Not sure if this is a GOOD tip/trick....but one time I chose to use the battery powered air mattress pump to get/keep the fire going when I forgot to cut kindling before hand. Well, I didn't have too; I could have cut some kindling, it was just one of those stubborn moments (I am assuming we have all had) where I had to PROVE that it could be done. Yeah, it may have took three times longer to get a good fire going than if I had simply cut kindling, but it worked out in the end.