I hae avoided the iron tripod for two reasons. The first one is that what I have works admirably (in and out of the SCA for the last 15 years). The second one is that my persona would never have seen the sense in spending a good chunk of money when what is essentially free does at least as good a job. Iron was not virtually free back then, it came with a price tag; wood grows on trees, and string only takes some time to produce (say an hour or two for all the string in that setup, I really should replace it with handtwisted cordage made from nettle, just to be anal).

The stones under the fireplace was needed (30 cm over ground according to a sign I saw), and the ones inside the metal pan improved the oxygen flow to the fire significantly. And yes, the metal pan would have been insane money 1000 years ago, but back then no one would have told me I could not dig a firepit due to county ordinances.

The pot hanging hooks are as undocumented as a north african refugee, but is plausible and works very well. Basically a scarf joint and a lashing.