phat said, "It really depends on the wood you've got, whether or not you can break it, and how wet it is."

It is important to recognise that lighting a fire under dire circumstances may not be possible and depending on it may be fatal. NOT to mention that national park, forest, etc, regulations may prohibit wood fires and the cutting of trees. I mean I always backpack with a chainsaw grin and I'm sure you do too, BUT I remember a certain Oregon rain forest with 8 foot diameter douglas firs and nothing else and nothing would burn without gasoline to get it started and my chainsaw couldn't attack that.

or... and I hesitate to describe this, but I did use the word dire. IF you can collect a bunch of sticks and I mean under 1/4 inch diameter, even soaking wet, you can use a campstove to light a campfire, and obviously white gas would help a lot but is quite dangerous used as "Boy scout water". Set the stove on a level spot where you can grab it quickly and light it. Put a loose pile of sticks over the stove that at least a foot thick. As the heat of the stove comes up through the pile it will dry the thin wood and start it on fire. Maybe you can lift the edge of the pile now and be ready to pull out the stove before it EXPLODES, yet getting the maximum use of it to get the pile of sticks to dry out and burn. After that you better have a bunch more sticks, but without some bigger wood you are better off crawling into a hole.
Jim
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.