Using camp gas stove in a hotel/motel room?

[rayjai]

Hi All,

My friend and I are going to road trip to to Maine to hike Katahdin and we plan to stay in some motels along the way. we will be on a tight schedule and probably won't have time to eat out. Does anyone know if the gas camp stoves will set off the fire alarms or sprinklers? I know cooking certain things might set it off.

Thanks!
Ray

[lush242000]

The stove won't. What you are cooking might.


Sent from somewhere.

[Cookerhiker]

The question isn't whether the stoves will trigger the alarms.

The question is whether the motel owners will allow you to use the stoves inside their rooms. I would guess the answer is no. I sure wouldn't allow it, just as I wouldn't use a gas stove in my house.

[Spirit Walker]

Many motels have a picnic area outside. Use that. Many motels have microwaves. If not, make sandwiches. Or cook your main meal at a rest area during the day. Cooking inside with a camp stove is not a good idea.

[SunnyWalker]

You're trying to save money. However, paying for the motel you burned down might cost a lot more then going out to eat on your trip.

[Nodust]

Just find a campground. Save money and you will already have the gear with you.

[TD55]

First post. Will the following ones be this stupid.

[putts]

I've never experienced a problem cooking in my room. As mentioned, if you burn your food you may have a problem with sprinklers. If you burn down the hotel then you were probably to close to the curtains or something of the sort, but I don't think hotel rooms combust just from lighting up your jetboil. I don't think I lost too many brain cells from the fumes, probably less than I would've lost at the bar had I gone out. If your cooking Thanksgiving diner in there, the fumes may get out of hand - that I don't know, but I'm sure someone will chime in about that.

[Slo-go'en]

I suppose it depends on the kind of stove you have. A typcial canister stove should be harmless enough. White gas, wood or alcohol, probably not.

But most motel rooms these days at least have a microwave, so just use that.

[rayjai]

Thank you all, we're trying to do this all in 3 days, Go up Friday after work and return Sunday Night. Camping would be nice, but we don't have the proper cold gear for it.
We probably won't cook in the room, but we might if it's late at night and we want something hot. If we do, we'll be using a JetBoil to cook canned foods and maybe Ramen/rice. Definitely not thanksgiving dinner. lol

[Nodust]

Thank you all, we're trying to do this all in 3 days, Go up Friday after work and return Sunday Night. Camping would be nice, but we don't have the proper cold gear for it.
We probably won't cook in the room, but we might if it's late at night and we want something hot. If we do, we'll be using a JetBoil to cook canned foods and maybe Ramen/rice. Definitely not thanksgiving dinner. lol

I wouldn't be afraid of using my jet boil inside. Have done it before when testing it. I wouldn't use an alcohol stove though.

Have fun be safe.

[theinfamousj]

Many motels have a picnic area outside. Use that. Many motels have microwaves. If not, make sandwiches. Or cook your main meal at a rest area during the day. Cooking inside with a camp stove is not a good idea.

This is the correct answer. Even when not on the way to go hiking, I have cooked many a meal in a motel parking lot whole using my JetBoil. If the weather is good, motel staff will at most express impressed curiosity while you cook (though usually they simply don't care).

Walmart patrons, on the other hand... Now they'll give you strange looks. (Yes, I have cooked up dinner in a Walmart parking lot while my road trip compatriots were inside shopping.)

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk

[4eyedbuzzard]

It won't set off the sprinkler system. It might set off the smoke alarms, particularly if you are doing more than boiling water. The stove alone might set off CO alarms if they have them. If the room has a door directly to the outside, just cook outside.

[rickb]

Thank you all, we're trying to do this all in 3 days, Go up Friday after work and return Sunday Night. Camping would be nice, but we don't have the proper cold gear for it.
We probably won't cook in the room, but we might if it's late at night and we want something hot. If we do, we'll be using a JetBoil to cook canned foods and maybe Ramen/rice. Definitely not thanksgiving dinner. lol

FYI a hike uo Katahdin this weekend would most likely require camping and more time than you have got. The roads inside the park will be closed, right?

Google up Baxter State Park Authority.

Please don't use your stove within a hotel room -- it's just not right.

[Trailweaver]

Not one mention of it being against the law. If you use a stove in a hotel room, you would most certainly be breaking some law (s) regarding creating a fire hazard. Your troubles can multiply quickly when charged with multiple counts if someone is injured, the room (s) damaged, etc. I certainly wouldn't risk that jail/prison time as a way to save money or time! It would most likely be a felony charge.

[peakbagger]

If the plan is Katahdin anytime before the park reopens in June, then winter rules apply. The gates are closed and the road isn't plowed (They have had some early snow but it may not be plowable yet), thus you are parking on the Golden Road and doing a 20 mile day hike to climb the mountain as there is no camping in the park this time of year. I believe you also need to obtain a winter day use permit at park headquarters. If the conditions are like in NH currently bring full winter gear including crampons and the required equipment that BSP requires.

With regard to cooking in a hotel room, its stupid idea, stoves tend to reflect heat downwards and its highly likely that the predominantly synthetic surfaces in typical hotel room will be damaged.

Do yourself a favor practice in the whites winter hiking and once you get it down after a year or to, then think about katahdin in winter.

[Starchild]

You might consider a electric stove, camp stoves are not made to run indoors.

Also while you may be going to be hiking Baxter Peak, the trail head for Katahdin starts at Springer Mt GA

[colorado_rob]

I wouldn't be afraid of using my jet boil inside. Have done it before when testing it. I wouldn't use an alcohol stove though.

Have fun be safe.

Yeah, me too, despite the fear-factor thing in this thread, using a jetboil on a hard-surface, like granite-top sink or even better, in the porceline bathtub is safe. The CO coming off a small stove like a jetboil is insignificant in a larger volume room like a hotel room, and the fire danger using it in a bathtub is zero as long as you use the most basic of cautions (like make sure the shower curtain is nowhere close). I don't think I'd use any other stove personally, though.

[drifter]

Please tell me you are kidding? Not a good idea at all - as others have said please cook outside, pack sandwiches, whatever. Would you really want folks using stoves and cooking if you owned the motel? Regardless of how careful you might be you should not take chances - would be great PR news for the hiking community if the motel burns down.

[mikec]

I've stayed in motels while section hiking in the past. What I do is go outside and find either a vacant parking spot or other area while concrete/asphalt and boil water out there. Then I bring the water back inside and make my food. Depending on the stove, I may leave it outside to cool. This has worked for me. I would never use a camp stove in a motel room.