Fascinating! I recollect seeing, as a kid, a lit rope hanging in cigarette kiosks/shops in India to use as a lighter for their customers. This used to be a jute rope and, though lit with a match unlike in this video, would keep burning slowly through the day. Saved matches and was always lit. Have not seen it in recent years.
The author manages to keep talking for 5 minutes with 20-30 seconds of actual material. If you can understand how the rope burns without his assistance, he shows how the lighter _works_ around 5:00 mark.
Interesting video - worth watching.
One commenter said that the reason it's not well-known for emergency use today is that if the rope gets wet, it won't light.
TIL. I was thinking this was going to be a Zippo. I have a feeling that the Zippo was "an improved" version of this thou.
Very cool. You can also hang around with a charred cotton strip and throw sparks at it.