Heating rocks without taking into account the explosion risk
From BearWiki
Claim: Heating up rocks should not be advised without a few caveats.
Heating up rocks has long been a controversial aspect of wilderness survival. Some experts say never do it; others advise it. The advantage to heating up rocks is that they can be used as a heat store -- for cooking, as heat packs for when suitable insulation/shelter can't be found, and so on. While rocks don't hold heat as well as water, it is easy to transfer heat to and from rocks and they are readily available. The risk, however, is that some rocks have trapped water inside them. As the water heats, the rock turns into a pressure bomb, with enough potential energy to cause injury or even, potentially, death.
A general rule is never to select rocks from near a water source (whether the water source is seasonal and currently dry or not)[1]. Dense rocks, such as lava rocks or basalt, are best. Even if not found near water, porous rocks, especially usually sedimentary rocks with little to no metamorphism (like slate and shale), are an explosion risk.[2]
[edit] Analysis
Neutral: In Survivorman (1st season), Les Stroud does the exact same thing in the Utah Canyonland episode and the Canadian Boreal Forest episode.
:Neutral: If this were a Survivorman wiki, Les should be criticized for same. This is not a Survivorman wiki.
Neutral: Les Stroud dosen't need a Wiki proving how retarded his show is because he doesn't jump off cliffs while being chased by colleagues in bear suits. I know this is from two different eps but you know what I'm saying.
:Neutral: If this were a Survivorman wiki, someone would point out that Les Stroud specifically warns about heating rocks and warns that his cave in the Utah Canyonland could collapse and it's a VERY dangerous thing to do - but he's more worried about comfort.
Neutral: As the poster above notes, in those Survivorman episodes, he clearly mentions that it can be dangerous to heat up rocks (as they can explode) and he goes out of his way to explain that it can be done safely by heating them very slowly. He only places the rocks near the fire, and heats them over the course of the entire evening. Hope that helps.
