Stoves are very practical outdoor items. For the first five or six years I was climbing and doing outdoor activities on a steady basis, I made open camp fires. Over the succeeding years I have used various stoves more and more frequently. Legalities aside, a stove saves time, is much safer and cleaner. If the situation demands it, you do not signal your presence nearly as effectively with a stove compared to an open fire. conversely, if you wish to signal your location, an open fire is about the most effective way to signal your location.

Stoves today are astonishingly cheap, light, and effective. Several models of alcohol stove weigh an ounce or two, can be made of recycled materials costing nothing, and cook much faster than an open fire. But you want to be sure that you can build a fire, even in ugly situations. Just be sure that you can evaluate conditions properly. Out here in the West, I have seen plenty of times when I would never light a fire - the forest was dry, just an accident waiting to happen.

This has nothing to do with regulations. Light a fire in the wrong situation and you may find that it can travel faster than you can.