Just a convenient location to stick my 2 cents and not really a "reply" to your post:

Trioxane is ok - I carry 3 small bars and replace them by "consumption" that works out to about two replacements a year for various reasons. The big bars are ok but not really neccessary most of the time. Been using them since sometime in the seventies; I know them, know what to expect from them, and they are kind of a "security blanket" for me w.r.t. starting a fire.

They do deteriorate - even sealed up - which is a well-documented fact and not simply my experience. But sealed up they are fine as long as you break one of your stock out for inspection, oh, say annually and replace the lot with fresh when the deterioration becomes obvious.

Even old ones seem to be trivial to ignite with a BSA hotspark, but that's just my experience. I did have a rotten time once with a really old one, but it lit on about the 4th try.

I could do as well with an equivalent amount of gasoline or stove fuel in a sealed squirt bottle. In fact, I've done that on a few trips... but I still routinely carry 3 trioxanes anyway.

But if other methods work for other folks, drive on. I like cotton balls with vasoline for routine use and I like fatwood when I have it - haven't tried spark-lighting fatwood dust myself and guess I should try that out. Char cloth works fine with a "birds nest" for me and I start fires that way just often enough to keep it a skill instead of a memory. And so on, point being that if a person has something reliable that works for them, I'm not gonna knock it.

Now if y'all will excuse me, I'm gonna go play with some fatwood dust in my fireplace...

Regards,

Tom