Good points on using the firesteel as your primary, and then BIC lighters, matches, etc. as your backups. Keeps your skills honed. I think I'll switch my choices based on this. I thought about why I had been choosing a BIC as my primary in the past. The only reason I could come up with was "because it's easy". Poor reason. Thanks for setting my head straight on this thought process. Firesteels definitely aren't difficult - so long as you have something that will catch a spark. You're not going to be lighting a wooden pencil with a firesteel (you might be able do that with a BIC - maybe).