Hey, all!

Thoughts of bushcraft/firesteels/etc. lead me to some simple experimentation this afternoon.

Please note all tinders were timed three (3) times each to get a overall average "burn time."

No fuel was used and the tinders were ignited in a small, oval concrete flower drainer (the size of a dinner plate). All tinder was purchased within the last 2-3 months.

Weather: overcast, 77 degrees, 4-6 MPH wind.
Tools used: "Light My Fire" brand (Scout model) firesteel.

Tinder #1 lightly Vaseline-saturated cotton balls (inside fibers were dry to the touch) with an average burn time of 3 minutes, 5 seconds. Produced second largest flame. Average scrapes from firesteel was just 2.

Tinder #2 Coghlan's "Emergency Tinder" with an average burn time of 3 min 55 seconds. This produced the third largest flame. Average scrapes from firesteel was 2-3.

Tinder #3 "Tinder Quik" brand fire tabs with an average burn time of 1 min 10 seconds. this prodcued the smallest flame of all tested and took 6-8 scraps from the firesteel to ignite.

Tinder #4 Coghlan's brand "Fire Sticks" (brown in color, looks like impreganted sawdust, found at just about every Wally World), cut into one-inch lengths and then separated 6 times. This tinder would NOT take a firesteel spark no matter how small I cut the pieces so a strike-anywhere match was the only way I could ignite it (firesteel was used with ALL other tinders tested).
Average burn time of 4 min 25 seconds and produced the largest flame of all.

Far from scientific but wanted to share my results.