Some tricks with cotton balls: Like Frankendude says, make sure they are cotton; don't oversaturate - just get coat palms and rub a few cotton balls vigorously; store in water tight container like a mini-ziploc - cotton can still absorb water; Vaselined cotton lights with insignificant sparks. Try lighting them with 'found' and available spark sources - the things you will really have when the chips are down: flashlight battery, dead butane or fluid lighter (and remember, the cotton fill from a dead Zippo will light from the lighter's sparks), rocks on back of pocket knife (only carbon steel works here), pyrite on any hard surface.

One cotton ball will burn for about 30 seconds plenty hot to start wet kindling.