TOAKS

The Story of the Little Table

Preparing food while camping can be surprisingly inconvenient. 

Trying to slice some sausages in a plate, but the raised rim gets in the way; the bottom of the plate is flat but is too small for a cutting board. Finding a safe spot to place my coffee

pot and mug without worrying about them tipping over can also be a nuisance, as the ground is often uneven and grassy.

It would all be so much easier if I had a table and a cutting board, but such things are simply too heavy and space consuming for a hiker to carry along their trips. 

That's when it hit me: if I were to design a small table that hikers would actually want to carry, it has to be

 (1) lightweight enough that it does not burden the hikers carrying it

 (2) more than just a table

With these in mind, two design briefs began to take shape.

Camp Table-01 (CT-01) — a versatile, more complex outdoor camp table, with plenty of design ideas that still need testing and refinement. That story is for another day.

Let us start with Camp Table-02 (CT-02) — the one that is all about being lightweight.

For decades, I have been fascinated by the strength-to-weight ratio of carbon fiber. It weighs only about 65% of aluminum but is stronger than titanium. Its downsides: it cannot handle open flames and is not a food-grade material; thus it never had a chance to be in our cookware line. But as a tabletop, carbon fiber can sidestep those weaknesses and put its strengths to work.

I chose a 1mm carbon fiber sheet — 1mm T300 sheet is cheap and accessible, and its physical performance is more than enough for a tabletop. The tabletop measures 250mm (10") × 150mm (6"). Not large, but plenty for simple outdoor usages. The titanium nuts used are the same ones we use on our folding chopsticks, and the "daisy" pieces that hold the nuts are the same ones as the handle of our new coffee maker currently under testing. I simply love the shape. Four titanium legs, mounted with screws, raise the tabletop to 70mm.

The prototype weighs 98 grams.
I also made a 100×70 pure titanium plate to use as a cutting board, so we never cut directly on the carbon fiber. That cutting board weighs 32 grams. It also serves as the base plate for my alcohol stove (SLV-01), letting me brew coffee right on this table.
I ran a simple weight test by placing a 20-lb cast-iron flange on the little table. The tabletop flexed visibly — but it did not collapse. And we were still a long way from the limits of this carbon fiber's strength and stiffness. Realistically, on a camping trip, there is almost no chance you would ever put 20 pounds on this table.
Frankly, for a hardcore hike, I would not carry this table — even at under 100 grams. But when I take the kids camping, or head out with a few close friends, you bet I am bringing it: as a cooking station, and as a spot to set down my coffee mug. It is just that good.