ORIGINAL: nitrosportsandrunner
thats what i was thinking, even if you are 4 feet away, and one of the cell starts to vent gas...you have only seconds before flames start shooting 3 feet out of the battery. if any flamable things are near by, then they go up in flames.
sure, if you are in the same room, you may notice the battery puffing 1st. but, why create a sutiation where you need to have a hawk eye over your battery when its charging. a $30 lipo sack and save you posesions and your familly.
a LHS years ago burned down when a lipo shot out flames and cought the wall on fire. everything was lost!
The only time you would ever have a problem with a lipo is if you miss handle it. For example if you charge it at the wrong voltage or MAH, damage the cells in a wreck, using them without a LVC, or never balancing them.