If the debate is between a wood fire for cooking vs. a stove, that's one thing. I've done both, and a stove is vastly more convenient and generally more reliable. The trade off is that one has to carry more weight with a stove vs. simply just carrying some kind of pot if one uses wood.

The question in my mind is more: If one is going to use wood, why carry a wood stove? Why not just make do with whatever materials are at hand? I think I'll split this off into a new thread.

HJ