Fire Starting Kit: the old way!

I fondly recall a Wilderness Survival class I took while attending Michigan State and the professor said to always wear cotton t-shirts so that if you find yourself in a survival situation you always have "kindling" on you.  That kindling he showed us was something I will never forget.  Opening up his suit coat and removing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt he pulled up both his shirt and t-shirt to get a big gob of naval fuzz out of his belly button.  Pretty humorous.  He proceeded to light it on fire using a a piece of steel and flint.  I never thought to ask, "But what if you have an "outie" for a bellybutton?

Originally posted by Tars Tarkas  If you want to buy a fire starter, buy a Bic!  TT

It's interesting knowing about cotton charcoal and Fritos and all that stuff, but if you're going to carry around something odd like that for emergencies, what I don't understand is why not just carry a Bic?!  I mean we're R-Pod owners; we carry around a kitchen, bathroom with a shower, a bedroom, and probably just about everything else that suits our convenience.  This is the 21st century, but not just here; almost anywhere people talk about camping tips and tricks, people seem fascinated with the technology of cavemen.  I find it amusing.

Unless I wanna put on a show and maybe give my grandson a little bit of a science lesson, I have much easier ways to start a fire than to manufacture some cotton charcoal and put together the rest of the kit.

I don't mean to be negative toward the original poster.  Not at all!  I think it's funny that outdoors stores offer so many flint & steel fire starting gizmos and that people who are probably never without their $700 smartphone are apparently so convinced these things are the solution to all of their fire starting problems.  If you want to buy a fire starter, buy a Bic!  [But what if you don't have your Bic or it's out of fuel???  Well, what if you don't have your flint and steel or cotton charcoal???]

I might do the cotton charcoal thing next time I have an opportunity to impress the grand kid with how resourceful Grandpa is! 
 
TT

i like the Fritos idea from a pure survival aspect. If you need a fire, burn 'em. If you're hungry, eat 'em.

I like fat wood. All natural.