My EDC bag has:

a Bic,
a Zippo that I refill once a week (mostly for nostalgia),
REI stormproof matches in a plastic tube,
Light My Fire Firesteel rod,
Ultimate Survival Technology's Sparkie Fire starter,
wet tinder fire starter x 3,
Coglins emergency tinder x3.

Here's my neck pouch for when I go snowboarding:

-Orange 550 paracord
-Black pouch
-Scraper
-Ferro rod
-Peanut lighter
-Waterproof tinder case
-Fox 40 Sharx whistle
-Fauxton

Ultimate Survival Technologies Sparkie - closed

Ultimate Survival Technologies Sparkie - opened


Wilderness Survival Fire Sparkle - cheap about $4.00 (USD) online.

I've also found that the char cloth used in the pen piston has to be very well cooked when being charred. Over all would say for me it is not as forgiving as the other pistons so I would tend to agree with what you have read.

I always carry a firesteel, strike anywhere matches, BIC lighter and a candle for my fire making kit. It is easy to find fire making materials in my AO, there is birch bark, pine pitch, old man's beard, moss, grasses etc.

90% of the time I use my firesteel to start a fire as it provides a good training opportunity to get a fire started. My firesteel pictured below has seen a lot use and there is still many years of use left on it. I also recently purchased 4 ferro rod blanks from goinggear.com and they should arrive in the mail any day.

Current firesteel:

Right now I carry bic lighters because they are cheap and reliable with a Light-My-Fire as backup. I used to carry a match case until a friend borrowed it. I then carried a peanut lighter for a while but having to fill it regularly was a pain so when I lost it at a reenactment I didn't bother replacing it. When I'm out hiking I also use a BlastMatch or Spark-Lite depending on which pack I take.

I will probably try a wet match at some point since it sounds like they can hold their fuel pretty good. I'm fascinated by fire pistons but haven't seen enough good reports of them to want to depend heavily on one.

BTW do the aluminum SparkLites take the same flint as a Zippo? If not what?

Yes! Zippo & Ronson flints work in those Aluminum Sparklites,Real well!Also,If the tube gets even Slightly wet on a Fire Piston,You won't obtain a coal! They are fun to play with but,IMO I wouldn't carry one,Short of car Camping!

Thanks. I never had a Zippo so don't have anything to compare to.

some images are blurry - I'll fix these later...

Exotac MATCHCAP - definitely gear bling. Cute but not something I would take with me into the wilderness.

 

Exotac nanoSTRIKER - again, definitely gear bling. Also, cute but not something I would take with me into the wilderness.