I stumbled on a video of a new fire starter (maybe not so new???) called the Live Fire- it comes in a little tin w/ a sliding lid, in it is a microfiber like cloth that is treated. The video states an easy ignition and a 20+ minute burn or simply slide the lid over when you get your fire started and use multiple times. This looked like a good last ditch/emergency fire starter when the chips are down (and the chips are wet!). Ordered one and tried out yesterday on a snowshoe trip.
I fluffed up the end of the cloth with my fingers and gave it a strike w/ a ferro rod, one strike it was ignited. I slid it under my tinder/small twigs and in short order had a fire going. Moved the tin lid over to extinguish it. Looking at looks like I have several dozen more fires (assuming I don’t have to have longer burn times).
The one I ordered was the Original- ~ 3″x1″x1/3″, pretty small and weighed 0.8 oz. I just ordered two of the Sport ones that are supposed to be smaller yet and 0.5 oz.
Was impressed how easy it ignited (would be even easier w/ a lighter or match) and the amount of fire it put out- if the burn times are accurate, it looks like a great way to get a fire going in sub optimal conditions.
