[QUOTE=stephanD;2284113]With that attitude, I suppose one should never admit to driving a car, turning right on a red light, using a camping stove in the wilderness when there weather is dry, opening a tube of glue indoors, testing your camping stove in your kitchen at home, etc. There may be 100 reasons not to cook with your camping stove in a motel room, but not admitting to doing so out of fear that someone else with less "luck" than you will copy you and cause problems is a level of hypocrisy that I sure don't want to see accepted as the norm in an information sharing platform like these forums.The problem with that statement is
the dude (and it's always a dude) who will read this will think
"hey, if he can do it, why not me".
And he may not be as lucky as you
and he will bring down the motel
along with some other people
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
[QUOTE=nsherry61;2284119] You may be right in theory. In real life, stupid copy stupid, and that is how bad things happen to good people. In your own home, do as you please. You have no right to risk others in other's people property. Besides, turning right on a red light is legal in NY state (unless otherwise indicated).
During our Camino which every night is a town night, I brought a immersion heater which I could heat water for morning coffee (we often left before the owner cared to get up to provide coffee and usually some light breakfast). It seemed to work good, but IDK if I would do it on mostly a tenting backpack trip.
I wouldn’t. Just feels janky
HOW TO COOK IN A HOTEL ROOM WITHOUT A KITCHEN
August 17, 2019
https://wheretheroadforks.com/how-to...out-a-kitchen/
Yes! and Yes!
This whole discussion about danger cooking in hotel rooms seems stupid to me! We all put a lot more people and property in danger cooking in the woods and risking massive wildfires than we do cooking in a hotel room. In a hotel, we're not surrounded by dry tinder, and we are "surrounded" by smoke detectors and sprinkler systems. And, just like our community is okay with people cooking at their tent-site or shelter using responsible choices (and accepting the risk of a few idiots), I've got no problem whatsoever with responsibly cooking in my hotel room when appropriate and desired.
And yes, of course hotel rooms, being enclosed spaces, have different risks than the backcountry that need to be considered. But, I question the suggestion that cooking in your hotel room is inherently more dangerous or more irresponsible that cooking anywhere else that is not a engineered kitchen.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
Not to be busting anybody balls I was just quoting FlyPaper the thread starter. And was just curious after reading all these responses what would they do now?
You could be right that a sober thru hiker is highly unlikely to start a fire with their camp stove.
That said, so long as motel policy or law is in place, other guests have (IMHO) an absolute right to expect nobody will cooking over an open flame in an adjacent room — whether they be responsible hikers or tweakers.
My guess is that such policies and/or laws exist almost everywhere— but that is just a guess.
There's nothing wrong with cooking in towns, but why not just find a park picnic table and cook there? Or a bench? Or just go into the parking lot. I don't see a need to cook inside a motel room.
Just ask management if it is ok then and if they are cool with it no problem. Usually they a put a kitchenette in though. Plus it's something you could do outside in a much safer manner with much less risk to the property.
A stick built hotel is surrounded by kiln dried lumber. It's also a lot drier than many outdoor environments. So what if it has sprinklers, the property damage will be expensive regardless, environmental cleanup charges aren't cheap. The property owner will loose a source of income. May see their insurance go up.
I personally wouldn't want guests deciding they needed hot soup in the middle of the night and running their backpacking stoves in the guest bedroom. Take a look at any picnic table on the AT and you'll see that's a bad idea.
If you are using a stove in a backpacking environment, you ought to be doing it with appropriate permission--no fire restrictions. Should be the same in a hotel.
A hotel has a limited number of exit points. Most people don't even read the fire escape routes on the door. They are mandated though because it is critical when every second may count and people may get trapped. Lots of noxious fumes from burning who knows what industrial materials. Multiple floors, windows that don't open all the way.
"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.
I was going to add some more controversy to this threat with some actual research and facts, but instead I found THIS.
Cheers.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
I challenge anyone to show us real numbers that can indicate that there is anywhere near as much damage done to property or human life by camp stoves in motels compared to camp stoves in the wild. It may be out there, but, I sure can't find much, whereas there is plenty on wildfire damage.
To suggest that canister stoves should not be used in motels for safety reasons just doesn't hold up if you are okay with using the same stoves in the wilderness. If you suggest canister stoves shouldn't be used because they are not as safe as a stove in a kitchen, then sure. Make that suggestion, but, I'm not sure how that pertains to a backpacking forum.
And, if you obey the law just because it is the law, go for it. In my home town it was against the law to carry a metal lunch box after 5 pm. Nobody knew that was the law until the town started removing stupid laws from its books. But, it was the law. Somewhere in here there is surely a healthy balance. Clearly, my perception of that balance is different than some others here.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
To me it’s not the stove it’s the hotel room. They’re not built for cooking.
On the safety issue, I’m not sure what the odds of an incident in room vs on trail, but sure as hell the likely magnitude of impact is higher. Far more likely to take a human life in a hotel fire.
Wanna cook something cuz you’re cold? You’re in a motel—take a long ass shower.
Wanna cook something cuz you’re hungry? Eat all the rest of your snacks or go out.
Whole question seems weird ass bat **** to me.
False equivalency. It's got nothing to do with whether they are safe in outdoor recreation. It's whether it is safe indoors to do so and permitted by the property owner.
The manufacturers say not to use them indoors.
Pocketrocket
Jetboil
Here's a hotel not far from the trail saying no cooking per fire code. Lots of hotels state outright no cooking in rooms.
I can't help you that you don't understand that placing a tippy open flame source into a room with no design space to safely operate it is unsafe. I guess it's not enough that hotel owners, fire marshals, and the stove manufacturers say not to do it. You don't see people burning down hotels with backpacking stoves because the vast majority know better. It's not whether this is regulated, it's just common sense.
"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.
Ask it it is allowed when checking in. If they say no, don’t do it. It’s common curtesy.
From my perspective the issue is who gets to decide the risk that one’s fellow hotel guests must tolerate.
Best practices, common policies (and perhaps the law) say those other hotel guests should not be required to accept any risk from your stove
You say they should.
Such is the way of the world.
Here is some info, but it only speaks to fire statistics — not to who has the right to act upon their interpretation of them.
https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/...tics/v19i4.pdf