Temporary camping tables

Most people go to public campgrounds. Campgrounds will generally supply a picnic table. Camping in remote areas is a whole different experience. Most of the time no one has ever have camped there before so there’s nothing to use for a table. If you’re traveling by foot, boat or 4 wheeler there is a weight limit and/or not enough space for all of the things that you want to take along. One of the first things to get cut form the take along list is a table. There are plenty of camping tables available to buy but they’re either to heavy or bulky. No worries, make a table or two at the campsite. One to use for the kitchen stuff and maybe another for by the campfire or tent. It’s kind of fun and you don’t need to be an engineer to make something that will last for a few days. Temporary tables don’t need to be any exact shape but do need to be sturdy enough to hold the weight you’re about to put on them. Also a table for the kitchen needs to be fairly close to level for cooking purposes.  To level a table put some water in a cup or pan and set it in the center of the top shelf. Then raise or lower the corners or the table until the water level is equal distance to the top edge of the container. You can almost always get it close enough by pushing one or two of the legs into the ground.

Building and assembling one of these magnificent works of functional art is simple. It’s a square or rectangle with legs and made from sticks. Build the square, attach the legs, put on a countertop, level it and you’re done. Build the square for the top any size you want but leave the ends a couple inches long so that it forms a V at the corners. Use that V for attaching the legs into. After attaching the legs, if it’s still to wobbly tighten it up by attaching some horizontal cross members to the legs about half way between the ground and top. For a countertop lay a bunch of straight, uniform sized sticks the long or short way across the square top piece. This step will also add some sturdiness to the table. Try to make sure that the countertop surface is as smooth as you can make it. That helps keep things from tipping over and pissing you off. Fasten everything together with string, wire, fishing line or even vines. Start to finish it will take an hour or so depending on what resources are available. Even if it takes a little longer it’s time well spent because your supplies are away from the dirt and critters plus cooking on the ground is a pain.