[Ansteorra] GW camping in cold/hot weather tips

[Tom Kyle]

Greetings,

I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but when I lived in CAID I was a Senior
Constable  and posted safety advice for my Barony before each Estrella War.
Tent heaters were a common topic, especially after several people died one
year because they did not take proper precautions.  Following is a list I
developed over the years.  For the record, I have used a large tent heater
in several pavillions for years without incident.

TENT HEATERS
It can get cold at winter wars, and many of us choose to use a heater to
warm our tents.  However, in years past, people have been severely injured
and even killed by improperly using a tent heater.  Following are my annual
recommendations for staying warm AND alive:
1. Buy a heater with a thermocouple, a device which shuts off the gas if the
flame blows out.
2. Make sure your tent is well ventilated.
3. Use only in a canvas tent treated with flame retardant.
4. Keep all flamables away from the heater (hanging clothes, tapestries,
etc.)
5. Make sure the heater is stable and can't easily fall over.  Ours has a
plastic stand that makes it much more difficult to tip the tank over, even
intentionally.
6. Don't leave the heater unattended, including while you're asleep.  Use it
to warm the tent before going to bed, turn it off, then light it again when
you wake up, get back into bed, and get up and change once the tent warms
up.
7.  Don't mix alcohol and fire.  Make sure whoever is turning the heater on,
off and lighting it is sober.
8. Use common sense.
9. You might want to explore a new flameless heater I've seen advertised.  I
suspect it's a much safer alternative.

Yours in Service,
Lord Tomas mac Caoil

On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 3:27 PM, Hillary Greenslade <hillaryrg at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Greetings,
> With Gulf Wars looming on the horizon in a month, I thought I'd post a
> few questions about camping in very cold/hot and perhaps wet weather, and
> hopefully get some answers from folks to prepare those on our list for whom
> this is their first war:
>
> 1)  Garb:  recommendations on fibers, layers, under/outerwear, headgear,
> footgear?
>
> 2)  Tents:  recommendations on rain protections, ground preparations?
>
> 3)  Bedding:  ground/above-ground beds, bed clothes (blankets, sheets,
> furs)?
>
> 4)  Cooking/firepit safety:  emergency fire extinquishers, ground
> preparations, wood to use?
>
> 5)  Heaters in tents:  proper use of tent heaters, venting, carbon monixide
> poisoning issues?
>
> 6)  Health issues:  Hyperthermia, overheating issues,  insect prevention
> and treatment?
> Irritant plants presention and treatment (poison ivy/oak)?
>
> Anything else forgotten that might be good to share with newcomers
> preparing for their first camping?
>
> Here are a few links that might help in your preparations from a variety of
> great SCA war websites:
> http://www.gulfwars.org/rules.html
> http://www.gulfwars.org/faq.html
>
> Camping ideas from other great wars, these may not apply to Gulf Wars:
> http://www.estrellawar.org/Portals/EstrellaWar/articles/PACK-LST.pdf
> http://www.estrellawar.org/PreparingToAttend/Weather.aspx
> http://www.pennsicwar.org/penn39/GENERAL/pack.html
> http://www.pennsicwar.org/penn39/GENERAL/guide.html
>
> Happy planning and packing,
> Cheers, Hillary
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