Plasch-palakra trip

 Another Night in the Woods – Half Shelter and Small Stove Test

The youngest and I took another trip into the woods, to the area that’s going to be our permanent camp. This is where we’ll eventually build a shelter and a few other fixed setups. This time, the youngest wanted to practice sleeping alone, so it was the perfect opportunity to pitch a single plasch-palatka half.

I own both a size 2 and a size 3. I use my rain poncho all the time – as a rain cover, blanket, sitting pad – but never really as a shelter. For that, I’ve always used various sizes of tarp sections.

We started by clearing the ground with the machete. It’s actually the first time it's been properly used for that. It’s 20 years old and bought from a military surplus store – because, you know, it’s good to have when the zombies come. It cost next to nothing. I have to say, I’m impressed with how well it chopped up branches and small trees. I’ve hit the blade into the ground multiple times to clear sleeping spots. The edge has no nicks – which is kind of wild.

A machete isn’t a tool I treat gently. It’s use, sharpen, and toss when it dies. It’s made to take a beating. The machete fits nicely into the folding saw pocket on my homemade backpack.

There’s lots of Californian knotweed in this area. It needs to be cleared anyway – so it was perfect to use as bedding under the reindeer hide.

The stove is a cheap one from Rödastjarnan, bought during a Black Friday sale. I got it to test whether the Bushbox XL (the titanium ultralight version) is worth investing in. I’m not completely sure I’ve figured this stove out yet:

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Pros:

• You can burn pretty much anything in it, and it works well even with damp material.

• The chimney effect is solid, so it lights easily and burns hot.

I tried splitting some wood and stacking it Finnish candle-style. That worked okay. But as a fireplace for keeping a fire going through the night, I’m not a fan. It’s better suited for cooking with limited fuel, I think. Not a long-term heat source, but I’ll keep testing it.

The night in the half shelter was good. I could lie inside, and there was decent wind protection. It’s a nice little shelter for a short trip, if you’re not carrying a tarp. I plan to try more setups, though, because this half configuration wouldn’t be great in rain. As usual, I had a tennis ball on top of the "tent pole" to protect the tarp.

For our next overnight trip, we’re planning to combine the two plasch-palatkas into a full tent.