The Dangers of Carbon Monoxide and other gasses in tents

[Wise Old Owl]

http://www.bing.com/search?q=camper+dies+of+cabon+monoxide&src=ie9tr

Its that time of year, folks make mistakes... I too have had a close call. A few years back at a Rendezvous for the French & Indian Gathering... One man was so cold he pulled a homemade Charcoal Brick burner into his tent and died the next morning. This incident made me clearly aware of what could happen. A few years later while in a Solo tent at a scouting event I was less than ten feet from the campfire ring and woke up at 5am to a pounding headache and the turned on my light and could not see anything, the tent was full of smoke, I was coughing the rest of the day, and surprised I woke up at all- I should have gone to the ER.

NEVER use a Jellied alcohol burner or Sterno in your tent....


Think about your safety while you are out, you can never be too careful and prepared.
18844

[Don H]

WOO, I would never pitch my tent only ten feet from a campfire, I'd be afraid of embers burning holes in it!

Under the correct conditions smoke can stay low and travel quite a distance but I would have never thought that a tent as well ventilated as a Solo would ever be a problem with CO. Thanks for the heads up, something to keep in mind.

[WingedMonkey]

We probably should not confuse smoke with carbon monoxide, which is odorless, tasteless, and colorless.

[johnnybgood]

Never place a tent within 25 ft of a campfire no matter what. Overnight weather conditions change,shifting winds rekindle burning embers...pitching a tent under 10 ft is clearly a head scratcher move.

[bert304]

If you do not put a tent with in 25 feet of a campfire, How do you explain a fire insde a teepee or under the awning of a lean-to style tent?

[Wise Old Owl]

We probably should not confuse smoke with carbon monoxide, which is odorless, tasteless, and colorless.

I agree - can't think of everything!:cool: Add Carbon Dioxide


If you do not put a tent with in 25 feet of a campfire, How do you explain a fire inside a teepee or under the awning of a lean-to style tent?

Volume and air flow- a real TP is huge with a flap at the top, when it was a downpour - they could close it. When the fire was going it would draw air from the bottom sides and the smoke would go out the top - not exactly healthy. Carbon Monoxide is produced with slow burning items... (Smoldering) like brickettes.

[Pathfinder1]

http://www.bing.com/search?q=camper+dies+of+cabon+monoxide&src=ie9tr

Its that time of year, folks make mistakes... I too have had a close call. A few years back at a Rendezvous for the French & Indian Gathering... One man was so cold he pulled a homemade Charcoal Brick burner into his tent and died the next morning. This incident made me clearly aware of what could happen. A few years later while in a Solo tent at a scouting event I was less than ten feet from the campfire ring and woke up at 5am to a pounding headache and the turned on my light and could not see anything, the tent was full of smoke, I was coughing the rest of the day, and surprised I woke up at all- I should have gone to the ER.

NEVER use a Jellied alcohol burner or Sterno in your tent....


Think about your safety while you are out, you can never be too careful and prepared.
18844




Hi...


Excellent, and perhaps long overdue post.

Heavy smoke alone can have serious effects, as you found out. Even worse in the Carbon Monoxide, charcoal being the worst offender, although ALL burning fuels emit it. And then there is the lesser known, but still devestating oxygen depletion.

Bottom line...if it burns, don't bring it into your tent...!! I do make allowences for such items as a candle lamp, though.

[ChinMusic]

Is there any data on dangerous gasses in shelters?

[Pedaling Fool]

Well I'll worry more about falling limbs, but here are some other considerations about burning wood, I'm not sure how that compares to charcoal, but nonetheless I'll continue making fires.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/07/us-climate-biofuels-idUSBRE90601A20130107?feedType=RSS&feedName=scienceNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FscienceNews+%28Reut ers+Science+News%29


Excerpt:


Poplar, willow or eucalyptus trees, all used as fast-growing sources of renewable wood fuel, emit high levels of the chemical isoprene as they grow, the study said. Isoprene forms toxic ozone when mixed with other air pollutants in sunlight.

"Large-scale production of biofuels in Europe would have small but significant effects on human mortality and crop yields," said Hewitt.

"As far as we know, no one has looked at the air quality of growing biofuel crops before," he added.

The report estimated that ozone from wood-based energy to meet the European Union's 2020 goal would cause nearly 1,400 premature deaths a year, costing society $7.1 billion.

The European plan would also would reduce the annual value of wheat and maize production by $1.5 billion since ozone impairs crop growth, the study added.

LUNG PROBLEMS

Siting new biofuel plantations far away from polluted population centres would help limit ozone formation, the study suggested. Genetic engineering (http://www.reuters.com/sectors/industries/overview?industryCode=46&lc=int_mb_1001) might be used to reduce isoprene emissions, it said.

Ozone can cause lung problems and is blamed for killing about 22,000 people a year in Europe. Overall air pollution, mainly from fossil fuels, causes about 500,000 premature deaths in Europe a year, according to the European Environment Agency.

Sunday's study did not compare the potential damage caused by biofuels to the impact on human health from producing coal (http://www.reuters.com/sectors/industries/overview?industryCode=4&lc=int_mb_1001), oil or natural gas (http://www.reuters.com/sectors/industries/overview?industryCode=185&lc=int_mb_1001) as part of policies to slow global warming.

"We're not in a position to make that comparison," Hewitt said.

He noted that the main reason to shift to biofuels was to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, mainly from fossil fuels, that U.N. studies project will become ever more damaging this century.

The United Nations (http://www.reuters.com/subjects/united-nations?lc=int_mb_1001)' World Health Organization estimates global warming has caused more than 140,000 deaths annually worldwide since the 1970s.

The biggest impact was recorded in developing nations where the floods, droughts and other disasters blamed on climate change left millions suffering from diarrhea, malnutrition, malaria and dengue fever.

Burning biofuels is viewed as neutral for climate change because plants soak up carbon when they grow and release it when they burn or rot. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, add carbon to the atmosphere from underground stores millions of years old.

Biofuels are often blamed for causing food price spikes by competing for cropland. Responding to such criticisms, the European Commission (http://www.reuters.com/video/reuters-tv?videoId=238685815&videoChannel=118066&lc=int_mb_1001) said last year it aimed to limit crop-based biofuels - such as from maize or sugar - to five percent of transport fuels.

[skinewmexico]

Backpacking Light did an excellent test on various propane stoves and CO emissions. Snowpeak is your friend. The worst offender was what is argueably the most worshipped propane stove on this forum.

[Rasty]

Backpacking Light did an excellent test on various propane stoves and CO emissions. Snowpeak is your friend. The worst offender was what is argueably the most worshipped propane stove on this forum.

Which stove?