I solo everywhere, so being safe is paramount to a successful trip.
If conditions are so poor so as not to be able to cook in either the porch or better still, safely outside, then there's always tomorrow's lunch of chocolate etc that can be eaten in the tent and move meal times about as best you can.
My £0.01 worth. And no, I've only done the Summer certificate some 25+ years ago.
Tim
Chat Forum
[closed]
Backpacking tents
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Posted 3 years ago #
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I still use a Phoenix Phreak (one for the older campers amongst us!), well cared for and still going strong after more years than I can remember. Fortunately never gone up in flames despite cooking in the porch numerous times. Common sense is the main point. I can understand the point smee is making that it can be dangerous but with experience, the right kit and common sense it doesn't have to be. Like druidh, I too keep an open penknife in the tent when I'm in it.
Sorry to the OP, but have no experience of what to reccommend of todays available tents.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Backpackinglight have been running a series of tests on the carbon monoxide levels produced by various makes and types of stove. Worth a read:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/stoves_tents_carbon_monoxide_index.html
Posted 3 years ago # -
Precís please?
Posted 3 years ago # -
Smee,
you're not going to argue with everyone all weekend on the Glen Clova trip, are you?
Are you?
I must be another unsafe/incompetent ML holder as well - I regularly cook inside the tent porch, as did my ML trainer and assessor.
Judgement/risk management is what we're talking about - just about everything we do carries a theoretical risk, we use our judgement and we put measures in place to minimise these risks. Matt's argument about the benefits of a decent meal outweighing the small risk of a stove flaring/exploding is a pretty sound one IMO.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Stuartie_c - i'm a well mannered easy going person - the weekend will be fine.
It is the rest of them that you need to worry about.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Back to tents.... ive have a voyerger superlight (2yrs) great tent and less than 2kg more of a three season tent though cant comment on reliabity yet
Posted 3 years ago # -
I'd say there's a difference between cooking in the tent porch and cooking in the tent, which was what the original posting implied. Personally I'd be reluctant to do either, regardless of what Eric Langmuir or any ML course says. I know plenty of folk do, so I may be in the wrong, but I've no intention of changing. Don't think there's any need for calling folks "idiots" or anything like that, from either side of the debate. Like many things, it comes down to personal choice.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Oh my god, so not only have you got a stove lit in the door way, you then have an OPEN KNIFE waiting for you to lean on and cut your fingers off?
Think of the dangers!!!!
Posted 3 years ago # -
I cook in the tent porch when there's just me. If there's more of you then you get distracted, someone could knock something over, but on my own I'm sat there facing the door watching the stove and doing nothing else. If it goes tits up I can get out quick.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Wow, whats been going on here then :(. I popped out for a meal and all hell lets loose. Thanks guys for your advice about your tents. Oh and what did that chap say about me ?
Posted 3 years ago # -
I just said that It is a wee bit silly to light a stove and cook in a tent.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Oh well thats alright then
Posted 3 years ago # -
I saw one go up in flames at the Kimm in 2006
Smee - I am assuming that you were competing in the KIMM in 2006? What cooker did you use outside of your tent on the saturday night which was able to handle the howling gale that was blowing?
I took my life in my hands and cooked inside my tent, as I have always done, in the warm and dry, in my warm kit.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Anyway backpacking tents, as said above Mac Pac Mineret is a great tent which combines being robust, spacious and pretty light, great for a two person backpacking trip. However if going off on your own (which I love) lighter options are available.. and yes I know I am taking a risk by going off on me own, but I accept the risk in the same way I accept the risk of making my coffee when lay in my tent. I'm a reckless ****!!!
Posted 3 years ago # -
FWIW I camped opposite Sir Ranulph Fiennes at KIMM 2002 (he was running with a mate of mine), and they, like us were cooking in the porch of their tent. I've always done that - you just have to take care. How dangerous it is does also of course depend on the type of stove - I suspect we were both using hex blocks which don't have the same tendency to flare up.
Not sure how useful my tent advice would be - currently have a Polaris Shelter for use in MMs/Polaris, but that's a silly minimalist single skin thing and no longer available anyway. Used to have a Saunders Jetpacker+ (lost it at some point) which I liked a lot - that or the Spacepacker are still decent tents and good value. I think if I was buying a more normal tent now though I'd go for some variety of TN Laser.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Spacepackers are fantastic tents (I wish I hadn't sold mine). Roomy enough for two, and two big porches so you can have gear in one and space for cooking in the other.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Thanks for the spacepacker lead, the "plus" version is neat, light and has more room in the inner. How stable do we think it is with one pole.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Very stable tents. Very robust too. For best effectiveness, pitch it so that the pole is parallel to the wind.
To reduce pegging, I fitted some shock-cord loops to the pegging point on the inners, then just hooked them over the pegs for the outer. As long as they're long enough, you'll still have enough separation.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Beamers - same stove I always use - MSR whisperlite. If it gets windy use a windshield - doh.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Thanks for the tip about the windshield. I think I'll cook in the warmth of my tent though thanks.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Druidh, good tip thanks, Can anyone point me in the direction of any stockists of the spacepacker plus mk1 as google doesn't want to be my friend on this
or does Robert Saunders not use any other stockists ?
Posted 3 years ago # -
Spa cycles sell them.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Why would my tent catch on fire? or is it more a suffocation thing?
Posted 3 years ago # -
A tent could obviously catch fire if, saythe stove flared up for some reason, if the stove was accidentally knocked over or if a loose tent flap was blown into the flame. Modern tent materials are quite flammable! The suffocation issue is also present, though not as much of a problem in a well-ventilatd porch.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I had a bbq in a tent once.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Don't like the spacepacker myself - I had one a while back and if you are over 6ft you tend to sleep with a face full of inner tent fabric (you are inline with the pole).
My suggestion - Lightwave. They do an excellent range of tents which are light, spacious and damn robust. Got a T2 XT myself which gives a massive porch for storeage and cooking (if that is your bag) - you can even get mountain bikes in there, yet it weighs and packs smaller than my old Vaude MkIII by about 1/3. The non-XT version is smaller and lighter again.
They also do a semi-geodesic version for folk that way inclined, and the sister company Crux do a full on geodesic that weighs bolloxall.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Oh aye - Saunders only sell direct. If you want to see one then they are often displaying at Mountain Marathons and the like.
Posted 3 years ago # -
My 2p's worth for the original post
I used a MSR hubber hubber 2 for 9 mounths round OZ last year.
best tent i've used in 15 years(for my conditions )
Posted 3 years ago # -
Ok, following on from the advice on here we've narrowed it down to two - the spacepacker plus mk1 and the MSR hubba hubba hp. Just got to find the best prices now. Thanks for your assistance.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Stability and lack of flaring tendency are the reasons I use my trangia with meths still, I have always cooked in the porch of my tent, though I'd never advise new campers to do so. But then I wouldnt expect new campers to be out in a gale, and anything less just requires a raincoat and getting chilly. I have seen a fire with an old tent and sleeping bag (young, evenings drinking round an open camp fire while mate was in a sleeping bag). He was quite lucky in that he managed to escape quickly but the bag self-extinguished with only a 6" burn hole and the tent only melted the whole panel and stopped at the seams. I think fabric tents (old cotton type) might actually be worse as they tend to go up like a bonfire!
Posted 3 years ago #
Topic Closed
This topic has been closed to new replies.
