Old Style Firestarter Fills Modern Wilderness Survival Niche

This firestarter is waterproof and burns easily.

Getting interested in one aspect of history generally leads to other rediscoveries. In my case, an interest in primitive firemaking lead to a search for an effective firestarter. Surely, I reasoned, the oldtimers had some sort of flammable material that was compact, portable, effective, simple to make and that used easily-obtained local materials.
Pitch wood, cedar bark, dry grass, weed stalks, pine needles etc. all work great when the weather is nice. But usually, the fouler the weather, the more desperately you need a fire (another axiom of Murphy’s firemaking law). There had to be some sort of old time firestarter.
Here is a good choice for a lightweight, waterproof firestarter, and how to make it.