Water and windproof matches.

... and I keep a firesteel (Magnesium bar with a flint either side of it) in my kit too with some dry cottom wool (in a sealed bag) just in case!

if its a wood fire im trying to light in the damp i have wrapped a foot of magnesium ribbon around a stick, buried it in twigs and leaves and lit it. man that stuff burns hot! i just happened to have a reel of it, i dont assume theres loads of it just lying around in every kitchen but it is easy to get hold of. there are cheaper easier and better ways to light a fire though, an old rag dipped in your fuel tank does the job

Disposable lighter and as a back-up the good old Scouts trick of non-safety matches dipped in hot wax. These are the red headed ones that you can strike on any rough-ish surface.

including eachother so pack them with a bit of cotton wool (that you can also use as tinder)
you can actually flare up a box of swan vestas if you shake it hard enough or step on it

I stopped carrying strike-anywhere matches long ago when a box ignited themselves in my pants pocket when I sat on it. This was 1) humiliating 2) expensive (new pair of pants) and 3) painful. The ability to light cigarettes by flicking matches with my thumbnail--which I had practiced long and hard in private--wasn't worth it.

YMMV.

Mark

I have a "Swedish Steel" and a small waterproof container of tinder under the seat of the strom.
A disposable lighter in a ziplock bag, taped to the lid of my left pannier.
And usually a Zippo in the pocket of my jacket, ( I am a smoker).
My hiking stove, has a piezo ignition.

:lol2:
Forever entertaining Mark, i hope you write a book some day!
In my youth i was once on a date with a very pretty lady whom i was trying to court. Trying to be cool, i opened a book of matches and lit the match with one hand in an attempt to light my cigarett. It didn't go so well, as the match head came loose and flew directly into her eye, both temporarily blinding her and nearly lighting her hair on fire. I'm much more careful now, and sadly still single...

ouch ouch ouch! :oops2:

swan vesta's (thats the only brand of redheads you can get over the counter in UK now) can be dangerous, but cool too. they are quite explosive, tap one on a hard surface with a hammer if you dont believe me. you can make bangers (firecrackers) with them, crush them up and mix with salt to make rockets, even used them as model cannon propellent before, but ive never blown off my nads so qudos to you my man

Try a small piece of cotton wool with Petroleum jelly (vaseline) rubbed in to it, lights easily with only the smallest of sparks.
Or if you want a system that works even when damp hold some wire wool across the terminals of a small battery, the resistence of the wool creates heat then fire quickly. Always be aware not to mix wire wool and spare batteries in a tool box.

In a pinch....pull the bikes spark plug.....soak a rag in gas and use the spark plug as an ignition source by cranking the engine.

daryl

Great tip!!:thumbup1:

Survivorman would be proud of that one ! :thumbup1:

Ray Mears would carve a spark plug out of oak and do his Ken Hom impression while it smouldered .. lol

Don't forget gas lighters start to fail at about 5 degrees C, as the fuel won't vapourise. Easy to solve by keeping in an inside pocket.

As an occasional smoker I carry a gas lighter, petrol lighter and fire steel plus my latest choice of accelerant (vaseline and cotton wool just now). Arson runs in the family though, both my parents were in the Fire Brigade!

Andy

+1 on the vaseline and cotton wool. I've been playing with a fire steel for a while and it's the most idiot proof tinder i've found. Even the worst spark will catch it and i burns for ages

Sam

I'm normally into burning petrol but just tried the vasaline and cotton wool and it works great. Also used a bit of cotton wool with LM Grease rubbed into it and that works pretty good too. I do like the "woomph" that petrol gives though