I have never cooked inside any of my “smaller” tents but when we camp as a family in one of my large canvas frame tents we do cook inside. When I say cook I mean boiling kettle, toast, tinned meals etc.
I have recently been given a “modern” Hi Gear Voyager 6 tent but I’m weary about using my CampingGaz stove inside the tent - anyone cook inside modern tents? Advise please.
I should have been a bit clearer about my concern. I am aware of good ventilation but even thought the tent is labelled fire retardant it looks like it would burn easily.
We are gas-free, when it comes to cooking using an electric twin hob.
We also use a windshield designed for a twin gas hob camping cooker as a kind of heat shield to avoid excessive heat being directed towards the wall of the tent.
Apologies but this site had a major brain fart last night so here is the correct posting……
It is a big no no but also a big yes yes .
Got sealed inside my then Lichfield Findhorn whilst motorcycle touring in France after 2 days of rain, no cooking area so had to light up the Trangia in the awning area and had the infamous Trangia moment meths on fire/ tent on fire !! Silent and potentially very deadly !! My mates said it looked like a medieval fire thrower as my on fire carrier bags came hurtling out of the tent. Burnt several big and lots of little holes in the SIG but could have been a whole lot worse . Thank heavens as always for gaffer tape.
Said tent day before the incident , you can see my Trangia in its bag on the table…..
It helps to know the technical definition of 'Flame Retardant/Resistant' fabrics, firstly it DOES NOT mean they don't catch fire or burn! What it means is they self extinguish when the source of the fire (applied flame/heat source) is removed, that's a long way removed from FIRE PROOF! Synthetic materials will melt and burn well enough to put big holes in them, natural materials will char/burn enough to hole through. What I've also seen with synthetic tent fabrics is where the fibres have been heated enough to melt into a 'solid near rigid sheet' about the size of a dinner plate, not totally ruined but would be if you tried folding the now embrittled melted area.
The other aspect of using gas appliances in enclosed spaces (Carbon Monoxide poisoning aside - as if that's not bad enough!) is gas leaks and build up to explosive conditions. In outside/well ventilated porch type areas/no SIG, any leaking gas is likely to disperse before becoming a huge risk, in a confined space it can build up, LPG gases are heavier than air and settle at ground level, you won't smell it as your nose is likely above the gas cloud, but more than enough gas building up to make a big fireball is the risk! It's the reason why caravans/MHs have 'drop vents' (holes in the floor) by gas appliances and in cylinder storage lockers.
Depends what you're cooking/heating, but also risk of a pan fire I suppose. And who hasn't set fire to an oven cloth/gloves/tea towel that was too close to the flames!
The risks are real enough, but thankfully incidents are rare, but I've known of a few. One of the tents we borrowed years ago had the melted wall. Last serious one was when a friend nearly lost his brand new, first time out £65k MH after the tent on the next pitch caught fire when the gas fridge was placed too close to the tent wall, that set on fire and the domino effect set fire to much other stuff in tent until it was all going up - VERY QUICKLY! Thankfully someone brave (or foolhardy!) dragged the gas cylinder out of the fire and turned it off, and the fire got doused by other quick thinking/acting campers before it became more widespread. The tent owners returned from a day out to charred remains. Also had a friend with a single burner 'suitcase stove' have it turn into a fireball when the onboard gas cartridge leaked - thankfully she was outside her tent when it went up, and threw it clear of her pitch.
I think most of us have cooked inside a tent to some degree even if in an open/closed porch and I certainly have used gas fridges in porch areas, I always make reasonable efforts to minimise risks, wind shield around stove to keep flames/heat off tent walls (don't forget tent walls flap and can get a lot closer to flame in a wind gust than 'normal!), stove (and fridge) placed well in from walls so rising heat doesn't present a risk. Fire extinguisher AND Fire blanket close by stove. Quick low risk exit from tent possible for all occupants.
If you really must cook in the main body of a tent, then perhaps electric is the way to go, Induction Hobs are the favourite (but you need the right kind of pans, and of course EHU!)
Not a risk as such, but an undesirable side effect, especially with synthetic fabric tents, is the excessive condensation you get cooking inside a tent, if coolish weather it can make everything inside the tent permanently damp. ..... and of course EVERYTHING smells of 'cooking'! I'd now never consider a tent that didn't have a separate porch area for cooking, from both safety and condensation aspects.
Best advice is don't do it unless you really have no alternative.
If you need an alternative have some emergency 'just add water' meals in your store so you are limited to just boiling a kettle which can usually be done outside.
This is our setup - one gas ring on a Cadac powerpak, one induction and a mini oven. Generally safe and predictable but even so I managed to put a hole in our mesh window when the gas canisters fell over and sent liquid butane up the pipe. We still use it, but I’m very careful to secure the gas when we set up.
Large tents with an open end and your cooker is at the opening is as far as I’d go personally. There are a bunch of horror stories of dead children out there where people have tried to run gas appliances inside tents or boats. Gas heaters are the most evil.
Where possible I’d have some sort of separate awning with no sides to run gas stoves and other oxygen depleting devices and leave it at that
Personal choice on this one --I would never cook inside a tent unless it was very large-we do use a gazebo sometimes. I would rig something up with a tarp or even a windbreak/golf brolley combination. Be safe.
Quote: Originally posted by BRYANMITCH on 26/6/2022
Personal choice on this one --I would never cook inside a tent unless it was very large-we do use a gazebo sometimes. I would rig something up with a tarp or even a windbreak/golf brolley combination. Be safe.
Have cooked in tents regularly over 45 years - mostly small ones with sitting head room or less. I mostly camp in winter.
Think this is one of the smaller tents I cooked in.
My current main tent is only a tad bigger.
I had cooked inside my Khyam Freelander, just inside the opening of the tent with the canopy up, with my Cadac Safari Chef HP on the carpet.
Only just once as I worried about the frying pan slipping being dropped onto the carpet while it was still hot etc...
Also the risk of fire due to using a naked flame.
If I were to cook inside a tent, I would consider getting a Vango low wattage 2-burner induction hob nowadays.
For my van, I have a Thetford 2-burner induction hob and a mini electric oven, as I don't like to use gas or have a naked flame inside.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
First time in many decades just been camping with a couple of 1-2 man 'canvas coffin' type tents just to sleep in (usually use large 6 berth family type tents with porch area for kitchen), with no scope for the gas fridge or gas stove inside the tents (at any level - space OR safety!), so got a large poled tarp from Decathlon to provide a sheltered sitting out/kitchen area to keep stove and fridge out of rain. Set up camp in torrential rain and a fair wind, and a few more showers next day, but the tarp proved itself to be invaluable, 'kitchen' stayed dry, and when the scorching (French) sun did come out, the tarp proved to be a very effective sun shade.
If you don't have a open porch on your tent to cook in, then a tarp has to be a good investment. The Decathlon 'MULTIFUNCTION CAMPING TARP AND AWNING - FRESH XL' that we got absolutely excelled our modest expectations, the sun/heat blocking ability was truly astounding, it was far too hot to be sat in the direct sun for us (and the tents were like ovens!!), but under the tarp was lovely and cool, and nicely dry in the rain!
Some frame tents, like the older Cabanon cotton canvas tents, has dedicated kitchen extension with large window with mosquito net; they still have one listed on their website:
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
If a tarp is to be used, I would strong advise to learn how to put it up using the Ridge Line method, and for it to be taken down quickly if the weather turns foul and becomes windy and rain heavily.
I would only leave a tarp up unattended if I could be certain of good weather with light winds only, after having woken up one morning with a partially collapsed tarp due to rain water pooling and pulled the Delta pegs out on one side due to the ground being soggy!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
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Topic: Cooking inside the tent
via mobile 07/6/2022 at 5:47pm
