This tip is more for car camping or a home fireplace.  For a superb fire starter, go to the produce section of any supermarket, and ask the produce person for a dark brown waxed cardboard box or two.  (Or look around the back of the store and find a pile as shown below.)

These boxes are regular cardboard dipped in paraffin, so they can hold wet veggies like lettuce without falling apart. The boxes are free for the asking.

Tear the boxes into strips, and use them as starters for your next fire. They burn furiously for several minutes, are lightweight, mostly waterproof, and free. One box makes a LOT of fire starters!