The best way we have found to light the Smokin Wedgie is with an Electric Heat Gun, such as the Wagner HT1000 seen here.

Wood pellets are just that, wood and the only thing that keeps wood from smoldering and burning is moisture, outside temperature, and lack of oxygen. Be sure when lighting the wedgie you get the pellets red glowing hot and smoking well. If the pellets go out and it is not very cold, look at potential moisture. If it is extremely cold outside you may have to get it warmed up and hold the torch on the pellets longer to really get the ignition going.

Our wedgie is the most aerated device on the market with perforated steel all around so if it does go out then something is extreme as the wood will not smolder, especially with the 5% moisture content in the wood pellets and the design of the pellets creating small air spaces around them and in the mass. Some air tight grills, such as Weber Kettle grills or Big Green Eggs will require you to prop the lid open to provide enough oxygen to keep the pellets smoldering.

We looked at a number of other alloys and virtually all have questionable off gassing, some metals from China looked good but were plated with alloys that they wouldn't identify. Galvanized has serious zinc off gassing and is claimed to be hazardous. This is why welders are concerned when welding galvanized steel and getting sick from it. Besides making the smoker much more expensive, it doesn't gain us much as making it out of stainless as it is meant to burn in a grill.