Modern fire starters
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Magnesium fire starter
A magnesium fire starter is a very simple object. Magnesium is a soft, flammable metal that ignites quickly and burns an extremely high temperature. When lit, it will often ignite other fuel very quickly, even if wet. Most magnesium fire starters are large chunks of magnesium, easily scraped into shavings with a sharp knife, with a small insert of spark-creating material. One disadvantage of these blocks of magnesium is that, when shaved with a knife to create tiny shreds that catch easier, the knife will become dull very quickly. Twenty years ago these were considered the state of the art in survival fire sources, but the best example (Doan's) is still pretty difficult and often inefficient, primarily due to the "scrape shavings of magnesium off of the block, and then ignite with the sparking rod" procedure. First, keeping the elusive shavings together long enough to hit them with a spark can be all but impossible, especially in windy conditions. Some recommend scraping onto the sticky side of a patch of duct tape, but this is one more variable to manipulate. Second, the attached ferro rod is pretty small, and third, these rods have been known to "come unglued", leaving you with a relative useless block of magnesium on which to dull your knife. U.S. troops are now issued Sparklite kits in their survival packs... 'nuf said!
Sparklite
These little gadgets don't inspire much confidence the first time you look at them, but their selection by several armed forces around the globe is a strong recommendation (they are NOT made by Halliburton ! ... as far as I know...). They can be used with only one functioning hand, and the tinder tabs are second to none in terms of efficiency and longevity. The have the added advantage of being smaller than most any other fire starter kit, and therefore fit into my Cris Reeve and virtually every other "Mini-Kit" I own.
Ferrocenium rod
This is arguably the currently most effective fire tool available (short of a road flare!), but still requires practice and an easily ignitable tender. The extremely hot spark will ignite most commercial tinder packs, from Sparklite to Wetfire, as well as cotton balls impregnated with a little Vaseline. Fatwood shavings (or powder), cedar bark, etc. all are viable. The real trick is to have a large double handful of secondary tinder to tuck the first flame into, and a waiting fire set that the secondary fireball can easily ignite. As with most skill, Preparation & Practice are the keys. As a general rule, the larger the rod in diameter, the more sparks it will throw. While small saw blades are sometimes connected to the ferro rod by a snap chain, the back of a saw from a SAK or Leatherman tool is significantly more efficient, and the champion scraper of all is a carbide tool sharpener, usually found at Lowe's or a similar supplier. This tool also smooths the chips out of your chopper.
Lighter
A regular Bic type lighter can be found at any convenience store or gas station. They are disposable once empty but will last for a while. I like to pack at least two, carry one and have one in my pack. I would recommend the ones with adjustable flame as the flame can be quite large which is very helpful. Also Bic lighters have a child safety spring witch must be depressed to use the wheel. I recommend taking it of, which is very easy and will save your fingers. Some still carry the historic Zippo, even with the fuel evaporation problem, since it can be packed with a needle, a fishhook, safety pin, etc., becoming a "survival kit" unto itself.
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