Two Nights Under Cedar. Doshi, Yamanashi.

Two Nights Under Cedar. Doshi, Yamanashi.

Tested by TAKIBI SUPPLY, Kamakura
Date May 15–17, 2026
Region Doshi valley, Yamanashi, about 650 m (2,100 ft)
Weather Light rain on arrival. Clear after midnight. Still air both days.
Temperature 8–14°C (46–57°F)
Nights used 2 (TABI Titanium Fire Stand: nights 1–2 of this log)

The road into Doshi follows the river for an hour, and then the cedars close in. We took the last pitch at the far end of a small riverside site, the kind with more trees than cars. Rain began as we unpacked. Fine enough to ignore, heavy enough to soak the ground.

The tent, first

The Circus TC went up before anything else. One pole, five pegs, a few minutes. We pitched with the side flap facing the river and the door away from the valley wind. The ground was wet, so the pegs went in at a low angle and we checked every one of them again after dark. Polycotton takes the rain differently from nylon. It darkens, it hangs a little heavier, and nothing comes through.

A fire kept small

The TABI came out of the pack the size of a paperback. It opens from flat plates into a hearth about two hands wide. We kept the fire small the whole first night: three splits of cedar at a time, never more. A small fire is easier to hold in the rain, and a small fire on the TABI is enough for a kettle and a cup of miso.

Gloved hands placing a split log onto a small fire in a flat titanium fire stand
Three splits at a time. The stand sits on stones so the legs stay level and the moss stays green.

Wood goes on with the G-1 gloves. The leather was stiff for the first hour and then it was not. They moved the kettle, fed the fire, and pushed the last coals together at the end of the night without a thought. That is the whole job of a fire glove.

The sierra cup measured the rice, then held the soup, then the coffee. One piece of titanium, three jobs, and no washing in between if you order them right.

Night

The rain stopped around midnight. After that the valley was quiet in the way only a cedar forest is quiet: no wind in the needles, the river doing all the talking. No music. Site rule, and ours.

Morning

Dew on the outside of the tent, dry inside. The fabric had breathed all night. We packed the fire stand cold: a wipe with a rag, fold, done. The underside of the plates showed the faint blue of heat tint. Not a defect. A record.

What we observed

  • Packed thickness: thinner than a paperback. It rode flat against the back panel of the pack.
  • Assembly: under a minute on the second try. The first try took longer because we read the plates wrong in the rain.
  • Fire size: three cedar splits at a time held a cooking fire for about four hours on each night.
  • Stability: steady once the legs were set on stones. On bare soft ground one leg sank a little.
  • After: ash falls through in a neat line. Heat tint on the underside. No warping we could see or feel.

What we could not conclude

Two nights and a small fire say nothing about how the plates behave after a season of big fires. We will come back to this log after a colder night with a larger load of hardwood.

Tested in this note: TABI Titanium Fire Stand (Field-Tested)

Also in the scene, used but not rated: Circus TC DX+, G-1 Fire Gloves, Titanium Sierra Cup 480

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