I to like the primitave way but I do put a modern spin on it. The only firestarters I carry Are ferro rods and tender. There are many types of tender to be used. Apparently fatwood will catch a spark and start a fire but its not as common on the east coast. Those west coast guys can trip and will land on a piece of fatwood. I prefer to carry cotton balls and an accelerant. I like to take A piece of bicycle tube with me, just cut off a small piece and place it on the cottonball. The cotton starts the fire and the tube makes it burn hotter and longer, thus allowing you to start wet/damp wood. Trioxane tabs are great but I dont use the hole things. I crush mine up and use very small ammounts (less than 5% of a tab) to get the fire started. Trioxane will burn in flooded areas. Hexamine/firepast works really well but its messy/bulky to carry and more expensive than vaseline. Vaseline works well mixed into a cottonball as it allows the cotton to burn hotter and longer but its messy to carry. Some people like to use a cardboard egg carton with dryer lint and then covered in tallow. I think these are to bulky to carry and take time to make. One can also use powdered magnesium however it will splatter when hit with water thus very dangerous to use in rain/drizzle.
I also like to practice firebow techniques but its very difficult to learn and would only be used in an extreme emergency as it takes a while to build the pieces and its very bulky to pack.