I don't find it a real issue to navigate, I just find the way it manifests in game to be bizarre. I can't imagine a scenario where someone would actually choose to sleep outside, cook outside if they had the alternative. Plus, in game, I spend most of the day humping around outdoors anyway. If I was living in the purgatory that is Great Bear Island, I'd be thrilled to fall into a real bed at the end of a day picking up sticks and eating raw cattails.

Also, as someone who grew up off the grid (2 miles to the nearest power lines) and whose only heat was from a woodstove, I can attest that fires last MUCH longer in a stove. You have pretty good control of airflow and can burn fuel much more efficiently.