Based on my experience as long as you're using real 100% cotton balls (or something really close to 100%) you should be able to almost just stand there 5 feet away with the SparkLite in your hand and just look at them funny and they should burst in to flames! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Check your balls and make sure they are the real thing (no comments bounty hunter:)). Also, fluff them up and get some loose fiber hanging off and aim the spark for those rather than the compressed center of the ball. With paper towels/toilet paper/paper napkins I find you have to shred a small portion (like a corner) once again for the purpose of getting some loose fibers hanging out for you to aim your sparks at. Now with 100% cotton cloth I have found it is significantly more difficult. You gotta really get a fuzz ball going. You basically have to rub or scrape the cloth to the point that you have a little ball of what looks a lot like dryer lint then light that up with a few sparks and it will ignite the rest of the cloth. In general it takes me about 1-5 flicks to light a fire with any of the above materials. I don't mean to make it seem easy though because it's not. The trick is (for me anyway) spending a lot of time preparing the tinder rather than spending a lot of time flicking away my SparkLite flint. As a side note, I have had more success to date with natural tinder than cotton t-shirt type cloth. Lots of natural tinders work real well. Almost any plant with a cotton-type fibrous inner or outer bark seems to work well. Just make sure it's dry, and once again, fluff it, shred it, do whatever to get as many loose fibers hanging off of it as possible. It's kinda hard for me to explain in words. If you're still having problem this weekend I'll make up some tinder from the above materials and take a couple pics to actually show you what I mean. It might not be till sunday though since I'm planning on going camping tonight and tomorrow. Oh and one last thing, if you get frustrated and need some quick success to boost your confidence grab a couple of small alcohol swabs like the type that commonly come in first aid kits. You can set them on fire just by looking at them funny too! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I actually keep alcohol swabs in my kits. They are a great dual use item. Great for cleaning wounds and for using as tinder and they take up no room at all. Good luck, don't give up. Once you get the hang of it then it?s all down hill from there. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />