Dave, I've taken your suggestions after reading your book. So far, fire has not been needed. However, when hunting, canoeing, or hiking, I carry 3 methods to start a fire. Ferro rod, waterproof matches, and lighter. Petrolleum jelly smeared cotton balls are also part of my kit.

Had to make a fire last week to dry my wife's boot. She slipped while crossing a swampy area and sunk up to her knee, filling the boot with muddy water. Recent rain had made everything wet but an old pine stump provided some easily combustable material. For practice, I started the fire by striking sparks from a ferro rod onto a vaseline coated cotton ball. Of course we adequately extinguished the coals afterwards. The dry boot and an extra pair of wool blend socks made everything comfortable again. We hunted the rest of the day and dropped a small deer just before dark. The hunt would have been cut short without fire.

I suppose I didn't absolutely have to make a fire, but I'm reminded of a rather nasty camping trip I took on some mountaintop balds in Southwestern Virginia. Before I left, the retired green beret in my office told me to pack a bottle of lighter fluid, given the weather. There was no snow when we left, but the top of the mountain, sure enough, had 8-14 inches of wet snow. Camping in it was no fun, and without that lighter fluid I'd never have gotten the fire started. As it was, after the sideways sleet started, we couldn't keep it going reliably and retired to the tent, but by then we'd got a hot dinner in us. Brought the guy a six-pack when we got back.