Companion forum thread to:

Stoves, Tents and Carbon Monoxide - Deadly or not? Supplement 3: Brunton Vapor AF

Thanks for your extraordinary research again. You save us much time and expense not to mention keeping us safe if we choose to cook inside, out of the wet cold wind. Life is better!

Wow, only one comment on this article. Make me wonder how many of us have cooked in our tents with reckless abandon with nary a thought of co poisoning. I have cooked and even used a butane/propane lantern in a tent without a headache. While I appreciate Roger's effort, I must wonder how much of a concern to most BPLers this whole subject is?

Edited by kthompson on 02/10/2009 19:15:42 MST.

>Make me wonder how many of us have cooked in our tents with reckless abandon with nary a thought of co2 poisoning
Just a point of clarification;
The concern is with co (carbon monoxide - a component of fuel exhaust) not co2 (carbon dioxide - a vital trace gas which plants need)

I would think a tent sealed tight enough for co to become a serious issue would become so 'stuffy' due to lack of oxygen that the occupant would be forced to open up for air before serious consequences could ensue in terms of co poisoning. That said, I wouldn't want to fall asleep with a butane lamp running in a closed tent with snow round the bottom of it.

Perhaps Roger might comment on what he knows of the medical aspects of how quickly co is cleared from humans systems, and what if any long term effects there are to exposure at lower doses.

> a tent sealed tight enough for co to become a serious issue would become so 'stuffy' due to lack of oxygen
You would think so, wouldn't you?
But people *have* died inside sealed tents and inside 'sealed' snow caves from CO poisoning. Not nice.

> how quickly co is cleared from humans
My memory is that most symptoms are cleared after an hour or two in fresh air. The CO releases from the red blood cells over time.

> what if any long term effects there are to exposure at lower doses.
Don't really know.
Having your brain half-starved of oxygen for days on end can't be good for you though.

Cheers

Thanks Roger C,
I'll do some research on longer term effects. I have used an american army gasoline stove as a space heater in a big tent before without problems, but it did have decent ventilation.

I managed to give myself a headache doing 'sniff tests' while I was optimising my kelly kettles, but was fine a couple of hours later. Stove inventors have to suffer for their art I guess.

Hi RogerT

> I managed to give myself a headache doing 'sniff tests' while I was optimising my kelly kettles,
I don't think that would have been due to CO.
It would be quite easy for other volatiles to do it to you though.

Cheers