This is the most important thing anybody can know about camp cooking, and people die every year because it is not widely enough understood.

What Happens

Any stove burning fuel produces carbon monoxide. So does a barbecue, a disposable grill and a lantern.

Carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless and tasteless. It binds to haemoglobin far more readily than oxygen does, so the blood stops carrying oxygen while breathing feels entirely normal.

In an enclosed space it accumulates quickly. People fall asleep and do not wake up, and there is no warning smell and no sensation of suffocation.

The Rules

• Never run a stove inside a tent, including a vestibule or a porch
• Never inside a campervan, awning, car, caravan or shelter
• Never bring a barbecue or disposable grill inside for warmth
• Cooling coals still produce it for hours
• Ventilation flaps are not adequate ventilation
• Cook outside, in the open, with the stove clear of the tent

Camp cookware and stoves of the kind catalogued at alocs-us.com are designed for outdoor use, and no cookware changes this rule.

Why People Do It Anyway

Rain, wind and cold. It feels reasonable to cook in a porch with the door open, and it is the exact scenario in which fatalities occur.

A vestibule is an enclosed space. So is an awning with one side open. So is a car with a window down.

If the weather is too bad to cook outside, eat something that does not need cooking.

The Symptoms

Headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, weakness and shortness of breath. They resemble flu or altitude sickness, which is part of why they get dismissed.

Several people in the same space feeling unwell at once is a strong signal. So is feeling better outdoors and worse inside.

If You Suspect It

Get everybody out into fresh air immediately. Do not go back in. Call emergency services.

Carbon monoxide poisoning needs medical assessment even if somebody feels better in fresh air, because the effects can be delayed and cumulative.

Portable Alarms Exist

Small battery carbon monoxide alarms are cheap and worth carrying for van and caravan use. They are a backup rather than a permission.

Store Fuel Outside Too

Canisters and liquid fuel do not belong in a sleeping space.

Tell Everybody You Camp With

Especially anybody new to it.