Decided to test some of my fire starting tablets I keep in our fire starting kits in our go bags and vehicles, results were not promising. Every thing I have must be capable of igniting by spark and be reliable.
WetFire; I have about 100 tabs, most are over 5yrs old, out of 25 17 wouldn't start by spark 10 of them wouldn't even start with a direct flame even crumbling them didn't help, the packaging was sealed, they worked great for me in the first year but at almost a dollar a tab I scratched them of my list and trashed the one's over a year old, I'll finish the remainder for use at home.
TinderQuik; I have about 30 tabs left, these are 4yrs old, about a quarter wouldn't take a spark but did by flame and just barely at that, when new these easily taken a spark, not overly expensive but these were scratched from the list, rest of the stock gone in the garbage.
LiveFire; Have about 4, these still work great but with just one being about $20 today, these were also scratched from the list
Coghlan's Fire Stick; I have a whole case of these I purchased back in 1994, they took a spark without any issues and looking on Amazon they are only $4 for a bag of them still relatively cheap.
Conclusion:
No more of them over priced fancy tabs that don't offer long term storage (beyond 5 years) with the exception of LiveFire but not at $20 bucks, going back to the Fire Stick, I'll continue to use PJCBs for selective use, it's cheap and doesn't expire but can be messy. In our go bags (and vehicles) just keeping the Fire Stick and Fat Wood as a fuel source in the fire kits even if it means giving up some space and weight.