This is the time of year to get out camping. Weather is cold which makes a campfire worth having and less bugs! SEP has put together a bunch of threads on various methods of fire starting with videos, pics, links and commentary if anyone is interested.
Char cloth That’s me in the video 
Cotton balls coated in petroleum jelly work really well too. The dry cotton takes a spark from a ferro rod well and they burn for a good few minutes.
Managed to dry out some pretty wet kindling with them a few months back in Scotland.
+1
I used to watch a lot of bushcraft and survival videos and the guys were heavily relying on ferro rods because it would outlast a bic in an end of the world situation. I then bought a couple ferro rods and took them to camping, my attempt at making fire was laughable as I struggled for minutes when it would just have taken seconds with the bic.
Since then I got rid of the prepper/survival mentality and now everytime im in the outdoors I just go with the simple and efficient way to do things without overthinking, way more enjoyable this way.
I still have a get home emergency bag and guess what, zero ferro rods, but only 2 bics and a pack of these: they are waxed matches used for bbq and lasts a long time. Not sure what they’re called in the US
I have a fero/magnesium fire starter, but I leave it with whichever camp stove I am/plan on using just as a backup to the bic.
