All the answers were interesting and gave me some food for thought: things I had not considered. One thing perhaps I didn't understand, is the idea that not taking a stove might reduce weight. If I take freeze dried food and a stove and fuel, and water is available at camp, then I save by not taking taking heavier foods and in the long run... I have always thought that more than made up the difference. I should add up the weight of 4 (lunch, dinner and breakfast and lunch) sandwiches and compare it with the weight of freeze dried meals, fuel and the stove for an overnight hike.

BTW, when I was younger the gasoline Whisperlite was the workhorse on many a bivouac on a high glacier making water for a group. There was a time in mountaineering when you wouldn't leave home without it for a high alpine climb.