History Main / HardToLightFire

* ''TheMysteriousIsland'': after the heroes are washed up on a desert island, one finds he has a still-dry match. He's afraid to use it, as he's certain he'll scratch it too hard, wasting it. Later they figure out how to light fires with a magnifying glass.

* The protagonist of John Flanagan's {{Rangers Apprentice}} attempts this in "The Burning Bridge" on the titular structure, is successful but is captured and later enslaved by the {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s.

* Lighting a fire is actually a minigame in the survival game series ''LostInBlue''.

* In ''{{Tremors}}'', Val and Earl forget to bring the lighter when they run for the cliff with the last pipe-bomb, forcing Rhonda to join them in running for the edge.

* At the beginning of ''JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'' (the 2008 movie), the adventurers accidentally ignite magnesium in a cave wall when lighting a flare next to it. At the end of the film, they try to trigger a magnesium explosion with flares, but it's harder because the wall is wet.
* ''TheExpendables2'': Gunner tries to get around a cave-in by setting a phosphorus torch alight (he was a [[HiddenDepths chemical]] [[CastTheExpert engineer]] before he became a mercenary). However, the explosive fails, and Gunnar notes it must have been damp, just in time for Mauser to drill through the cave-in.

* In ''{{Skyline}}'', one character turns on the gas in his kitchen, puts a cigarette to his lips, and prepares to [[TakingYouWithMe blow up his apartment]] when the approaching alien Tanker reaches in through the window. However, when he actually tries to light it, his lighter fails. [[spoiler: It does work after he's been stabbed by the Tanker, though.]]

* Sid the sloth has mixed success in starting a fire in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge''. His first effort by rubbing sticks is pathetic. His second effort, rubbing flint against stone, produces sparks that ignite kindling.

* In the first ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "An Unearthly Child" the Doctor and his companions go back to OneMillionBC and visit a small tribe of cavemen. The leader of the tribe is the leader because he is the only one who knows how to make fire. Ian says that in his tribe (i.e. the Doctor and companions) the firemaker is the ''least'' important man.

** In the Boy Scouts, kids are taught the "rub pieces of wood together" method and similar methods as a distant last resort. If nothing else, it can help someone keep their body temperature up via repetitive movement. It's better to Be Prepared and bring proper firestarting gear.

-->"I have written ''Gandalf is here'' in signs that all can read from Rivendell to the mouths of Anduin."

* This comes up a few times in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' when Gandalf isn't around to help them (usually to help make it clear how uncomfortable Bilbo is). One of the dwarves is noted as being particularly good at lighting fires but still unable to succeed.

Sister trope to DangerousKeyFumble and MyCarHatesMe. CigarFuseLighting and CouldntFindALighter both subvert this trope via RuleOfCool. Played straight in many a KidsWildernessEpic or HorribleCampingTrip.

* ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' has confronted this trope several times, when their attempts to light up a PowderTrail, pooled gasoline, methane-filled outhouse or the like have failed repeatedly.

* ''{{Mythbusters}}'' has confronted this trope several times, when their attempts to light up a PowderTrail, pooled gasoline, methane-filled outhouse or the like have failed repeatedly.

* In Disney's ''{{Mulan}}'', during the battle with the Huns, Mulan is trying to light the last firework but her she drops her match. She eventually resorts to using Mushu's dragon breath to light it at the last second.
* Sid the sloth has mixed success in starting a fire in ''IceAge''. His first effort by rubbing sticks is pathetic. His second effort, rubbing flint against stone, produces sparks that ignite kindling.

* In the first ''DoctorWho'' serial "An Unearthly Child" the Doctor and his companions go back to OneMillionBC and visit a small tribe of cavemen. The leader of the tribe is the leader because he is the only one who knows how to make fire. Ian says that in his tribe (i.e. the Doctor and companions) the firemaker is the ''least'' important man.

* In an episode of ''GilligansIsland'' Gilligan has a very few waterproof matches, which will come in handy if they get waterlogged. But when time comes to build a fire he can't; Gilligan wasted all the matches on '''testing''' them.

* Creator/JackLondon's short story "To Build a Fire" (1908). A man in the Yukon tries to build a fire in -75 degree Fahrenheit weather. He fails, which eventually causes his death by freezing.

* In ''TheCastleOfCagliostro'', Lupin III is trying to light a rocket but has a lot of difficulty with his lighter. He eventually drops the rocket and has to long-jump over the towers manually.

And fuses, [[PowderTrail trails of powder]], bonfires or explosive gases never, ever light when you need them. Matches get dropped or blow out, and lighters spark in vain, their butane exhausted. An unprepared would-be pyro may even remember everything they need to start a blaze, ''except'' the means of ignition. Whether it's necessary to [[KillItWithFire incinerate the monster]], blow up the villains' DoomsdayDevice, kindle a campfire to avoid freezing to death, or even [[HeroicSacrifice go out in a literal blaze of glory]], no fire in fiction ignites easily if RuleOfDrama is better served by it refusing to do so.

Even the simplest tasks [[FinaglesLaw can prove all but impossible]] if it builds drama to delay their completion. Fleeing victims [[OopsIDroppedTheKeys drop the keys]] to their intended shelter; cars that worked fine five minutes ago will perversely [[MyCarHatesMe refuse to start]]; merely running across level ground will prove [[DramaticSlip more than the pursued can handle]].

Sister trope to OopsIDroppedTheKeys and MyCarHatesMe. CigarFuseLighting and CouldntFindALighter both subvert this trope via RuleOfCool. Played straight in many a KidsWildernessEpic or HorribleCampingTrip.

* Lighting things on fire without matches is actually ''really'' hard, especially if one is just using the "rub two sticks together" trick.

* ''{{Supernatural}}'' has both straight and meta-examples: As salting and [[KillItWithFire burning the remains]] are their go-to method for getting rid of ghosts, most episodes have the heroes lighting at least one fire. It's usually easy, but in the episode at the ''Supernatural'' convention, cosplayers have to actually act as the ghost hunters they're dressed as. Among other problems, they have difficulty getting their lighter to light and comment that Dean never has this problem.

-----
!Examples:

[[AC: Anime & Manga]]

[[AC: {{Film}} - Animated]]

[[AC:{{Film}} - Live Action]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC: LiveActionTelevision]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC: RealLife]]

* In RealLife, moors, marshes and other damp stretches of land are notoriously hard places in which to light fires, for obvious reasons. The trick is to split logs open and light the dry wood in the middle.

Examples:

Even the simplest tasks can prove all but impossible if it builds drama to delay their completion. Fleeing victims [[OopsIDroppedTheKeys drop the keys]] to their intended shelter; cars that worked fine five minutes ago will perversely [[MyCarHatesMe refuse to start]]; merely running across level ground will prove [[DramaticSlip more than the pursued can handle]].