Climate will make a big difference. I started out routinely building a campfire for cooking and warmth many years ago. In part because I was often venturing above timberline where no fuels were available, I purchased a small Primus stove. It made cooking infinitely easier and quicker, providing faithful service for many years. It is now semi-retired on a shelf above my desk.

Now I have switched almost entirely to stoves, also in part to their less conspicuous environmental footprint. But I still include emergency tinder and multiple means of getting a flame because getting a fire going too often can be the difference between life and death.

My favorite for absolute simplicity, carried for a long time on SAR missions, is a Trangia alcohol stove, together with a small, light, cookset. The Trangia is great because it can carry its fuel self contained. Just don't pack it inside the cookset. Guess how I know this....

The loaded Trangia is still lighter than the typical Rambo scimitar.