I have a little last ditch pouch which has a couple of plastic wrapped firelighters, a spare firesteel, matches, small pot of vaseline, whistle, button compass etc....
Don't often have to use it though
Almost always get by with firesteel / knife and a small bag of birch bark I re-stock whenever I get the chance.
My worst last ditch fail safe I ever had to use was on an open canoe trip. It was March, cold, raining and very windy. Nothing we tried was working at all. I had chucked a small can of diesel into the canoe as an afterthought and even THAT was proving problematic - I ended up soaking my hanky in diesel and using it as a wick to burn diesel with split kindling on top to dry out in the flames - that eventually worked and we made our brews and cooked our dinner. Got a bit scary though - never had it that bad before or since.
Anyone else had one of those trips where nothing works?
Dom.