That is just it...SKILL. And in wrapping your noodle around the possibilities your creating those skills; the tool that is the most important tool in any ditch...the noodle ;) BTW Birch bark will always burn; it has a resin/oil in it that is highly flammable. It is the way that I start all my fires up in that neck of the woods, and better yet one does not have to carry it . DB is spot on.