want to buy some cookies? When they realise somethings wrong they rifle their pockets and come up with a bowdrill, box of kitchen matches, blastmatch and knife and steel. Now, what would you, as a girl scout feel competant with? What is now the most reliable? Postscript: The mint chocolates are the best with Earl Grey for our group of avalanche survivors. On this I do have a preference <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I usually have several ways to start a fire available but most of the time I just flic my Bic. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> If that fails I'll go to the next easiest method available.

If you have a butane lighter, a metal match and scrapper (saw), treated cotton balls, and some pitch-wood (pine stump); you are master of the fire universe. Anything else is just frosting on the cake! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />