windscreen & vestibule cooking

[squeezebox]

1) How do you keep your windscreen from blowing away? I just finished cutting a wind screen 9x17 out of an Aluminum foil cookie sheet, weighs 1 oz. fits in the inside pocket of my pack flat. I was thinking maybe poke a couple of small holes near the bottom, insert a small stick in each, then weigh down the sticks

2) Cooking inside the tent vestibule with a canister stove as safely as possible.

[Feral Bill]

If it is windy enough that this is a challenging problem, you might consider camping elsewhere. If you camp above treeline, and must cook in a gale, you'll might need to use that vestibule with extreme care.

[Coffee]

I do not cook under the vestibule. If I must cook while sitting inside my tent, I position my Jetboil as far from the tent as I can while still being able to reach it and control the flame. This is usually a foot or two beyond the end of the canopy of my tent. I am not comfortable igniting anything below the canopy of my tent, whether inside the tent itself or under a vestibule. I only cook while sitting inside my tent if it is raining hard.

[scrabbler]

Good article on the topic ...
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/cooking-in-a-tent-caffin.html

[Starchild]

Cooking in the vestibule has,is and will continue to be done. Stove choice (fuel type) and ground conditions are the predominate factors. Tent combustion potential should also factor in, however I still don't know how CF or Sil Nylon will go up in flames. I did like to keep a knife open and ready to cut a new opening if needed (however again I don't know how well a knife could cut cuban).

With the Jetboil I did feel very safe as the flame was very contained, and the components were locked together. It was very much controlled. The combustion of the canister fuel is also very clean and complete. I also used it to give a momentarily burst of heat a couple of times or so in the dead of winter inside the tent itself. It did cause a dramatic rise of temp very fast - enough to get comfortable and drive away any chill.

Later with Esbit, I was a bit more nervous and most of the time for my morning 'cup of joe' while still in the bag, I pushed the stove just outside the vestibule (actually just a beak for my tent). I was concerned about the way Esbit burned and the fumes it gave off.

[Connie]

I have used shepherd hook tent stakes to hold down my caldera clone, putting the shepherd hook thru the holes around the bottem of the windscreen.

I do not bring a stove inside a tent, or, vestibule without an asbestos stove jack that accompanies a wood stove designed for a "hunter's tent" recently designated online as a "hot tent".

For example, http://www.bplite.com/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=4539&hilit=Hunters+tent&start=400

If I did, I would have a small alcohol stove that never spills fuel, and, never "blooms" or flares up: a number of Zelph stoves meet that standard.

If I did, the hammock tarp with doors or tent vestibule would have considerable "head room" and the floorless vestibule would be opened up for ventilation.

If I did, I would be covered up wearing natural fiber clothing, because burning "plastic" fabric makes horrible burns on human flesh.

Brawny has a YouTube video of a silnylon tent go up in flames.


http://youtu.be/w492-EVCHQo

[Connie]

I have seen a cooking canopy, made with a separate tarp, pitched up high.