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Posted by Bill S on August 15, 2007 at 12:25:36 pm EDT
In reply to Selecting a Camping Stove posted by bheiser1 on August 10, 2007 at 4:12:40 pm EDT

As Alicia noted, the forbidden act of cooking in the tent is one of emergency need. The most common case is when sitting out a storm at altitude (when the CO problem is highest, by the way) or other circumstance where getting out of the tent to cook is problematic. People who do this are well aware of the CO and fire problem and proceed with extreme caution. There are too many well-known incidents of death or near-death from cooking in confined spaces (Richard Byrd's near-death in Antarctica is perhaps the most famous example, and the Wilcox expedition on Denali where a tent vanished in an estimated 10 seconds due to a flash-over during refueling a stove in a tent while cooking on another stove close at hand, along with a sleeping bag, a parka, and some other fabric gear - the new book "Forever on the Mountain" is a modern recounting of the whole expedition, in which this incident was only a minor one compared to the ultimate deaths of 8 of the 12 expedition members).

By the way, the backpackinglight and other test reports all state that it is only a small percentage of the MSR Reactors that exceeded the CO limit. Cooking in the open with plenty of ventilation is no problem. Remember this when cooking over your gas stove at home, or when using your wood-burning or gas-burning fireplace in your living room - fires produce carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless highly poisonous gas that is detectable only by your death or a properly working CO detector (yes, you need a CO detector in your home as well as a smoke detector).

But a side effect of cooking in the tent is that the tent will pick up food odors. So any tent you cook in should not be used subsequently in bear country.

For 99% of people in the woods and hills, follow the manufacturers' advice - do not ever cook in a tent or within 20 feet of a tent or any other potentially flammable material. ALL stoves produce carbon monoxide, and ALL flames, including candle lanterns, have the potential of setting the tent and other fabrics on fire. For the other 1%, proceed at your own risk and with utmost caution. And if you die from CO or are severely or fatally burned, remember, I TOLD YOU NOT TO COOK IN YOUR TENT!!! The Old GreyBearded One often jokes or posts things with tongue firmly in cheek, But on this, I am DEADLY SERIOUS! DO NOT COOK IN YOUR TENT!

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