By far, a fire is top on the list for survival.  Fire and shelter will help protect from the most common people die of when lost or injured in the outdoors.  So, if you don’t want to pack any sort of bag or pack for you “15 minute” hike, please put some sort of fire starter in your pocket.

Here are a few suggestions for things you can buy.

Items we have personally tried and like:

Zippo Lighter

The Zippo Lighter can work with alternate fuels and the top and bottom can be sealed off with a thin piece of rubber to help reduce evaporation while being in storage so it will work when you need it.  Other lighters tend to either evaporate the fuel or the fuel doesn’t ignite over time. We prefer the plain Zippo Lighter
but they come in some pretty cool designs too, like this eagle one.

Waterproof Matches

You can buy waterproof matches or you can make your own by dipping the tips in liquid wax. We like the beads because it’s easier to measure how much wax you want to melt. Amazon has a great deal on them and there are many many uses for it like dipping random fabrics in it to make it burn longer.

We usually carry two methods to start fire as well as a baggie of lint from the dryer. The lint usually burns long enough to get tiny twigs lit. We like to have a couple of candles with us too so we can reach farther into a well-planned and built masterpiece without burning our fingers and also because it stays light longer than a match so we can keep a flame in a specific spot for a longer period of time. Here are the type of candles that work well…
Unscented 10″ Taper Candles

Items we have not tried or don’t prefer them as much as the items mentioned above:
Flint and Steel

Magnesium

There are many products out there to aid in starting a fire. Please shop around and test things for yourself before you absolutely need them. Oh–and remember dried pine twigs, needles, and pine gum are really helpful in starting a fire. Also pine gum is a natural antibacterial ointment.
The poor man’s method:
A tightly closed baggie with a handful of matches and some lint inside will suffice and I have seen some people get a spark using batteries (9-volt I believe)