Big camp table for the Interstate van

[InterBlog]

We discussed this topic incompletely in passing several years back and I swore that if I were ever going to get a portable table, I would make it a Front Runner.

Heh. Since that time, Front Runner's table has climbed to six hundred bucks. No doubt it's the best camp table on the market, but I am no longer sure that my wallet will agree to be violated that severely.

I would like to find something of a good size, that could seat four people (tight squeeze is OK), but that can fold down and be portable perhaps on the hitch carrier, but something that does NOT need a utility trailer to carry it. For the Interstate with its size constraints, that's a big ask. Does anyone have any suggestions?


And why might I be searching for this now, pray tell?

Because one of my neighbors in Canada just sent me some photos of my property, and it appears that some son of a &%$#@ stole my picnic table. It was only a cheap pine table (less than $200). Plus, realizing that we might one day have to pick it out of a police line-up of stolen goods, we engraved it in multiple places, sunk oil-based enamel into the engravings, and then sealed it - there's no way those markings can be removed; they are too deep. And then we wrapped a chain around it with an embedded 77-lb concrete block attached. Someone would have had to bring power tools and grind through the lock or chain, muscle it down a steep embankment with no pathway across it, and then float it out of there. My zip line gate is still up, so I don't think they drove in and trucked it out.

Why all that trouble for something so traceable and low-value? Because on general principle, they'll steal the eyes out of your head and come back for the holes. That was a common refrain in my childhood.

Anyway, I don't see myself replacing the now-missing table with something in kind. If I leave anything other than rocks on the ground, the %$#@& locals will steal all of it. I need something portable.



^^ Hence my inspiration behind the epic thread "Buying your own boondocking land" - i.e., WITHOUT a cottage on it, or any other single thing of value, not so much as a bucket or a light bulb because there's no way to protect anything from theft, no matter how small (I am ranting, obviously).

I took this pic on our last visit in case I needed something to submit to the local police:

[Hittenstiehl]

Disgusting thieving heathens! May they get a big pine splinter for their efforts. They don't know they're messing with.

We like the Snow Peak tall Bamboo and the Camp Chef Mesa Table. I look for the table where the legs are set back from the corners.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

....May they get a big pine splinter for their efforts. ....

^^ AND may they receive said splinter in a certain choice part of their anatomy. "Fleas of a thousand camels"-style.


Is the Camp Chef Mesa Table *actual* aluminum, or just "aluminum finish"?

The listings suggest it is real aluminum, but I've been burned before...

[Hittenstiehl]

It appears and reviewed to be actual aluminum in a hollow tube style with clip connectors versus stretchy cord.

We do not currently have this table it has been on our A wish list for a while. I have seen both tables in person and like them both but am concerned about staining the bamboo.

[InterBlog]

I just ran over to Cabela's (2 miles from me) and the only thing they had in stock was their "camp kitchen" thing, which has an MDF top. That will not do.

BUT - with material shortages, I'm not sure what products are obtainable right now.

[InterBlog]

Command decision:

I don’t have time to research this to death with all the other things we need to do, so here’s my ordering choice below.

This table actually COULD be carried in an Interstate without a utility trailer. It’s a ROLL-TOP table, which is an option I never considered before. I might have room for it behind the driver’s seat, where I also store the Telesteps ladder.

The big challenge these days is getting orders of all types actually fulfilled. I ordered from Tractor Supply because I like that retailer, because their price was significantly better than Amazon’s, and because there’s a commitment on the page saying it will be shipped within 2 days. Let’s see if that actually comes to pass.

[Luckysnuck]

IB,

The Camp Chef Mesa Table appears like a very solid choice, hopefull for you that TSC is able to fulfill your order as quickly as claimed.

We've not yet have had the strong need for a table of the dimensions you've ordered (although if we had one I'm certain we'd use it), but we do use often the small chair height table (slightly adjustable on height) from KingCamp. Have been using this table since the fall of 2018 and still looks and functions like new. We especially like the Bambo top and bottom veneers (nice campy look) and our experience is that it repels moisture well and does not stain.



PS - I noticed on the KingCamp website they have changed the leg design to square vs. tubular. We have the tubular style and it appears that Amazon has two of this style left; https://www.amazon.com/KingCamp-Ligh...st_sto_dp&th=1

Makes me wonder whether the tubular style legs will become ancient history on this model once the remaining inventory is sold(?).

We really like this small table!

[InterBlog]

The table came in, and I quite like it. It’s mass-market, but reasonable value for the money. With or without my beloved engraved picnic table having been stolen or replaced, I think I will keep this one.

I particularly like that the legs are adjustable height. That opens up multiple possibilities.

Here it is in front of the trailer customization scene that is happening in our garage right now:

[Hittenstiehl]

Looks good and glad they came thru for you. Hope it performs satisfactory.