Homeless - safe to store propane/gas in car while sleeping?

[mileena]

Hi, does anyone have advice?

I am homeless, and live and sleep in my car. I want to buy a propane or gas camping stove burner so I can boil water to make spaghetti, etc.

I am thinking of buying this one:

Camp Chef Explorer Camping Stove from Amazon

Is it safe to store propane or gasoline next to me while I am sleeping in the car? Should I get a carbon-monoxide detector to mount in the car? There is no place I can store it outside at, and my self-storage facility is almost two hours away from where I live.

Thanks!

Also, where can I pull out my camping stove to cook, next to my car? Will any large parking lot or city street do?

[qtla9111]

westernrvparkowner wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

westernrvparkowner wrote:

qtla9111 wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:

qtla9111 wrote:
Lots of people do car camping. It is an accepted practice.....

Not in our country.

Okay, not accepted but definitely a growing trend! What do you think this is all about? Why are more and more municipalities and neighborhoods banning it? Because there are now so many homeless in your country.

Someone from Mexico saying the US has a homeless problem? I guess you don't count the people in your country who live in the shanty towns made of cardboard boxes as homeless.

x2

Mexico City has 1,900,000 kids on the streets..
Mexico City an estimated 40% of people live in informal housing..

Not that I am disrespecting the homeless, but I also don't want to associate myself with them. I am used to living in a house or apartment, have a car, am well educated and intelligent (went to a Ph.D. program at Penn for two years, and did a year at law school at BU), work hard, and have almost a $1,000 a month income from SSDI/SSI. I don't want other homeless people to drag me down.

:R
Then get a job!

1,900,000 homeless children in Mexico City is miss quoted. The correct statement should read Mexico City has 1,900,000 underprivileged and street children. Not all 1.9 million live on the street. Work there and have lived there.

[rockhillmanor]

fj12ryder wrote:
There is a lot of justifiable skepticism when one comes across a post like this. Many trolls get their jollies by working this kind of thread with more and more outrageous posts until it gets totally out of hand.

Some people have honestly tried to help people who have posted like this only to find out that it was all a web of lies.

X2
Has anyone 'read' that the OP has a $1,000 per month income? Has an education and by god sure as heck knows all about fumes from propane and fuel. One minute the OP has a car and then the next has a van and snores so has to keep windows up,obviously has a computer, etc......come on folks. If it looks and smells like a troll it is. All this oh a poor homeless person, hogwash there are SO many shelters available that no one needs to be on the street period. And if a homeless person doesn't like to arrive drug free and behave well as required by shelters for the safety of 'all' then that's too bad. Let those sit in a car and snort up and then the cops will be able to take care of them.

OP:..no privacy, lots of rules (like in by 6 PM, out by 7 AM)..... Not that I am disrespecting the homeless, but I also don't want to associate myself with them.

:S

[Roy_Lynne]

Welcome Mileena, you can always go to day parks that have picnic sites to cook a meal, I wouldn't suggest parking lots at all. We have lots of folks up here in Washington who, with their children are living in cars and we have nice little old ladies, who make sandwiches and take them around to where we know they live and feed them. Its against the law, but we don't care. A lot of them park at Park and Rides and Rest Stops and usually the cops just ask them to move on.
Also, my husband belongs to a fraternal order and they often have folks park in their parking lots at night. Its kind of a don't ask, don't tell relationship. All night grocery stores also might work if you can find a dark enough spot.

I would be out hunting for a small tent as there are usually a lot of city, county, state and national, campgrounds that you could camp at for little or no money. You can find some really cheap tents.

[wa8yxm]

Best to store flammables outside the car, A cargo carrier of some kind.

In the case of Gasoline, the vapors alone can kill you no need for a spark.

[path1]

path1 wrote:

"I don't want other homeless people to drag me down".

Love hearing that!!!!

Still stand my statement.
Are you sure you want to get a PHD? If so Gov't used to put out (and could only get a reference section of library) what is called "Occupational outlook". Had their projections of upcoming employment shortages and in what areas. Best friend went the PHD route and bounces from job to job. Always getting layed off due to funding or research money. I on the other hand didn't pay attention in school (wish I could do over) and joined military and had to get a GED before 1st reenlistment (after failing parts of it first 2 times)then after getting out of active military stay'd in the Military reserves and drove a truck until retiring at age 57. I'm NOT saying this to beat my chest, just the opposite, trying to get at the point of: Learn what is in demand and marketable and what you can do. When this economy blew up it wasn't because of truck drivers with PHD's. Just the second part, PHD's. I loved being a truck driver like a hole in the head. But always could get a job (demand). As you can tell this forum "solves" all the worlds problems one key stroke at a time. Just like over the hood of a car or in the kitchen or around the campfire. Here is another link you might like.http://www.vandwellers.org/ Your in a good spot to be homeless! Where I'm at they freeze in the winter.
OK, back on topic: when I do carry an extra propane bottle (40 pound?)because wife and in laws for some reason need to have a camping/cooking feast we meet up usually in middle of the state. I transport it in the bathroom with the bathroom vent open. Some propane might make it out the vent(heavier than air) if the tank does leak and RV also has CO alarm. Home depot also has alarms that are not to pricey.

[Targa]

solsprack wrote:


Here is a fact that you may not know: A number of states have made a deal with private prisons to keep all beds at 90% full or else pay fines on a daily basis. This means that police, DAs, and judges are forced to toss people in the clink or their job is at risk. The true mentally ill are not wanted in jail, because they cost too much. A vandweller whom is trying to eke out an honest living, and who plays by the rules is their perfect target, because they can keep arresting them, and they "store quietly". Plus, the van and the belongings inside will sell at auction for good money once it gets seized and impounded.

Most of us don't know this because it is a load of "Occupy Wallstreet we are the 99 percent" garbage. To the OP, be safe out there, God bless you.

[solsprack]

I will assume the OP isn't a troll, but I might be wrong.

I recommend the OP considers finding another place to go. California is a very hostile place to live these days unless you are making over $100,000 a year, or you have a sizable nest egg. Someone living out of a van might have made it there before 2008, but now, you will just end up a victim by street punks, or the target of police aggression.

Here is a fact that you may not know: A number of states have made a deal with private prisons to keep all beds at 90% full or else pay fines on a daily basis. This means that police, DAs, and judges are forced to toss people in the clink or their job is at risk. The true mentally ill are not wanted in jail, because they cost too much. A vandweller whom is trying to eke out an honest living, and who plays by the rules is their perfect target, because they can keep arresting them, and they "store quietly". Plus, the van and the belongings inside will sell at auction for good money once it gets seized and impounded.

It sucks, but seriously consider leaving California. There are better places in the US to go. Arizona is a decent state. Texas is a state that has jobs virtually everywhere. With a PhD, you can find work -somewhere-. Even New York state is having a boom.

End of lecture, apologies for the digression. However, I know people who tried vandwelling in the Bay Area or any coastal part of CA, and invariably it doesn't turn out well.

[mileena]

Wow, I came back here to check in and I was surprised to see five pages. I can't reply to each post individually, so I am just going to write a general response.

I didn't mean to start a debate about homelessness, but just let me say a lot of people are homeless and many cities have laws or ordinances against sleeping in your car on public streets. Many cities are banning RV's from parking on their streets at night. Fortunately, I have a minivan, so I can blend in.

As for trolling, let those posters think what they will think. I came here asking a legitimate question, and happen to be homeless and on Social Security and SSI. I also didn't finish graduate or professional school. Oh well. I guess that makes me a troll. No, I am not mentally ill, but I do have a serious lack of self-confidence because people discriminate against me for my personal characteristics, and I haven't been able fit into society. I feel like an outcast, a pariah. This notwithstanding, I *am* going back to school to earn my Ph.D. Then I will get a job. I am not sitting on my butt like some homeless people do. I am also in my 40's and just recently homeless, since April. I lived in houses or apartments my entire life.

As for my original question, I have a lot to think about. Thank you for so much great advice! I like the idea of getting the Coleman Two-Burner Propane Stove from amazon. It has enough BTU's to boil water fast, is compact, and uses only the smaller propane bottles, which might be safer. Although I like the legs/stand of the Camp Chef one, since I don't want to cook on the ground.

I did think about campgrounds for cooking, but I am a city girl, and I need to go to my health club daily to work out and shower. I also need to go to the library to work on my laptop. I could access the internet from my phone, but using the stylus to type on the Android virtual keyboard is a pain for me, so I just use it for calls, web surfing, and to check emails.

[Ric_Flair]

[fj12ryder]

There is a lot of justifiable skepticism when one comes across a post like this. Many trolls get their jollies by working this kind of thread with more and more outrageous posts until it gets totally out of hand.

Some people have honestly tried to help people who have posted like this only to find out that it was all a web of lies.

I think the original question has been answered pretty well and anything further just stirs the pot.

[mockturtle]

beemerphile1 wrote:
I don't understand all the hatred expressed here by some long time members.

A person with a legitimate concern asked a reasonable question and you thugs attack. You should be ashamed.

Pray that none of you are ever down and struggling! It can be a tough world out there and society tries to keep the downtrodden just like they are. It can be difficult to rise from a low place.

I agree, beemer. As I posted earlier, the OP will find more help and acceptance at Cheaprvliving.

[time2roll]

No way would I keep the propane bottle or a gas can in my car while I sleep.

[weathershak]

Deb and Ed M wrote:

mileena wrote:
Thanks Wishbone51! I've read elsewhere that all propane tanks leak a little and that's why they have relief valves. So I am concerned by that. Is inhaling those fumes dangerous? I don't know.

Yes - inhaling gas fumes can kill you. Something about "bonds with red blood cells better than oxygen". I remember reading a story about a man in Japan, who was sleeping in a small compartment (on a train, I think) and he um, suffered from a bad case of flatulence and died in his sleep from breathing in too much methane.....

OH MY GOD!!!!!! I BETTER LEAVE A WINDOW OPEN.:E

[beemerphile1]

I don't understand all the hatred expressed here by some long time members.

A person with a legitimate concern asked a reasonable question and you thugs attack. You should be ashamed.

Pray that none of you are ever down and struggling! It can be a tough world out there and society tries to keep the downtrodden just like they are. It can be difficult to rise from a low place.

[1L243]

I am sorry but I am not buying this. Homeless with a PHD planning on a better situation when you retire? Good luck with that..