Last night I was repacking my hiking-kit and desided I'd try to make a fire using the stuff in it and what I had in my jacket/keychain.
It was pretty cold outside but dry, so I put on my headlight and went outside.

The fire-starting components:

Hiking-kit:

1 BIC-lighter
1 Fire-Steel+striker
30 Coghlan?s Wind/Waterproof matches + striker strip
15 Coghlan?s Emergency-Tinder
4 small candles
2 ?Camp-Heat?
1 Esbit folding stove with 20 fuel tabs.

EDC/FAK

1 'Light my fire' army fire-steel (used with Leatherman Wave file)
5 waterproof coghlan's matches (UPSK)
6 waterproof coghlan's emergency tinder (UPSK)
1 BIC-lighter
1 Gauze pad (FAK)

Keychain:

1 ferro-rod (used with Leatherman Squirt blade and file)
1 small piece of cotton wool

Conclusion: I have a lot of fire-starting gear <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

First I simply tryed to light a piece of emergency-tinder with my fire-steel.
I prepared the tinder according to the instructions and it lit on the first strike.
Next I tryed to do the same with the gauze pad.
After some strikes I fluffed it up and it caught fire almost immediately.

Next I tryed to do the same using some cotton wool ,but I discovered it was synthetic, so it just melted. Not a smart move, isn't it? <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />
(with the 'normal' cotton wool it did work)

Then I tryed to lite a piece of tinder using just the equipment on my keychain, so I used the file of the Squirt: barely any sparks!
Next I used the blade, same results. Finally, using the file on the Wave it did work.

Finally I wanted to lite the solid fuel tabs that came with the esbit stove. I knew a spark wasn't going to do that,
and neither would a Coghlan's wind/waterproof match. (guess due to the short burn-time of the match.)
After some trying I put 2 of the matches on the bottom, placed the fuel tab on top and then used
another 2 matches to form sort of a roof-construction on top of the fuel-tab. When lighting one of those matches with yet another match,
a huge 'fire-ball' lit the fuel tab almost immediately!! Maybe a good tip if you got enough matches?

Lessons learned and equipment changes:

- Preparation is the key to a fire!
- Always pack enough matches!
- When using solid-fuel, use the above setup!
- Fire-steels are great!
- I replaced the synthetic cotton with real cotton wool.
- I added a short piece of hacksaw-blade to the keychain to use as a striker for the ferro-rod.

Now I guess I have to try this in the rain <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />!

Have a great day!