“It’s not really so very hard to make a fire in the wild,” Bilbo explained to Sam, the first time he and Frodo were able to convince the Gaffer to allow the lad to come with them on one of their rambles. “You start with a something that will take a spark well--dry grasses, long wood shavings, cotton threads, thistle fluff, the pith from a cottonwood tree--yes, like that. Now, as you can’t always carry enough matches with you such things are good to have for use with striker sets. Then some kindling....”
Sam often blessed the old Hobbit’s tutelage.