The most reliable way I've found to make fire is synthetic tinder and windproof/water proof matches followed by ferrorod, followed by a flint (not piezo) Bic lighter.
Funny, I have been less than excited by matches since it is almost impossible to get proper strike-anywhere matches. Safety matches requires TWO things not to get lost and kept dry while keeping both separate. I haven't figured out a safe way to do it.
When I had sufficient quantities of strike-anywheres, I kept some upright and others upside-down in a waterproof case after I coated them in clear nail polish. In one of my moves, I lost the ammo case where I stored several boxes. The current strike-anywheres don't work as well. Not sure why.
Where does one store the safety striker in or near the match case?
I agree flint lighters and ferro rods are almost bombproof.
I've had it burned into my brain to always have at least 3 forms for flame and 3 forms of tinder. For me, that means a BIC, a ferro rod and matches plus PJ cotton balls, fatwood and esbit tabs. There's a ferro rod in my of my fixed blades but I also carry at least two in my pockets when I'm out, have a lighter in all my cook kits, and also have a sparklite in my PSK. I add more in the winter. LOL!
Sometimes it seems like overkill, especially since we don't often have a campfire, but.....
I bought a box of stormproof matches this year just to see what all the fuss was about and HOLY COW those suckers work well!
We were in pretty close to desperate need of fire while on a hike this winter after bacpacboy fell into a creek. It was well below freezing, the wind was howling, there was snow and rain in the air, and all the firestarting materials we found were either soaked or frozen. To make matters worse, even without the dunking, my fingers were freezing and I had a hard time manipulating my BIC.
One strike of one stormproof match, a PJ cotton ball and some fatwood shavings started flawlessly and a driftwood platform. Then I added some split wood and built a twig fire above and we were enjoying hot chocolate and noodles while his gloves and socks dried beside our little fire.
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