Hi All of the above. Best fire lighting tool, the one you have with you. Top Tip (Viz style) My dad (a gas engineer) had a length of copper brake pipe in his tool kit. When I asked him what it was for, he said it served two purposes:- One, he used it with special matches that produced smoke to check the draw of flues. Push the match into the end of the pipe so you could reach everywhere. Two, he used it with ordinary matches to light burners hidden away inside boilers. Comes in handy from time to time stoving i.e. Trangias especially warm ones, less burnt knuckles.
Most often I use matches but I always keep an empty zippo handy and just dip the wick and windshield in the spirits cup. The sparks will light up the saturated wick easily unlike if you fill the lighter with the alcohol.
I've got a nice hardwood & brass fire piston. Use it to demonstrate the effects of pressure and heat when I cover concepts of HVAC. When it comes to starting a fire I'd rather rub two sticks together but for now I'll stick with a lighter. AR
I wouldn't use a firesteel on anything that doesn't require a pre-heat (i.e. Coleman stoves). In the couple of seconds between turning on the fuel and striking the steel, they can flood badly. Coleman instructions are quite clear: have the light at the burner before you turn on the fuel. The exception is a Coleman multi-fuel stove run on kerosene; the pre-heat means that only vapour goes into the burner, not liquid fuel, so you can take (a little) more time lighting it. Sometimes you get a strange phenomenon where the burner has to be lit in several places as it doesn't light up all the way round, and you can see white kerosene vapour streaming out of the burner rings.
Better add a new category... For lighting on the bench, 10 second preheat with no mucking around. I want my stove lit NOW kinda thing:
lol with the graph. For all-purpose lighting at home and in the field for all standard camping/domestic stoves (and BBQ) I've used most of the methods described. My current favorite is the foldable 'Vlight', shown on the far right in its extended position. It's cheap ($3.99 Cdn), small, refillable, long-nosed, retractable, safe, has window to check fuel level, flame control switch. The Helios and Primus are torch lighters and do not support some stoves with hard to access priming cups. They are used for some white gas stoves, but mostly for fire starting (as in cook fire). The matches are backup and always come regardless of where, when or how long.
