When I was probably about 14, a friend, my sister, and I went camping just two or three hundred yards from the house, across a pasture down by the woods. We made the mistake of eating cookies inside the tent. That night, luckily as it would turn out, my friend got a nose bleed, and we had to walk back to the house by moonlight. In the morning, we found the tent completely overrun with fire ants. Not only did it look like a horror movie situation narrowly avoided, they had chewed hundreds of holes into the tent floor. The new tent floor. Needless to say, my dad was pretty disappointed with us. He was incredulous about the fact I hadn’t realized we never brought food into the tent. Since then, I’ve stuck to that simple rule – no food in the tent – religiously.

Now that I’m older, and the internet is a thing, I’ve read several articles about bear safety, and they almost all say not to cook in your camping area. In fact, several suggest cooking at least 200 feet from where you will set up camp, as well as hanging your food 200 feet away. Of course, those of you with experience know this isn’t just because of bears, but raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, the list goes on.

But then again, I’ve also seen many forum posts, blog entries, advertisements, and gear reviews that mention cooking under a tarp shelter or even in the vestibule of a tent when it’s raining. Is this usually only done in areas where bears aren’t a problem? Do people who do this know they could wake up to a skunk scratching around their door and take a calculated risk anyway? What do you do?

I think it was wandering_daisy who showed a video or pictures of how quickly a tent can burn. I see no advantage to cooking inside a tent. If it's raining, it won't kill a person to eat something else or wait for the rain to stop before cooking. Or put on the raingear and cook outside.

With all the talk of bear problems (Not to mention all the other critters out there), I find it odd that I've never had a serious problem. Except for a raccoon that was in my camp one morning just as I woke up. Little thief stole my comb!

Of course my wife says the reason is that I do resemble a bear and that might be the reason they stay out of my camp

I spent a few minutes trying to coax the search engine to lead me to a discussion we had on this subject, perhaps a year ago or so. It was a pretty good give-and-take that involved a lot of our members. As I recall, the preponderance of opinion was that there are always alternatives to cooking in your vestibule and the risks weren't worth it. It wasn't unanimous, though.

Some of the risks mentioned were:

- fire!!!
- attracting animals in general
- attracting bears in particular, who should never associate a tent with yummy food
- fire!!!

Some of the alternatives mentioned were:

- waiting for the rain to stop
- substituting a no-cook meal (usually a lunch)
- if rain seems likely from the forecast, bring something you can rig up as a roof over a separate kitchen area
- looking for a naturally sheltered area where you can cook and eat

In addition to the varmints already mentioned, there are mice, chipmunks (cute but voracious), ground squirrels, crows, ravens, magpies. All of them can do considerable damage to your shelter if there is food or even food smells inside.

Wait, did you say fire ants ATE your tent floor?

[Note to self: forbid fire ants from moving to state. Add adjacent states to forbidden list.]

Don't now often camp where rain settles in for the long haul, but it still occasionally happens (this last Monday edging towards being just that). When it occurs, might cook in the vestibule (of a tent so-equipped) or in the middle of a floorless teepee-type shelter. However, I prefer a dining fly away from the tent--either a tarp carried for the purpose or a rigged poncho(s). Back in my PNW hiking days this was SOP, because it will rain. In California, not so much.

Stove accidents are much more prevalent with liquid fuel burners, especially while priming. Canister stoves are safer, particularly those with integrated, attached pots such as the Jetboil. It's still a flame, with the obvious inherent dangers, but the far more common hazard is tipping over the pot with a stray elbow. If you've ever seen what a quart of stew can do to a pair of down sleeping bags....

My shirtpocket attorney informs me to say I do not condone the use of flame within fifty feet of any flammable item, including fabric shelters. So be it.

Cheers,

Remember that burning nylon melts onto flesh. (I believe that was in Wandering Daisy's post!) I don't know about cuben fiber, and considering its price I'm not about to experiment. It's basically mylar with nylon fibers embedded, so I assume its behavior when on fire will be similar.

Also note that most of the really lightweight tents are not "fireproof." I understand that silnylon (silicone-impregnated nylon) can't hold the chemicals used for fire resistance.

Even a pot of plain water (hot or cold) tipping over in the tent will not improve the insulation qualities of your sleeping bag!

At least with a tarp, you don't have a floor and can put the stove just outside. I'd still worry about attracting varmints, large or small.

Yes, fire ants are bad news around here. That was a bit over an hour away from where I live now, but you still have to be careful about where you sit or put a tent.



When you use a dining fly, do you try to keep it some minimum distance from the tent?

Not really, the campsite layout itself tends to dictate where the shelter and kitchen go, and when stringing a fly I try to suspend it between two trees, which in alpine territory don't tend to grow where I'd prefer them to so that's a third variable.

My trips seem to differ from folks such as thruhikers who eat in one place and sleep in another due to critter concerns. Just returned from a week in and around NE Yosemite and didn't encounter anything interested in our food, despite the place's reputation.

Cheers,