As for the fire starter derailing of this thread: I did post the "carry two" suggestion in a somewhat humorous way, but seriously: Bics break occationally (Most likely, they are empty, or you break the flint). Not very often, but it happens. So if you rely on bics, then carry two. The likelyhood of TWO dedicated emergency-only lighters failing at the same time is low enough to keep me happy. (I also have the one handed spark thingy in Doug Ritters PSK. On backcountry trips I'll usually also a fire steel.)


Although they never break, fire steels aren't magical "let-there-be-fire" talismans either. You need something that will catch fire from that spark, and relying on finding THAT in nature during adverse conditions seems rather naive to me. Enter those petroleum jelly cotton balls or whatever fire starter of your choosing. (You should have those anyway as it makes fire sooo much more easy).


Sometimes, you just really want that naked flame... that's why I love bics. Reliable enough to be trusted (somewhat) when in pairs, better than matches and cheap enough that you can have a bunch of them and rotate half-old lighters from "front end" duty to every day purposes without any financial worries.