I always have a small sharp, sturdy knife. Shavings are quickly made. My favorite for fire starting and I've sought them out many times in winter, are eastern hemlock . The understory of the second growth areas always has layers of dead up off the ground and the branchlets with needles burn and start very readily. I think they are limited to the upper mid-west, however. I have brought a few pieces of pitch pine, otherwise known as fatwood, with me. A couple of pieces the size of a pencil will get most fires going in rapid fashion.