I was digging through boxes of ancient crap a while back when I came across my old camping gear. I’ll show the rest at a later point when I am not afraid dying from the embarrassment, but for now I’ll show you the one little piece of gear that might actually still be useful. It is called the “Frontier Firestarter” and I have had the thing for a good 20 years.
The concept of the firestarter is actually pretty smart. A small firesteel and rod of magnesium are attached end to end on a small piece of wood (cedar, I think), with a piece of a hacksaw blade attached by a leather lanyard. The firesteel lights the magnesium scrapings, which burn for only a brief moment, but can then light the wood shavings which will burn for a bit longer, maybe allowing you to get a fire going.
The firesteel is a little small for my tastes, but the concept could easily be transfered into a similar tool a bit larger. I think I might have to tinker this week to see what I can come up with….