Is the wood burning stove illogical nowadays?

[1azarus]

I've been using a firefly burner for about two years now, using it year round. I have the esbit adapter, which mostly gives me a degree of backup comfort -- I hardly ever use esbit...

Probably for the first year it was mostly stubbornness that kept me using the stove, but, over time my wood-choosing/fire starting skills have improved to the point where I actually look forward to using the stove at the end of the day and will continue to use it for sure.

In cold weather, when I would be reluctant to carry enough alcohol or esbit to boil water, and the extra wood burn time has not been a burden. I thought I'd have a chance to melt snow with it this winter, but alas, that will have to wait till next year.

[Dedicated Hanger]

Have taken 8 camping trips in a row this summer. They have ranged from primitive car camping with cooking for ten to absolute wilderness in which I did not see another human (besides the five people in my party) for a week. On each trip the food that I prepared was different. Wilderness is fairly easy, I only boil water for freeze dried food and make espresso with my little espresso maker. Anything else is too heavy to carry on your back for a week. Car camping and cooking for ten takes a different approach with fresh food for each meal. The general rule there has been to keep it simple and things that have to be kept cold to an absolute minimum. For all these trips I have completely switched over to alcohol stoves. With that said, I experimented with more than 10 of them and each one of them have their advantages and disadvantages. (All portable stoves are dangerous. There is not one that is fool proof and care must be taken every second with any type of combustible fuel in the woods. ) With all that said, all the cooking that I accomplished during those 8 trips with the alcohol stoves was simple and controllable each and every time. I did not have to purchase a bunch of throw away canisters, pump air into gas cylinders in the middle of cooking, fiddle with gas connections to make sure they didn't leak , or have to clean black off of pots. It all worked like a charm.

[QiWiz]

Probably for the first year it was mostly stubbornness that kept me using the stove, but, over time my wood-choosing/fire starting skills have improved to the point where I actually look forward to using the stove at the end of the day and will continue to use it for sure.

I love this comment from 1azarus. Stubbornness can be a wonderful thing. I have to agree that using a wood stove will definitely improve your fire skills, which are an important and extremely light part of a survival kit.

[martinb]

After years of just using canisters I got a Sidewinder ti-tri and love it. Three fuel options and, using the no-trace bottom plates, I can have a mini campfire almost anywhere.

[JAK]

Depending on where you hike a wood burning stove can be the most practical and sustainable.
Maybe not on the moon.