What is the general etiquette for cooking outside at aires and camping car park type locations

[Jon Stewart]

I suspect it wasn't the table, but the table covering or discarded packaging, which may then have spread to the table or items in the table.

Of course it might also have been a faulty Cadac - we had one where the whole assemble came apart, which was eventually replaced free of charge by Cadac without them accepting responsibility, where it could quite easily have ignited anything in close proximity, luckily i was able to disconnect it from the gas supply within seconds ...

Cadacs response was that it must have shaken loose during travelling, my response was it is supposed to be 'travelled with' - that's the whole purpose of them. I also understand it wasn't just us that this happened to. It wasn't a Cadac cook though just a standard Cadac

Yes, I think it's likely flammable table covering, or the like.

My Cadac goes on a metal table (both ours are metal), and the burner design makes it unlikely to cause a problem.

Faulty /leaky unit, different story as you say.

My fire blanket is in the hab door, so within 6 feet of the cooking, and fire extinguishers in multiple locations.

 

[MisterB]

It's also not true. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse to break it definitely in the UK, I'd be pretty sure in every country. Similarly, I don't think there is any burden on the state to educate everyone in every law. But, maybe MisterB has an encyclopaedic knowledge of every country's laws.

I think your exaggerating the point. We are specifically talking about etiquette on Aires, not breaking every law in every country .... How some people twist comments to suit their own agenda and wag their fingers is quite often beyond me, this what I said

Its also one of those few times in my opinion that the benefits a power pack could bring if you were to use an electric grill/BBQ/George Foreman etc away from the van, at the picnic table or sat by a river, lake or even the beach if it's not too windy !! BUT there's always going to be a Debbie Downer telling you not to, if it's not prohibited then it's allowed in my mind, just be sensible....

My comment is quite clear, if it's not prohibited then it's allowed in my mind, and it was quite clearly in relation to using an electric appliance away from your motorhome powered by a powerbank, since when did that translate into me ignoring or breaking the laws of every country in any way that I chose? Are we so naive as to think that picnickers in cars, fishers along the banks of rivers etc don't utilise power banks already. I agree there doesn't have to be a sign specifically saying don't do something, which is why I added the caveat about being sensible, i would consider that to be if you're in an area where there is potential for 'an occurrence' when using an ELECTRIC cooking device, then don't use it, even if it isn't prohibited.... was that concept too difficult to grasp.
Common sense is my go to stalwart whenever I do things whether specifically prohibited or not. Even when allowed, there have been occasions when I haven't done something because it didn't seem the sensible thing to do.

Sometimes another sensible thing to do is to consider what someone has actually written and don't take it out of it's intended context rather than spinning it into something it wasn't.

 

[Growly bear]

I suspect it wasn't the table, but the table covering or discarded packaging, which may then have spread to the table or items in the table.

Of course it might also have been a faulty Cadac - we had one where the whole assemble came apart, which was eventually replaced free of charge by Cadac without them accepting responsibility, where it could quite easily have ignited anything in close proximity, luckily i was able to disconnect it from the gas supply within seconds ...

Cadacs response was that it must have shaken loose during travelling, my response was it is supposed to be 'travelled with' - that's the whole purpose of them. I also understand it wasn't just us that this happened to. It wasn't a Cadac cook though just a standard Cadac

There's a brass grub screw in the assembly which keeps the regulator together. Mine vibrated out. I noticed as the knob just pulled out! Near miss me thinks. Found the grub screw and refitted. A reminder to myself to check it for tightness...

 

[MisterB]

Yes, I think it's likely flammable table covering, or the like.

My Cadac goes on a metal table (both ours are metal), and the burner design makes it unlikely to cause a problem.

Faulty /leaky unit, different story as you say.

My fire blanket is in the hab door, so within 6 feet of the cooking, and fire extinguishers in multiple locations.

That's a sensible common sense approach, we seem to be creating a community where dynamic risk assessments are a thing of the past and we can only react in a way we are told we should.

In a previous role I ran an event called 'Crucial Crew' where young people were exposed to various risks to see how they reacted and then were advised or congratulated on their response. It was all about them doing the sensible thing when faced with risks. We never told them they were carrying out dynamic risk assessments, we told them it was all about doing the sensible thing after considering the options available and the potential consequences of their actions AND mitigating risk.
Risk cannot be avoided, it's how you mitigate that risk, either by not doing it or by reducing the risk to an acceptable level.

 

[vzac]

What I find amusing and is we park our van on the beach front at the side of a rd, (well used to be able to) but can take anything out and place Infront of the van tables chairs etc, but jump over the wall on to the beach and you can spread out kitchen, bathroom mobile loo windbreaks etc etc and that's not a problem, OR IS IT ?

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[MisterB]

There's a brass grub screw in the assembly which keeps the regulator together. Mine vibrated out. I noticed as the knob just pulled out! Near miss me thinks. Found the grub screw and refitted. A reminder to myself to check it for tightness...

I think that's what happened to ours, nice timely reminder to everyone to check your grub screw on a cadac gas burner assembly

 

[Rog NotJane]

I think your exaggerating the point.

Only to make the point that your statement about what’s “allowed” isn’t actually true - especially in the eyes of the French flic.

My comment is quite clear, if it's not prohibited then it's allowed in my mind, and it was quite clearly in relation to using an electric appliance away from your motorhome powered by a powerbank,
Common sense is my go to stalwart whenever I do things whether specifically prohibited or not. Even when allowed, there have been occasions when I haven't done something because it didn't seem the sensible thing to do.

This wasn’t clear to me so: sorry for that.

Sometimes another sensible thing to do is to consider what someone has actually written and don't take it out of it's intended context rather than spinning it into something it wasn't.

that doesn’t sound like any sort of fun

 

[barryd]

I must have been on thousands of Aires, Stellplatz and Sostas over the last couple of decades. I can't remember a single one where people didn't have chairs and outdoor furniture out. Its most definitely the norm on the places we stay but then I do carefully select them where I know there will be space. Ironically I rarely sit outside myself. As for cooking outside, not so much and its bloody annoying if someone fires up a barbecue, fire or outside grill if its quite near.

 

[yodeli]

What I find amusing and is we park our van on the beach front at the side of a rd, (well used to be able to) but can take anything out and place Infront of the van tables chairs etc, but jump over the wall on to the beach and you can spread out kitchen, bathroom mobile loo windbreaks etc etc and that's not a problem, OR IS IT ?

You're quite right but things will change soon as well. Governement is working on the matter. Right now it is smoking on the beach which is going to be banned.
What you can find on beaches, depending where you are and what signs you find along the chosen beach are the ones you are talking about, but no loo that's for sure, breakwinds yes, and whoever did that could have been fined on spot.
What scares me are the beach umbrellas , flying away: So dangerous !
When I think of those , I also think that on an aire it's the kind of totally unexpected element which can change the whole scenery:
Gaz ring outside , security is observed with care, and suddenly a small beach umbrella flies away, falls on the very hot place, which sets fire to the umbrella , then flies away in the gras.... pfffffffff that's it!
Could be a tee shirt or anything else really. I'm just realising this. Never came to my mind before...
Mind you, I guess you can imagine all sorts of worst-case scenario, just to make you feel unsecure, and the probability this happens might be nearly zero. It just shows us that with an excellent tool like cadac seems to be, and a lot of attention and care, something else, out of your imagination, can interfere.

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
FIRE ALERT This morning 07.43 i received it...
ALARM...Fire at Treixedo and Nagosela 5 vehicles 21 Firefighters..

Fire OUT. 07.51.
Be careful out there. ( " Its Hell on the Hill" )
Tea Bag.
PS. Veronica Hamel.......... Now..... Where was i ?

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[Shrimp]

We don’t tend to cook outside but we follow the ‘local’ vans examples, if they are camping we do too!

 

[yodeli]

jumar Thanks Martin for your "funny" smiley!!
You understood that one can make life terribly difficult with imagination. Laws are quite enough!!
I wouldn't dare to even think of taking my car (nor walk in the open space) if if if if! Deffo we all need to live and let live!!!

 

[JHuwJ]

Look Jon Stewart , I never wanted to make anyone feel bad in anyway, believe me.
You might be one of those who are careful, and also I know nothing about the way a cadac is very safe.

At the moment, excuse me to be human, what I've seen recently is mums dads grannies graddies children babies animals either suffering consequences of relatives'death or found dead.
We have this at the news too often to just say this is secure or not. This is not what I say. What I say is think first. Make the whole thing secure , make sure you have water enough next to you, is the moho away enough from the "hot place". All these things AND ... Wind and heat are not your friends.

This is also why I've always asked/begged even, to my motorhomers friends coming to my place when I was warden at the stadium in Balma: to let their grey water run free on my grass. No, it's not disgusting when you just take some time to wipe the dishes before you do the washing up, and every little water helps.

I do understand that you are not always aware of the danger. UK is surrounded by water and is mainly a green land with the rain. But France, Spain, Italy, Greece to only name a few have their share of sun and heat going up every single year. AND floods after that, so other advice is look at the forecast and try to avoid them as well, no bridge, so crumbling mountains next to where you park.....I wouldn't say a word if I didn't want to protect you as well from water just the same, you know!

EDIT : There are also people from those countries who carry on throwing their ciggies through the car windows!!!

Things are changing in the UK. We live in the Brecon Beacons / Black Mountains area. Over the last few years we have had lots of fires on the hills and they burn for days. Not like the big fires in parts of Southern Europe but still caused by careless people and quite often on purpose. Over the last couple of years fires have also become quite common in South Wales. We often see helicopters dredging water from Llangorse Lake and trying to douse the fires.

 

[JHuwJ]

Dunno about 'etiquette' but in most parts of Spain, the use of outdoor BBQs (even itzy bitzy ones) or any kind of naked flame device is strictly forbidden (by law) during the summer months.

If the Fuzz sees you BBQing, you'll almost certainly get an on-the-spot fine.

Some years back, a Spanish neighbour ignored this and inadvertently started a massive forest fire that burned for nearly a week.

It was tracked back to him and he was fined some 40,000€ euros.

Just sayin'.
Norm.

We never BBQ. We use a 1 ring induction hob and a Remoska when we do cook outside and always keep an extinguisher handy. I would not consider using an open flame outside in general and definitely not in a heatwave or where the grass was yellow and combustible or where we had been advised not to do so.

I have done various fire fighting courses and seen how quickly fires spread. It’s scary. The house being built across the road from us caught fire when kids left a cigarette burning on the floor. There was no furniture in the house and I’m not sure what woke me up but I called the fire brigade at about 1am. By the time they got to us the fire was so bad that the roof had already collapsed. It was a new estate and most houses were within about 3 or 4m. I was thankful it did not spread to the houses on either side.

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
There is an App ? that will show the location of FIRES in Portugal It is
Fogos.pt
THATS what appears on my phone app thingy. Our Claire put it on for me.
If this does not work,i am sure SOME funster can sort it out. Best of luck.
Tea Bag

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[Peregrinator]

These are photos of two different Cadac problems.

 

[funflair]

We carry a small Cadac and gas bottle all over and haven't used it for years as I use Induction outside, I might just take it out before the next trip and find something else to put in the locker

 

[pandas]

No man is an Island: difficult to understand there has been over 100 posts on something I thought should be so straightforward.
Be respectful of the law, of communities, of fellow campers and the environment. Use your head - common sense rules.
No camping behaviour is wrote quite clear where appropriate so even if others are flaunting it why follow?

 

[MisterB]

No man is an Island: difficult to understand there has been over 100 posts on something I thought should be so straightforward.
Be respectful of the law, of communities, of fellow campers and the environment. Use your head - common sense rules.
No camping behaviour is wrote quite clear where appropriate so even if others are flaunting it why follow?

Have those who espout strict adherence to signs, notices etc ever stepped over the line into lawless territories....??

Live and let live seems a very sensible appropriate response

 

[Peregrinator]

Have those who espout strict adherence to signs, notices etc ever stepped over the line into lawless territories....??

Live and let live seems a very sensible appropriate response

Why is there any need to, there are plenty of places you can go that allow camping, seems some people just don't get it.

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[jumar]

We are experiencing quite a few recognised motorhome accepted parking locations here in Galicia, that have now been reclassified as Daytime Only Parking...abuse, overstaying, camping behaviour are the reasons..

 

[pandas]

Have those who espout strict adherence to signs, notices etc ever stepped over the line into lawless territories....??

Live and let live seems a very sensible appropriate response

was this you?

 

[MisterB]

was this you?

View attachment 1094225

Typical Fake News, me and Donald get so much if it ....


Love it, pity you couldn't have photo shopped me onto it, next to him !!