*keeping a straight face* There are no toys in our survival and camping gear. This is all real world, serious, life saving material.

*grins* A lot of is there are toys in the box. But there are reasons for the difference. If I've got a flame, but everything is the box is wet for some reason, birch bark. Steel wool under those circumstances will catch a spark, and heat enough for char cloth to dry and catch if it is only a little damp. If the char cloth is dry, it will take a spark on it's own, and it will prime things like cotton balls, which in turn are enhanced with some pj. Magnesium flake burns freaky hot but also freaky fast- use that with found tinder that isn't quite dry enough to take a spark.

If I need something to fill the gap between tinder and kindling, then esbits, triox, candles and big blobs of pj come into play. I can also use any of these to warm water over. Rubber burns and burns very well, but not as hot as some of the others, so you combine it with less than optimal tinder to get your kindling lit.

Just like a tackle box, a lot of what is there is just because it is cool, but when you need that one right lure or fly, you need it. Just like when you need that one right fire starter.

Of course, the easy way is a bundle of three highway flares or a thermite grenade. With those, you can get anything burning.