Ferro rod? mine sits in a box. I take bic lighters (2 mini) and a waterproof container full of matches.

The best tinder I've found, tho it probably isn't found everywhere, is old man's beard - a dry green lichen that you find in tufts on the bark of cedar trees. The second best is cotton balls with a little vaseline on them. Put little sticks on the tinder, then slightly larger sticks, then larger, then larger - soon you have the fire going strong enough to take a substantial chunk of wood and you'll start to see embers.