In a recent episode of Survivorman, he uses a fire piston, rather than matches or a lighter, to start a fire:
A fire piston, which in the Philippines is known as a sumpak, is a device of ancient origin which is used to kindle fire. It uses the principle of the heating of a gas (in this case air) by its rapid (adiabatic) compression to ignite a piece of tinder, which is then used to set light to kindling.
You can now buy a modern polymer fire piston with O-ring seals.