Adam, that looks really great! Will be ordering as soon as our supply runs out. At the rate we are using them this fall, that may not take too long! Crazy weather we are having and requires a lot of new starts.
They will send you a sample so you can decide . I forget how many they send but I think its like two. Plenty for you to decide if you like them.
its all about convenience, I keep 2 55 gallon garbage cans filled with kindling, when its time to start a fire i go grab a couple handfulls and break off a small hunk of the super cedar and I am set, yeah i could wad up a bunch of newspaper but I have had mixed results doing that and I really do not like burning paper. As far as some being harder than others i have not really noticed, although I am still on my box of 100 i bought a couple years ago, I buy a box every couple years. I buy them with no wrapper and just break them apart in the box, when they are all gone I take the remnants at the bottom of the box and compress them into little balls with my hands and they work just as good Also I live and work real close to where these are manufactured so i am able to buy them a little cheaper than most direct from Thomas, I do have to pay sales tax but i dont have to pay the shipping costs that are added on to each order
I just cut a few pieces of fat lighter/ lighter pine and light those with a match and put some splits I resplit on those and then normal splits and it goes thats it.
I'd bet each batch of them is a little different.... depends on the sawdust moister content, the humidity when made... no biggie. I've noticed some softer than others in the same batch. BUT, they ALL work great. FYI, no need to "score them" to cut, just snap them in half, then snap the half in half to qtr. I've never had a problem cracking them. I actually kinda like a rough broken edge, makes easy to light.....
Then I've really got a super soft batch - no way can I just snap in half, they crumble apart. Need to freeze and then score and snap - even then a decent about of crumble. I have 10 of my old ones left and they are a lot better. Cheers!