Kit · Cooking without mains

Carbon monoxide alarm

Put it where you sleep. This is not optional kit.

Around 20 people a year die of unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning in England and Wales, and 68% of those deaths fall in autumn and winter – the seasonal split is the “bringing it inside to keep warm” mechanism showing up in the statistics.

UKHSA advises taking an alarm when camping, because CO can enter a tent from a smouldering barbecue outside it. The full page is here and it carries no affiliate links, as none of the safety reference does.

Any alarm certified to the current standard will do. The cheapest one you will actually pack beats the best one left at home.

Read before using this

See this one on Amazon

Also in Cooking without mains

Last reviewed 16 September 2026. Specifications and availability change and we do not track them, so check the listing against what is described here.