PJ cottonballs are just modern day char cloth.
It is amusing that the old flint, real cryptocrystalin quartz, and steel, usually made from an old file grade steel, is thought to have any superiority to modern methods. The flint and steel method is only good a technique if you are a mountain man period enactor. Or if your lost in the woods with no better method to start a fire, but it seems to require char cloth to start a fire in all instances I have seen. Not sure how hard it is to do without char cloth.
cheers
Actually, in my opinion, the level of ease depends on the materials in your tinder bundle. With the right material using flint & steel (or a fire bow, or a fire saw, or a fire piston) without char cloth can be very easy. With the same materials, char cloth just makes it easier. So, one can be easy, and the other is simply easier than something that is already easy. Of course, without the right materials in your tinder bundle using a char cloth can also be next to impossible. If you are out in the wild and don't have access to char cloth, your best bet is tinder fungus, which usually found on birch trees.
As for the uses of flint & steel, I'd agree with your statement. Odds are that you will never need it in a survival situation and it is often, when compared to modern techniques, very inefficient. But, it is knowledge that could come in handy. And, I personally think it is a ton of fun to try and master these old techniques.
Take care and have a great day....
ciao,
john.
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