They don’t all come with them, the zip requires a match or lighter to ignite. The igniters are convenient when they work, but I wouldn’t miss mine if it weren’t there.
I use the flash and the igniter worked for maybe 3 nights. Since then I just use a bic mini to light it. I’ve never had an issue with MSR fuel in mine. My buddy and I did a backpack elk hunt at roughly 10k a couple weeks ago with temps down in the low teens at night and got 6 days out of a 113g...
I haven’t tried kenetrek or crispi, but I run the beartooth and they run very true to size compared to the Meindls I tried which ran large. They’re great with returns, though, so you could always try a couple sizes like I did. If you’re ever in the Chicago area I’ll let you try mine, they’re 10...
I’m more paranoid about ticks than about anything in the woods so I treat everything other than my underwear and hat. I’ve never run across any issues with merino or synthetics, even DWR coated gear. I used Sawyer primarily but it just gets expensive after s while. I ended up going with Martins...
I’ve tried a few different ones and my favorite by far is the Nemo Fillo. It’s a little bulky if you looking at going ultralight, but I get a sore neck in the morning if I don’t have something comfortable to sleep on so I bring it anyway.