I bought one of those back before I got my propane grill (which is far superior to charcoal as everybody knows – just kidding), and I used it 2-3 times a week one summer. Eventually it started discoloring, and then literally rusting, before finally falling apart in about 3 months.
I used it to start primarily Kingsford briquettes, and I never kept the charcoal in there longer than was necessarily to get it going.
Maybe it was just made with a bad batch of steel.
That’s pretty impressive that it’s lasted that long.
Our old next door neighbor was a vegan - well, I assume she still is - and more than a couple times, I saw her over the low fence with her nose and mouth covered with a hanky when I would grill meat.
A propane banjo burner.
What works even better, assuming you have a power outlet available, is a heat gun.
It sounds so. Mine is more than 10 years old and only this year starting to corrode. I think it’s steel with an aluminum coating.
Do not use these directly on concrete or stones. If there is moisture in the concrete/stone, the chimney heat can cause it to explode. This happened to me once, and if the chimney hadn’t had a metal grate inside, it would have exploded coals all over me. As it is, it made an enormous concussive bang that echoed throughout the neighborhood.
Came here to say the same thing!
Like a moron, I one time set my chimney starter on the sidewalk to keep the smoke from flowing inside the house. When the coals were nice and hot, I picked it up to take it to grill.
Little did I know: physics! The top layer of the sidewalk was super heated, and now rapidly contracted from the cold air. It was like a gun went off, and I had concrete sidewalk chips land on the roof of the house.
I just use a propane blow torch to start those kinda fires and camp fires. I also include an accelerant for when it doesn’t start as quickly as I would like.
I don’t subscribe to any newspapers either, but once a week, I get all of the supermarket circulars bundled into a single long sheet full of classified ads with some fastfood coupons, an ad for custom checks, and some sort of “collectible” plate or coin or something, and thrown onto my driveway, with no discernable way for me to unsubscribe, so I use that as a free fire starter.
Lemons 
Lemonade, I guess.
Weekly junk mail from the local pharmacy, here.
One match → one piece of paper → one competently constructed fire. Well-chosen kindling does wonders.
OTOH, I’m burning wood, not coal.
When I saw Rapid Fire I assumed it was just another US school shooting.
go to a costco or sam’s and get a roll of butcher paper. It actually works quite a bit better at starting these and will basically last for ever. I’ve had the same roll in my garage for years now.
Always make sure the intake area at the bottom of the device is on a grate on the grill: more air, more combustion, faster results, safer when you pour the coals.
If possible, avoid using paper with colored inks for “starter” because heavy metals are typically used in making colored inks that those don’t really need to be airborne. Especially in your lungs, or whoever is nearby. Just no.
Bonus points for use of dry tinder, kindling, esp. if you have it on hand from yardwork or storm damage to trees.
I used a wadded up ball of metal hardware cloth (aka “big mesh screen”) stuffed into the bottom third of a #10 metal can (top and bottom removed) I rescued from a dumpster behind a restaurant. First burn was to remove any plastic coating inside the can. I got smart and later added a can to taller-ize it, and it worked better because of the chimney effect.
Oh very nice!
I kinda forget sometimes, what with the day before yesterday here being 99F and a heat index of 111F that in fact heating buildings is a good idea in other places. Thank you for reminding me.
Hey northerners: please stop storing all the cold air so far away!
I took a walk last night on the road before midnight, missed stepping on a young rattlesnake by a pace or two, and the air/humidity/temperature thingy was just barely below human body core temps. Sure coulda used a nice cool blast of breeze.
These are so much better than paper. I used to subscribe to the “paper is free” theory, but I find that most paper puts out a lot of smelly black smoke. Not sure if it’s the ink or some issue with air flow. The lighter cubes are about 20 cents each and much friendlier for the neighbors. Get the Weber ones though. Zippo sells ones that smell like lighter fluid.
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