Cooking in tents

[tas-man]

Sadly nowadays it is much easier to say no than explain the risks and leave it up to people's common-sense to work out if and when some action is acceptable for risk.

Cheers

Unfortunately "common sense" appears to be becoming less common these days, but our society's regulatory environment that needs to be seen to be acting "responsibly" for the common good, will be the death of us. Good to see you posting again Brett

[ILUVSWTAS]

Good to see you posting again Brett

Yep sure is. Are we going to see "content re-instated by poster" anytime soon?

[flyfisher]

tas-man wrote:
Good to see you posting again Brett

Yeah mate,keep those posts coming in, we love 'em.

'Tis neither safe nor unsafe to cook in the vestibule, just gotta be carefull is all, and use that common.

[tasadam]

No he used to come in the tent with the other 14 of us.

15 bushwalkers in a Macpac Minaret? I think I have found the cause of said "overcome by fumes" and it had nothing to do with fuel, well, stove fuel...

On topic, I use shellite stoves, and I have cooked in the vestibule without problem, but WITH GREAT care.
I have also cooked in the tent once, though it was in the Hallmark Snowcave with front and back doors fully open, that is, just the mesh, so there was still good ventilation.
Read about why, HERE.
Here's a pic of the stove we used on said indoor cooking event -

Optimus 99

Optimus99-doing-its-thing-Lake-Elysia.JPG (83.8 KiB) Viewed 5754 times

A couple of photos of cooking in a vestibule...
Firstly, using the camera tripod to hold the outer tent well back from the heat. Also note the opening at the top to help t he gases escape. MSR Simmerlite in action here.

Tripod use # 473

Cooking-dinner-in-vestuble-using-tripod-to-make-more-room.JPG (72.09 KiB) Viewed 5754 times

And another way to allow gases to remain out of the main inner tent, is to peel back the inner (if your tent allows that) to make the vestibule space much larger...
This one's the Optimus again. A fantastic little stove, though a bit heavy.

Vestuble-cooking-dinner-Continental-pasta-pack--peas-and-corn-added--smoked-chicken-ready-to-go-in.JPG (42.81 KiB) Viewed 5754 times

[Ent]

Good to see you posting again Brett

Yep sure is. Are we going to see "content re-instated by poster" anytime soon?

Some things just can not be undone and some would suggest should not be undone

Cheers

[felidelavida]

I've never been rich enough to afford a tent that was draught free enough for CO poisoning to be even a remote possibility. That said I don't cook in tents because the idea of going up in a PCB enriched puff of smoke does not float my boat, not to mention what it would do to my carbon footprint. I cook outside and if the weather is dodgy I string up the space blanket-it gives that caravanserai sort of feel to things...

[felidelavida]

And I've just seen the photo with someone using a choofah. I saw a polar pyramid in Antarctica lose its synthetic lining to one of those once. Quite spectacular but just as well it was a training exercise a couple of kms from station.

[rcaffin]

First have deaths occurred due to carbon mono-oxide poisoning in tents? Yes sadly with this link to just two events that cost six lives http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4832a1.htm. This means a proven risk exists. Interesting to note in both these tragic events it was the use of cooking equipment as heating and the victims had then gone to sleep.

For heating inside a family camping tent which had been sealed up too. Yep, known cases, but Darwin Award behaviour.

I and most people I walk with are more than happy to cook in a tent vestibule.

And there are times when trying to cook outside would be life-threatening in itself, while trying to go cold-food would not be good for your survival either.

how long before Parks will ban cooking in huts

I suspect that their lawyers have told them that they (Tas Parks) are safer if they simply do not address the issue at all! Walker responsibility.

they were happily using a fuel stove positioned in the centre of the tent. So sudden death is not inevitable even if doing something rather stupid.

Large pyramid tent? Not that stupid. The walls flap in the wind, and that creates air movement into and out of the tent.

The realities are
a) Lots of experienced walkers cook all the time in the vestibule of their tent in complete safety (like, zero accidents),
b) Some people are sufficiently stupid that they will kill themselves no matter how much you try to stop them
c) Most of us get on just fine without the Nannie State wiping our bottoms.

Cheers

[corvus]

Roger,
You have just said what many of us knew and it it a pity that an (admittedly somewhat verbose) forum member got pilloried for saying almost the same thing .
However where possible we also use a kitchen/ cooking fly which is conducive to fellowship when the heavens think otherwise
corvus

[Ent]

they were happily using a fuel stove positioned in the centre of the tent. So sudden death is not inevitable even if doing something rather stupid.

Large pyramid tent? Not that stupid. The walls flap in the wind, and that creates air movement into and out of the tent.

Cheers

Actually it was a Hilleberg Tunnel Tent the Top Gear Team were using on the drive to the Arctic

Cheers