I’ve wondered about those for camping. I can see how the electric arc would be perfect where you have something like an edge of paper, but I did wonder if it would still be effective with other fuels.
I haven't tried setting paper on fire directly, to be honest. Being that it's so hot but also a localized heat I suspect it might be hard to get flames from, just embers.
I think it's the more uneven burn. It's got an articulating neck type thing so it'll get into a bowl just fine it just doesn't want to light it, and joints it just kinda fucks up the end and maybe gets a half-assed light.