Comment by bpowah

Yield strength for steel is about 5x that of wood's UTS, and the cross-section of a 2x4 is about 5x that of a 1-in bolt, so yeah wood is 'that' strong. Screws are typically used in a way that they are not carrying a static load -- basically just holding the structural wood in place. The static load in a structure is usually transferred wood-to-wood. When you do see steel carrying a load in a wooden building, it is generally surprisingly beefy-looking.