Carbon Monoxide – Stay Safe

Part of the fun of a camping trip and staying self sufficient is cooking your own food. Done responsibly this is no more dangerous than it is at home, but there are a few dangers to look out for to make sure you get no more ill side effects than indigestion from eating too much home made chili!

If you’re cooking on site, under no circumstances do so inside your tent, and if you’re cooking outside do so well away from your tent, even using a covered porch area has it’s risks.

Carbon Monoxide is invisible, you can’t smell it or taste it. You don’t know it’s there. It’s produced when fuels like petrol, gas or charcoal are burned incompletely. This may be as a result of an appliance being faulty or just as a by-product of it’s normal function. Barbecues are the worst culprits and will produce carbon monoxide even when they are working well.

What are the symptoms?

Carbon Monoxide poisoning can cause various symptoms. Headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, weakness, drowsiness, and continued exposure can lead to death. Disposable barbecues, because of their portable nature, are most often the cause of incidents occurring.

Sadly there have been many cases of people dying on campsites after using disposable or small portable barbecues. Not necessarily from using them inside the tent, even leaving a smouldering bbq in the porch of a tent can be extremely dangerous as harmful gas falls and hugs the ground where people are sleeping. So even if you have used a bbq and think you have put it out completely, don’t chance it. Completely extinguish the fire, then dispose of the ash safely away from your camping area.

These things are perfectly safe when used and disposed of properly so don’t be put off using them. Just be sensible when you do and there will be no cause for concern.

Safety Tips

• Never take a barbecue inside a tent, awning, motorhome or caravan. Even after it looks like it’s gone out – Take a few minutes to extinguish it and  dispose of it responsibly. If you need to heat the tent, buy an electric heater and use electric hook up, otherwise, wrap up warm!
• Never cook inside your tent or awning
• Never use a fuel-burning appliance ( Gas or Petrol ) to heat your tent or awning – Unless you have a permanently fitted purpose built heater fitted (and approved) into a caravan or motorhome
• Keep your tent vents open to keep air moving – This will help if somebody is cooking outside or close to your tent, especially wise in situations like music festivals where camping can be extremely packed in and cramped
• Have gas appliances in motorhomes or caravans regularly serviced
  

• Take a Carbon Monoxide alarm with you – Think of it like a life jacket. you probably won’t need it but it’s peace of mind and it could save your life

Although barbeques are worst, there is still a risk from cooking with a gas stove inside a tent or awning. It may be raining outside, but many campsites have designated covered areas to cook in. If not, wait until the rain stops, or put a coat on and get one of the kids to hold a brolly up over the cooker , it’s all part of the camping experience.

What if I don’t want to get wet?

Alternatively, and increasingly so, there are more and more Event Shelters popping up on campsites across the country. Many people take these along to cook under or just to use as communal areas when there are 2 or 3 groups of friends camping together. They usually have open or removable sides so can be used safely as a covered area to cook under. Click here for some examples.

Tarps are another good, and inexpensive option to provide some outside cover to cook under and are handy to have around to provide cover and shelter in all kinds of camping and trekking scenarios.

What about my wood burning stove in my tepee tent?

There are some tents which are designed to be able to used in conjunction with a wood burning stove. The Robens Outback range of Tipi tents are a good example of these. These tents have a stovepipe port built in so that purpose built stoves like the Denali Tent Stove can be used and any smoke and fumes are flued safely out of the tent so are fine to use. It’s still advisable to use a Carbon Monoxide Detector for security and peace of mind though.