Bear Grylls takes a canteen, knife and "flint" with him on his trips. Plus a few other things he sometimes forgets to mention.
Anyway, I've watched him make fires. And I've seen the shower of sparks from his flint that instantly light his tinder.
I know flint, and true flint barely makes a few sparks, none of which will cause a fire to start instantly.
I think this is what Bear is actually using:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...restarter.html
Which has magnesium in it.
I'm going to try and make a fire with a bowdrill, though I can pretty much guarantee that I will fail.