"Less weight? They're really heavy aren't they? That and decidedly bulky."
Yes, but (not much more than a classic Manfrotto alu tripod like this one):
Manfrotto 055XPROB Aluminum Tripod Legs
Material Aluminum
Maximum Height 70.3" (178.5 cm)
Maximum Height w/o Column Extended 55.9" (142 cm)
Minimum Height 3.9" (10 cm)
Folded Length 25.8" (65.5 cm)
Load Capacity 15.4 lbs (7 kg)
Weight 5.3 lbs (2.4 kg)
Berlebach Tripod Report 3032
Material: wood
Maximum height: 142 cm = 56 inch
Minimum height: 9 cm = 4 inch
Transportation length: 90 cm = 35 inch
Load capacity: 12,00 kg = 26,46 lb.
Weight: 3,20 kg = 7,05 lb.
As with everything else, which is best depends on your priorities. My main concerns are cost and damping.
As far as I can figure out carbon costs significantly more than wood -- and dampens less?
Point taken about usefulness of wood as firewood in the snow however you also forget to mention than in case of a nuclear apocalypse the metal and carbon tripods would probably not fare much better than the wooden ones (though have not had opportunity to test this theory yet).