Runescape Firemaking: How to Light Fires Faster

Firemaking is one of those 'easy' skills.  It's even free... if you don't mind all the time it takes!  It's not one of my favorite skills to level up because you have to pay intense attention.  I like skills where I can set the ball rolling, then tab my browser to something else.  Fishing is cool, cooking, some types of combat.  With the advent of the Elite Tasks, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and level my firemaking up to 92, so that I can get the Varrock Elite Armor 4.
Since firemaking takes all my attention, I want to make it go as quickly as possible.  Off and on over the years, I've occasionally noticed that with perfect timing, you can hit a very efficient rhythm that allows you to light a fire, step west, light a fire, step west, without all the spinning around, kneeling, and tinderbox animations.
The trick is in getting started correctly, then maintaining a perfect timing.  It's really sped up my firemaking.  I've never seen anybody else do it, and never found a guide that mentions the trick.
So this morning, while I was waiting on the rest of the household to wake up, I put together a very slapdash video that shows the proper timing.  I couldn't do a really nice video.  My computer lags even when I'm not doing anything but play Runescape.  When I try to record a video at the same time as play Runescape, it goes so slowly that it just isn't worth the effort.

I really wanted to make the video, so I used my Flip MinoHD camera on a tripod in front of the screen.  I've really enjoyed my new Flip.  Been using it for anything from personal family videos, to business videos, to projects like this one, though admittedly this one would have looked better if my computer was fast enough to record on-screen video while playing Runescape.  That's the drawback of having a 6-year old computer.  On the other hand, I assembled this computer myself from the best bits and pieces that were available at the time, so it's held up far better than an off-the-shelf computer would have.


The video is annotated with instructions for proper timing.  So watch the video, get the hang of it, and supercharge your firemaking!