Perhaps this is old news--I certainly discovered it years ago and am just getting around to posting about it.

Standard lamp wicking will take a spark pretty readily and then turn into a glowing ember that will burn from one end of the wick to the other unless you douse it in water. Even the slightest breeze keeps it glowing red hot. I just cut a very short length off to keep from wasting wick. The ember is hot enough to char oak.