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7 of the BEST Camp Tables for Overlanding and Car Camping · The Overland Journal Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I'm your
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: host Scott Brady, and I am with my Matt, co
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: host of the day. Matt Schwartz was also senior editor
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: for Overland Journal and Expedition Portal. And today we're going
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to talk about a fun subject because it's something that
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: is often overlooked, which is this component of camp furniture.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: And it's not that we're suggesting that we try to
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: go to the extreme and create this luxury campsite or
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: some glamping version of a campsite, although there's nothing wrong
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: with that if you do. But the reality is that
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: a table is very functional both for vehicle based campers
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: and even motorcyclist and we'll talk towards the end of
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the podcast about how motorcyclists even address the same concerns
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: and needs. So we're going to take a brief break
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: and we will be right back. This week's episode is
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: supported in part by i Caamper to make innovative hardshell
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: and soft sided roof tents that are designed to survive
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: long term overland use. Their revolutionary X cover won the
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Overland Journal Editor's Choice Award, eliminating the bulky PBC cover
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: and also allowing for the fitment of crossbars for carrying
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: bikes and kayaks. Their Skycamp Mini is another award winning
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: design that provides a hardshell tent in the footprint of
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: a much smaller clamshell model. This is the perfect solution
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: for smaller vehicles or on vehicles where rackspace is dedicated
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: to other systems. I Camper believes that the best times
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: are those spent traveling discovering the world with.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Those you love most.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: You can find out more about their quality tents at
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Kamper dot com.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Matt, you just.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Did the main gear review in Overland Journal and that
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: was in the winter issue.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Wasn't it. Yeah, it was winner twenty twenty one. I
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: think technically your fridge freezer article is the main gear review. Okay, yeah,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: so we would all just say best of breed. Okay,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: it's kind of interesting the difference between the two. We
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: decided years ago that there are times when we want
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: to compare as close to apples to apples as possible,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: where we were able to control a lot of variables
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: and really see which of these products performs the best
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: when compared to their peers. And then we also decided
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: we wanted a different format as well, which we call
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: a best of breed, which allows the editor to go
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: out into the market find the very best products for
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the needs of the traveler because they can be highly varied.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: So to try to compare an exact table against an
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: exact table, it probably isn't that useful to the reader.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Whereas if you say, this is the best table for this,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: this is the best table. If you want something lightweight,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: this is the best table. If you want something super
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: sturdy that you want to cook on, this is the
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: best table if you're kind of looking for a jack
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: of all.
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  Speaker 1: Trades or whatever. So how did you go through that
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: process of deciding which tables to test and what were
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: the attributes you were most interested in learning more about.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: I have a lot of time in the outdoors, so
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  Speaker 2: part of it is just, you know, brand awareness and
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: kind of knowing what's on the market. That was a
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: good starting point. So there were a few brands that
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  Speaker 2: obviously came to mind right away. I had to do
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: a little bit of research and just kind of see
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: who else makes quality camp tables. Obviously, quality is one
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: of the main characteristics that we're going to look for
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: in any of the gear we buy. Right. We kind
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: of chatted about this earlier today, but it's kind of
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: silly to spend twenty dollars on something if you only
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: get three uses out of it. Sure, and then you
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: have to go and make an additional trip to purchase
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: a replacement, you know, not to mention the waste and
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: all that. So started off with quality, and then I
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  Speaker 2: think when it comes to tables, you know, one of
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: the or two of the most crucial things are being
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: able to perform tasks when you're standing up and sitting down. Sure,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: in my mind those are I mean kneeling on the ground.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if that's such a common use case
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  Speaker 2: for needing a table for that, But obviously when we're
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: doing vehicle based travel, being able to stand up and
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: do standing tasks is really sure, is really nice, you know,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: repairing something even or preparing dinner. Sure, I think food
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  Speaker 2: prep is probably the biggest thing that comes to mind.
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  Speaker 2: And obviously when we're when we're traveling with a vehicle,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: we have potentially some some surfaces that we can work on. Right,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: the tailgate of a truck is actually a pretty good
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: height for doing standing tasks. Although truck tailgates are often
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: they have you know, stamped parts in the metal. They're
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: not necessarily flat, and that's a whole nother thing. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: there are solutions for that. There's like, I forget off
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: the top of my head the name of the brand,
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: but there's there's an overlay and gear manufacturer that does
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: these cutting boards that bolt into the tailgate. Oh interesting,
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  Speaker 2: Richard Nashley have one. I think it's like it's like
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: tailgate cutting board. I don't know. Anyway, it's cool, it's
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: worth looking into.
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  Speaker 1: That sounds clever, I mean, although you're doing a lot
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: of deep cleaning of that thing every time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, because if it's a food prep service,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: you're dragging gear across it and you're stepping on and
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: of course there's some limitations there. But kind of coming
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: back to, you know, the criteria for a table, I
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: think size, you know is another one. We want things
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  Speaker 2: that are fairly compact. If we're traveling into truck or
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: you know, an suv, we don't we don't have endless
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: amounts of space, sure, so something that can fit into
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: it small space. And we're payload sensitive as well, right,
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: waste part of that too, So stuff that's lightweight, although
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  Speaker 2: we have a range of weights and sizes in this article.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: And to be honest, you know, there were a few
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  Speaker 2: things that I didn't include in this article, like some
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: of the ultracompact, ultra lightweight stuff that's out there. One
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: brand that comes to mind is Healinox. Sure they make
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: some very very compact stuff, but it's almost kind of
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: going into like the backpacking that area in that you
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: do make quite a sacrifice in terms of durability and
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: robustness when your stability as well. Yeah, sure, when you're
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: going down to like deck aluminum poles and you know,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: flexible fabric based tabletops, which those have their place depending
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: on what you're trying to do. But I think for
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: you know, coming back to overland travel and vehicle based travel,
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  Speaker 2: I think, really, you know, a solid platform is valuable.
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  Speaker 2: And you kind of mentioned that, like, you know, food
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  Speaker 2: prep is one thing, and enjoying a cocktail you know,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: in your camp chairs another thing. But what if you
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: actually have to do some work, you know, with tools,
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: what if you have to you know, pull a fuel
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: pump off your vehicle or who knows what, you know,
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  Speaker 2: totally having a solid metal surface to work on is
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  Speaker 2: pretty crucial.
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  Speaker 1: So, and I think from when I've thought about tables
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: in the past, one of the things that I oftentimes
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: look for is can it be repaired?
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: If something goes wrong? Does it rattle in the vehicle?
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Now, if you have a pickup truck, you don't tend
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: to notice that things are rattling around. But there's two
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: things with a rattle. The first thing is it's annoying
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: for the occupants of the vehicle. But the second thing
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  Speaker 1: is anything that's rattling is actually slowly destroying itself. If
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: we hear our gear rattling, this is and this applies
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: to everything even beyond tables. If we hear our gear
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  Speaker 1: rattling in the vehicle, we should take the time to
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  Speaker 1: stop and find out why is it rattling and fix
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  Speaker 1: the rattle, because with time, that expensive piece of kit
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  Speaker 1: that you bought will ultimately either look terrible because it's
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  Speaker 1: been slowly destroyed, or it's going to stop functioning because
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  Speaker 1: it's been rattled apart.
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  Speaker 2: That's a really great little tip. I hadn't really thought
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  Speaker 2: about that before, but it does make sense. I mean, vibrations,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: there are pieces rubbing together. I mean correct, We'll see
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  Speaker 2: long term wear from that, even if you're not using
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  Speaker 2: the item, you know, if it just lives in your
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  Speaker 2: truck for a year and rattles around every time around
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  Speaker 2: a dirt road exactly.
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  Speaker 1: And then there's also just like being considerate to our
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  Speaker 1: passengers and everything else. I have a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: hearing loss from being in the military, so oftentimes I
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: don't hear squeaks and rattles that other people do. But
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  Speaker 1: I always make sure people know that, like, Hey, if
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  Speaker 1: you hear something, let me know because I'd like to
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  Speaker 1: I'd like to stop it so it doesn't become a
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  Speaker 1: problem either for the person in the vehicle because they're
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  Speaker 1: now they're aggravated because it's here, this constant squeaking or rattling.
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  Speaker 1: But I'm just really concerned about on our trips, when
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: we're doing just a car camping trip away from home
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  Speaker 1: for the weekend or whatever, I think it's a lot
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  Speaker 1: less critical. It's just that when we get remote or
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  Speaker 1: when we go to other countries, replacing equipment is very
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  Speaker 1: difficult to do. When we're in Central America, finding an
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  Speaker 1: equivalent table that slides into the rack the same way
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  Speaker 1: that are you know, maybe easy on table slides in
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: or our front runner table or whichever one. You can't
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  Speaker 1: find that table like, and to order it in you'd
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: end up spending two or three times the cost of
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: the table and duties to get it into the country.
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  Speaker 1: So there's a reason why I like to make sure
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  Speaker 1: that they stay serviceable and that I buy a high
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  Speaker 1: quality unit to begin with, because replacing pretty much anything
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  Speaker 1: once you get in the developing world, it's difficult. Or
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: you just live with it. You just you know, you
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: just you don't you don't worry about it. I mean
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  Speaker 1: that happens a lot too. But if you're going to
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: buy something like a like an overland table or lover
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: overland camping table, by something that's good enough quality where
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  Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about it falling apart or
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  Speaker 1: replacing it in the middle of nowhere.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean I think this is a principle
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  Speaker 2: that that applies very much to vehicles too, right, Like
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: we talk about this, the term overlanding gets thrown around
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: a lot these days, and theoretically it's definition has been
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: expanded with how popular it's become and how a lot
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: of brands have latched onto it. But when it comes
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: down to it, the same principles that apply to vehicle
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  Speaker 2: selection and the way you build a vehicle for an
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: overland adventure that can be applied to the gear that
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: we take along too, you know. So having something that's
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: overly complex that can't be repaired, I mean, that's that's
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  Speaker 2: not necessarily going to be sustainable if you go into
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: a multi month or year year long trip through multiple countries.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: So totally, we really have to consider these things too.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: And you know, for some of us, we're not going
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: to venture farther than North America. You know, like I
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: probably will never ship our ram overseas. You know, maybe
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I'll go tell you that, let's hope, so let's hope
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: so well, that would be great. I mean, I'm not
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: saying my ambitions don't include travel overseas. But you know,
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: the reality is some people are totally comfortable here in
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: North America, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's great,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: so much to see, yeah, so much to see, you know,
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: but that is a very different venue for using this
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: kind of equipment then let's say rural South America, totally
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Africa or anywhere else.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, And it's just interesting because you end
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: up realizing that is this piece of equipment important. If
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: it is, I should buy it of quality. If it's
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: not important, maybe ask yourself, where are we bringing it
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: or buying it? To begin with, a lot of times
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: we see someone else's kid or someone else's gear layout,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: you know, on Instagram or whatever, and we and we
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: kind of turn that into a checklist of stuff we've
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: got to buy. But I think each of us have
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: different needs. Some people don't really like to cook at all,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: and so then they bring along protein shakes and energy
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: bars and snacks and stuff like that. I mean, I
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: know many people that travel that way and they don't
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: or they only they just choose to eat and where
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: the locals eat, and they don't really prepare their own food.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: When when I go to Baja, I bring an empty
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: fridge because there's no reason for me to bring any
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: food with me because.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: It's inexpensive and it's delicious and exactly accessible.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Totally and it's everywhere, and you know, maybe I'll have
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: some waters or something in there, you know, and maybe
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: or maybe some yogurt for breakfast or whatever. But for
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: the most part, it depends on where you're going and
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: your own interest. Some people love to cook gourmet when
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: they're out camping, which is actually really fun to do
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: and I've I've enjoyed doing that myself. And that's when
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: you want a better prep table for And whereas if
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: you really if you're sitting with your family of four
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: and you like to sit down for dinner at the
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: end of the day, you want to have a table
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: that can be at the right height to sit around
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: with chairs, and you got to make sure that the
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: chairs you own match the table height. I mean, we've
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: experienced all these things where you end up like the
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: little kid. You know, if you're on the short chair,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: you don't get to the right height on the table. Yeah,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: especially with camping chairs. Camping chairs are at large, they're
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: very much lower than traditional chairs.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Totally. Yeah, you realize that really quickly. Should we dig
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Let's do it.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: Let's take a look at what some of the ones
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: that you really enjoyed and what was it about it
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: that you liked.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So I tested seven different models for the article,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: and like we mentioned, this was in winter twenty twenty one,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: So you can read the article if you want kind
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: of the full rundown of my findings. But I'm just
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: going to kind of run through right from the start,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: and we'll just kind of talk about them briefly. And
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: so the first one was the camp chef table, which
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: is kind of an unusual entry and you know, it's
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: just something different, which is why I included it. I
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: think it's not necessarily the most practical table for overland use,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: so to speak, but it is a good camp table.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: It looks really robust, it's it's one of the heavier
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: ones in the test. It's it's steel, and it's actually
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: really interesting. So it's robust and it's so thick because
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: it's actually designed to be able to cook on it
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: using charcoal. Okay, so it's it's kind of it's absolutely
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: unique in the whole range of products in that way.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: And I used it for that. So I got my chimney,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: I lit up a whole thing of charcoal, and I
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: used a Dutch oven to cook right on the table top,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: which is which is pretty cool because you know, if
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: you like using Dutch ovens for cooking, you know, campfire
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: cooking in the back country, one of the things is
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: you're having a constantly bend over and lean down by
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: the fire, and you know, it's fine, it is what
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: it is, but bringing that that process up to a
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: height where you're not having a bend over is actually
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: pretty pleasant.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: It makes it a little bit easier to keep an
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: eye on what you're cooking. That makes sense.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Does it have an option for a grate, so you
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: could you could have a great to put burgers or
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: whatever on top of Does it have that option?
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: So it's not, as far as I remember, that's not
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: an option that Camp Chef offers, although you certainly could
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: combine it with some sort of a great cooking system
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: like Wolf and Grizzly is a company. I covered one
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: of their little camp cooking setups in a previous article.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: But you could use that on the surface of this.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: So this is this is versatile in that way that
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: you could pair it with a lot of things as
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: far as use just generally as a table, maybe not
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: as ideal for other tasks. It's got this lip that
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: runs around the edge of it, which helps keep the
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: charcoal and cinders in and so it's not comfortable to
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: rest your arms on it. Got it. It's also you
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: can get little adjustable feet for the legs to add
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: some micro adjustability, but you can't raise or lower it.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: So it's not really ideally suited for sitting tasks. It's
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: more of a standing task kind of table.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Probably we work really well if you were doing repairs
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: to the vehicle, like if you needed a tear apart
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: a differential.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Looks like that's the table for you. This. Yeah. The
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: one thing about this table is you're not going to
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: hurt the surface. You know. It's just like this black
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: almost powder coated steel. I don't think it's actually a
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: powder coated, but it's like a black high temperature paint.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. And yeah, you're just you're not going to
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: hurt the surface. Yeah. I found it was a really
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: great place to put a like my off grid battery. Oh,
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: sure to get it up off the ground, it'll take
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: the weight of it. Yeah. And it's got this windscreen
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: that has these little hole cutouts in it for ventilation,
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: is what I would assume. But actually it was really
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: convenient to run the hords for the solar panels right
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: out the back of the battery through the hole and
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: set up the solar panels elsewhere. So probably wouldn't be
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: my first choice, but definitely an interesting design. You know,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: worth consent based on people's needs. For sure. Yeah, and
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: it comes in a bunch of different sizes too. We
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: tested the small one, but you can get a bigger
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: one that can accommodate like three full size toutch ovens.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: So I guess moving on snow Peak. You know, they're
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: kind of a favorite in the camping furniture world. They Yeah,
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: they make a lot of really unique items that they
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: do a great job of combining beautiful design with function
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: I think, and lightweight usually some of their stuff. Yeah,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: the table that we tested was not one of those.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: Part of that was just because of real estate. It
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: was actually one of the biggest surface areas out of
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: all the tables. It's called the renewed Single Action Table
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Bamboo surface, which is really handsome, so lookingful Yeah, yeahful,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: and like these brushed aluminum legs that kind of the
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: table folds from the center and it's really like their
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: engineers did a really nice job. The legs all fold down.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: It's fairly compact when it's folded and they kind of
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: expand out. It makes me think of like origami. Sure,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: it's just it's beautiful. They've always made amazing stuff. In fact,
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: the first time I was ever exposed to this idea
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: of like gourmet cooking while camping Expedition Exchange based out
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: of southern California, they used to run a competition every
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: year that they called the Iron Chef. And one year
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: I was invited to just come along and hang out
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: with everybody, and all these guys were competing against each
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: other to win the word of Iron Chef. So everybody
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: else that was there got to go and taste and
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: they got to you know, rate this stuff. And half
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: of them had this system from Snowpeak called an IGT
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Integrated Grilling Table, So it's this whole system that it
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: can actually be turned into an elbow, so you can
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: have a pro paane grill going, you can have a
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: charcoal grill going, you can have cook top, you have
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: prepping surfaces, stainless steel inserts for prepping sushi. Like it's unbelievable.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: If for those that are interested in something totally wild,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: check out the IGT system from Snowpeak.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: And I've I've had the privilege of seeing some of
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: the systems set up at like outdoor Retailer Sure, and
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: it's incredible. I mean it's like the way it all
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: integrates and how it's modular and you don't flexibility. It's
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: super cool. I mean really, it's like a dream backyard setup.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: If you're willing to haul it out into the backcountry.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: I mean you've got the space for it. Yeah, what
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: a cool way to set up a base camp.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Well, and people will say like, oh, that's ridiculous or
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: whatever until you see them like they they've kind of
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: meander over and they're looking at it. You know, they're
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: super skeptical, and then somebody hands them like this Kobe
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: beef filet or whatever, and you never hear them complain again. Yeah,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: because like food is important, and it isn't to say
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: that it justifies spending a bunch of money, but like
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: you can appreciate someone's passion for creating great food and
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: if something like that product allows you to do that.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: The critics usually are only are only vocal for a
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: short period of time until they have food in their mouth.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: Sure sure, well yeah, so the Snowpeak was a cool entry.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: I think you know you kind of mentioned this, but
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: you know, for people that have maybe a family that
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: they travel with. You know, if you're going out with
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: your significant other and your kids, this is actually a
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: great table because of the real estate I think you
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: could fit comfortably for people sitting at it, but you
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: could fit six at it if you really wanted to.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: So it was great in that way. And again just
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: from a visual standpoint, it's beautiful. It has some limitations, right,
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: Like most of these things, the legs are not adjustable,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: so you get one height and it's it's a little
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: low for standing tasks, especially for a taller person like you. Sure,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: you know, I'm five to seven, so I can get
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: away with some of these shorter products. And even for me,
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: it felt a little hunched over, oh gotcha. Sure, but
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: you know, not so much that I couldn't use it
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: in that way. Yeah. Also, the leg and fastening system
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: for fastening it in the open position a little bit
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: more complicated than you would probably want in something that
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: you're going to be taking on maybe a long term
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: road trip or over the trip. So this would probably
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: be a little bit more appropriate for you know, weekend
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: trips or local trips where you know, if you have
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: an issue or or.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: An owner that maybe is very intentional about how they
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: open it and close it and store it and all
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: of that.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: For sure. But the cool thing about this is this
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: would work just as well as a camp site, as
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: it would in your backyard. Yeah. So if you want
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: something that has that versatility of being like a picnic
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: kind of garden party table, yeah, I mean you could
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: use it in that way too. It's nicer than the
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: table at my house for sure. Yeah.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Now, speaking of that, so we should probably cover the
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: prices too. So the camp what did the camp chef
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: come in at.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: So the camp chef was one hundred and ten dollars
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: for it's the smaller of the two. It's the thirty
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: thirty two inch legs accommodates like two Dutch ovens on
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: the surface. The snowpeak that we're talking about right now
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: that we just talked about, that one's four hundred dollars. Yea,
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: So that one's going to be a little bit closer
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: to the top end of what we tested in terms
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: of price. Sure.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah, I think it's good to get that perspective because, yeah,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: it starts to make that camp chef look like a
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: great value, sure, because you know, all metal construction and
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: one hundred and ten bucks. Yeah, Whereas the Snowpeak one
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: end up making sure you get the storage bag and
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: you take good care of it because that's an investment for.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Sure, definitely, And you know, I don't know if I
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: mentioned it with many of these, but obviously, at any
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: time you're investing in year, start with the company's warranty.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Look into what their warranty program looks like, so that
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: if you make an investment and you have an issue,
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: you know what you're going to get in terms of
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: support for repairing it replace on it. And I know
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: that Snowpeak does a pretty good job with their Warrantyes,
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: I've heard that. Yeah, so it's a consideration. Right, You
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: maybe lay out a little bit more money up front,
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: but then you have the peace of mind of the
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: warranty to back it up if something goes wrong. Sure. Yeah. So.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Front Runner Outfitters another pretty well known company in the
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: world of overlanding, just because that's kind of where they
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: are from, right. They're South African based there. They make roofracts,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: they make all sorts of gear specifically for vehicle based travel.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: They were an obvious one to include, just because you
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: would expect that with their involvement in overland travel that
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: they're going to have some ideas around how a table
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: could be ideally suited for what we do, and they
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: certainly do. They do, and so we got their pro
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: stainless steel camp table. It was the most expensive table
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: in our test. It was five hundred and fifty seven dollars,
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: so definitely a big investment as far as a table
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: is concerned. But it was the only table in the
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: test that has the added convenience of being able to
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: integrate into a roofract system. And I think you mentioned
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: there are some other makes that offer that as well,
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: like easy On does as well. Yeah, for sure, and
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: they're very similar.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: If you were to look at the front Runner and
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: the easy On, they're very similar. They're not the same, sure,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: there are definitely some different attributes, Like I think I
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: think the front Runner has an integrated lip into the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: sides that helps it like anchor and not rattle as
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: much in the in the rack, whereas the easy On
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: has a dimpled surface that is similar to like a
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: National Lunar fridge.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: So it's highly highly durable.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: You wouldn't want to write on it, it would you
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to write on it like a piece
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: of paper, but you could easily work on it with
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: a laptop or whatever else. And it's a very durable surface,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: so it doesn't show scratches and it looks really premium
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: for a long period of time. So but they're they're
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: they're definitely similar, the same kind of product for sure,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: got it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: So I don't have a front runner racks. I couldn't
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: test this, but that that is a compelling feature of
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: this because it is a larger table too. It was
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: the other one of the other biggest ones. So you
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: get a lot of real estate for food prep or
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: whatever tasks you've got. But it doesn't it doesn't get
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: very small. The surface doesn't fold, just the legs fold.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: So sure being able to slide it right underneath the
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: crossbars of your roof rack and have it secured there
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: is a great solution for putting it out of the way,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: you know, I mean, like you're never going to miss
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: that space there, correct, And they're really easy to pull out.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: You usually just have a little hasp that you turn
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: and then the whole thing the slides slides right out.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: And normally the rails that they slide into they're felted
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: in some way. Like they may not always use fault,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: but many of them do use a like a heavy
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: duty wool felting, they'll last forever, so it cushions and
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: dampens any of the vibrations so you don't get tend
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: to get the vibrations. One of the things that people
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: will make the mistake of is that they'll they'll mount
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: it with the legs in the wrong direction depending on
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: the manufacturer. So like if you put it with the
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: table face down, the legs can rattle on the surface.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: If it's designed to do that, you need to do
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: it that way because they'll usually have some kind of
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: a damper in there, whereas the other ones, you need
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: to mount it with the legs pointing down so that
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: they don't rattle against the surface. So knowing how they
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: need to be mounted is a big deal with those
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: got it so you don't get the super rattle going
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: down the road.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: That's good to know. Yeah, overall of this was one
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: of my favorite tables in the test because, yeah, you know,
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: I think when it comes to standing task versus seated tasks,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: I think that there are a lot of seated tasks
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: that you can just get by with doing them on
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: your lap, you know, although it's nice to have a
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: table for eating dinner at and things like that, but
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: there are a lot of standing tasks. There's not an
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: easy replacement for a solid flat surface for standing related tasks.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: So the height of this front Runner table was excellent
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: for standing tasks. For me, it was just about perfect. Again,
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: I'm five to seven, so you know, if you're a
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: bit taller, you might be a little hunched over. But
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: I thought it was great in that way. A stainless
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: surface is a really nice surface for a variety of reasons.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: You know, if you have something to keep it clean,
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: you can do would prepper right on that surface issue
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: to which is nice and easily wipe it down. As
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: far as some challenges with this table, it's kind of
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: more traditional in its design with its legs. The legs
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: are not adjustable, and so it would be nice if
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: they were to make it kind of the killer app a,
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: it would be great. Yeah, that's the one thing I
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: wish it had. And obviously in the back country it's
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: not always easy to find flat grounds, so sure, you know,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: this is a very real feature that I think is
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: valuable on camp tables, adjustable legs. Sure. Nonetheless, I was
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: usually able to find a place to locate it where
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: it worked. Yeah, just solid all around there. Really really
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: well built too. I stood on this one a number
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: of times to get access to like the awning on
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: our airstream or you know, just because I was kind
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: of testing it. I didn't stand on all of the tables,
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: but I should say that out of all sets impressive
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: that we tested. Yeah, this is one of the only
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: ones that I would feel comfortable standing on without worrying
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: that I was going to damage it or break it. Wow,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: that's impressive. Yeah, it's really solid and hardware seems robust.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: Just overall, just a really good choice. But again, you're
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: going to pay a little more for it, so and most.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Of that cost probably comes from that large stainless steel plate.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, stainless steel is not cheap.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: That's the front runner. The next one is, as far
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: as I understand now, is kind of an industry favorite, THEKVEA.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: They have just barnstormed the industry over the last couple
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: of years.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we tested their their al Bamboo one action table.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: It's a folding bamboo surface table. Kind of a happy
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: medium in terms of real estate, a good amount of space.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: You know, I think you could if you needed to,
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: you could seat for people at it. To eat. It
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: would be small, but it looks good. It's got these
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: nice shiny aluminum legs and hardware good and it's fairly
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: come back to when it's folded. It's kind of one
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: of the smaller ones in our test, not too heavy.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: It had adjustable legs, which I really appreciated, and they
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: I think.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Do they adjust enough so you can do standing prep
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: and seated to have they on it?
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: They do it from the lowest setting to the highest setting.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: I was able to use it for standing and seated tasks.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: The only issue that comes up with this table in
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: regards to that is at the highest setting, the legs
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: feel like they lack a little bit of stability. Okay,
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: you know, so if you were really like pressing down
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: on it with the legs in their fully extended position,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: it just it didn't inspire the most confidence in how
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: solid it was in that position. At the lowest setting,
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: it's it's very solid. And the way the hardware attaches
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: to this table is a little different, you know. Whereas
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: some of the other tables the legs end up being
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: in the four corners of the table, this one they
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: kind of come out in an a frame shape from
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: the center. So it was kind of interesting because if
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: you want to place a really heavy item on this table,
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: like let's say, like our goal zero battery, right, you
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: want to place it in the center of the table
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: instead of on the edges, like the periphery of the
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: table shills a little less stable, gotcha. Well, it's less
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: supported for sure, right, right, it doesn't have direct support
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: under it. You like this one? I like this one
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: a lot. Yeah, And it's funny because since testing this one,
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: I've been on a handful of industry events and this
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: is a table that I've seen multiple times, interesting that
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: different people use. Yeah, we had a media drive before
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: Overland XPO and Flagstaff with a whole bunch of folks
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: and seven P was guiding us, and those guys had
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: like six or seven of these and they set them
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: up end to end to make like a big buffet table.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: Super cool. Yeah. I think those adjustable legs and just
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: the form factor of this one is kind of a favorite.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: And it's also it's two hundred and fifty dollars, so,
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: you know, considerably less than like the front Runner or
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: the snow Peak. Sure, yeah, not inexpensive, but a little
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: bit more affordable. Yeah, Yeah, GCI Outdoors.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they've been at it for a while. Yeah, they're
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: big volume manufacturer.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: Yep. They're really well known for their chairs too. Correct.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: They have like like twenty different models of chairs, so cool, and.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: They make a big range of camp furniture and cooking
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: equipment and all kinds of stuff.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I remember digging into the website when I was
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: writing article because I was like, how many different chairs
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: do they have? And I didn't remember off the top
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: of my head, but just just looking here in the article,
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: they have over thirty different models of camp chairs. So yeah,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: and they're cool. They've got you know, rockers and everythings
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: like that. But so the slim Fold Cookstation was their
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: table that we tested, and this one was unique, you know,
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: following this best of breed format, this is like pretty
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: purpose made for kitchen. Sure, that's really what this is for.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: You're not going to sit and eat dinner at this.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: It's a great standing height for doing food prep tasks.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: That's like what it was made for. And so you've
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: got this main surface in the middle, and then you've
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: got two tiers of side tables, so it's perfect for
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: setting up a two burner campstove. And then having some
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: utensils hanging, and maybe your pro paine tank and maybe
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: like a front runner like wolf pack box with some
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: cooking supplies. I mean, it's a really convenient kitchen setup.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: I think for that purpose it's just about perfect. Sure.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: I didn't really find anything to call out on it
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: in terms of design. The surfaces aluminums, with the cutting
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: board and everything it doesn't know, got it, that's kind
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: of hard to tell if that's integrated or not. Yeah, yeah, no,
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: we brought a little additional cutting board. The main surface
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: is aluminum, so if you're using a cooking apparatus on it,
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: you don't really have to worry about melting it or
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: burning it. Like you can put a hot hot down
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: on that central surface if you wanted. But again we
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: put a campstove there and that worked great. This one's
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: also pretty lightweight as far as everything. In our test
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: it was a little under twenty pounds. It is light
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: so compared to like a table that weighs thirty five pounds,
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: you know, a little bit more manageable. And this one
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: folds down pretty small too, so for people with limited space,
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: I think, especially if you're looking for something for kitchen
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: cook set up. This is a really good one to
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: consider because you could probably find room for it in
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: your rig. Yeah, kind of like you know, if you
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: picture like a TV dinner tray table. Sure, it's that
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: kind of size when it's folded up, but much more robust.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: It's it's got you know, these metal tubular metal frame.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: Looks like it has some cross support as well. It does. Yeah,
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: it's fairly solid given its weight. One hundred dollars too,
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: so pretty compelling, right, Yep. It's just a good all
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: around table and you could use it for non kitchen tasks.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: You know, you could use it for organizing gear and
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: stuff like that, but again, probably not something that you
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: would sit at and eat a meal at. Sure. Yeah.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: Camp Time was another table that we tested. Their rolla table,
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: which is classic. You've probably seen one before. Most people
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: have probably seen them. It's like being around forever. It's
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: like they come in multiple colors, but we got kind
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: of the classic, the blue one, and it's the surface
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: is it's like these wooden slats encased in like a
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: tpu plastic material and it does it literally rolls up.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: So this was one of the most compact tables in
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: the entire test, which I think is super compelling for
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: overland travel. You know, we're limited on space, and because
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: of the construction of this, I think you'd have no
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: problem like lashing it to a roof rack, and you know,
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: even if it's exposed to the elements, this is probably
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: going to hold up. Yeah. It's also pretty affordable one
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: hundred and twenty one dollars, so one of the more
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: affordable tables in our test. I found.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: The only thing about those is anything hot, like cooking
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: on them. Yeah, because it's it's like a rubber plastic.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, coating, No, absolutely, Yeah, you got a cover, maybe
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: a cover, not even a coating. It's like, yeah, it
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: doesn't ye leave exactly. The wooden parts are sewn into
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: this sleeve. Yeah, you could easily melt the surface if
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: you weren't caring. Yeah, a really good amount of real estate,
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: Like we were able to fit a tube burn or campstove,
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: plus an entire meals worth of food items, plus equipment
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: for prepping paper towels on top of it. I mean
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: it's big enough to sit for people at easily. And
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: this is another one that has that the coveted adjustable legs.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: We tested the adjustable leg model. There is one that
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: doesn't have it, But if you were even considering this,
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: I would say get the one with the adjustable legs. Sure,
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: they have a lot of settings. So this is another
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: one that's like from seated to standing tasks. This is
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: probably one of the best choices you're going to get
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: if you need something that we'll do both.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: I found that those wobbled a little bit. It didn't
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: necessarily feel cheap at all. It was more just that
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: because the way that the legs just screw in is
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: that am I correct on that is absolutely Yeah, it
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: feels just a little wobbly.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: It does and doesn't have like crossbars that helped reinforce
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: the las exactly. I feel like that would be the
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: easiest way to solve that problem. It's kind of like
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: that covea table, right. It's in the lowest setting, it's
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: more stable. In the highest setting, it's a little wiggly,
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: and like you said, it's not it doesn't feel wiggly
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: in a cheap way. It's just an inherent kind of
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: characteristic of a design compromise. Sure, right, And so camp
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: Time suggests just placing it up against a tree or
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: a solid surface as one way to kind of help
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: with that, or if you wanted to carry too, you
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: could lash them together. Okay, at least that's what they
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: suggest on their website. I don't know how realistic that is,
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: you know, to carry two of these, but yeah, I
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: think the easiest thing is just placing it up against
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: the vehicle or up against something solid. Yeah, that makes sense,
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: And honestly, in my experience, even in that highest setting,
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: it wasn't it wasn't really like an issue that deterred
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: me from using it. But again, it's so compact when
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: it's all folded up, it takes up very little space. Yeah.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: I used one of those for years and years and years.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: I used it until I melted it. Yeah, which was
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: my fault. I mean it just happened to go about
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: something the wrong way. I thought it was insulated enough,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: and to share melted a hole in the plastic.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I really like this one. And I'd used
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: one of these before this test also, so I was
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: familiar with it. And yeah, it's a really solid choice. Again,
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty one bucks, so pretty affordable, you know,
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: if you're looking to not just break the bank.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: And a special thanks to this week's sponsor, the Metic.
• 33:40
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• 33:42
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• 33:44
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• 33:47
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• 33:52
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• 33:55
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• 34:10
  Speaker 1: the state of the art, designed for rugged use cooler
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: that you can rely on and enjoy for years to come.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: And then the last one in our test was from
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Alps Mountaineering. It's their utility table. I don't know if
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: you're familiar with this brand. Have you heard of the
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah for sure, Yeah, we've been around for a while.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: They have been, and I have to be fair, I
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: always thought of them as like this bargain brand, which
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: I think they are, but in a good way. Whereas
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: previously I kind of thought of their stuff as cheap.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: I'm kind of changing my tune on that after using
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: this table, because it is certainly light. It was the
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: lightest table in our test. I think it weighed like
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: thirteen pounds or maybe even less than that. It's very light,
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: but it's surprisingly sturdy, and you set up the frame
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: independently of the two tabletop surfaces. They clip onto it,
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: and I set up the frame and I was actually
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: able to like support my body weight with it, like
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: if you were going to do like a dip on
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: of those things. I just held the two sides and
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: I kind of held my whole body up by it.
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: I mean, it weighs less than you know, it weighs
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: ten pounds or I don't see exactly where I wrote
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: the weight in there, but it's a light one. It's
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: very light and surprisingly strong, and it's also super compact,
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: you know, like the roller table, it takes up minimal
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: space in your rig. This one's more similar to the GCI,
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: you know. I think it's it's ideal use cases as
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: a kitchen table setup for a two burner stove and
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: a little bit of prep space. Not going to be
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: comfortable to sit at necessarily, but it's a good good
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: hype for standing tasks. Again, it's got those metal surfaces,
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: so you're not going to have to worry about melting
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: it or burning it when you're using something hot on
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: top of it. Again, this is another one that's a
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: little bit more affordable. One hundred and thirty dollars sure
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: a little bit easier to digest as far as an
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: investment for your camp set up.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, that's nice and it looks nice, looks nice
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: and simple, not overly designed. It looks like it would
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: be like handsome in any camp site for sure.
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just like brushed aluminum all around. It's got
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: one kind of faux wood surface. But yeah, it's not
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: a bad looking table at all.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: Are there any other tables that come to mind for
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: you that you think are worth mentioning?
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: There were some that I mentioned specifically in the article,
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: you know, additional considerations. So Mountain Summit Gear they make
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: some sort of well it's called a heavy duty roll
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: top table. I think similar in design to the Alps Mountaineering.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: It's one hundred dollars. It says it can hold up
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: to seventy pounds on it. So this is one These
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: are ones that we just didn't get the opportunity to
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: test where we might have. But so, yeah, Mountain Summit Gear,
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: that's that's worth looking into. King Camp is another company.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: I'm not familiar with them. Yeah, I don't think they're
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: super well known, and to be honest, it was hard finding.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: I think they're made overseas and they're not really like
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: marketed here, so you'll see their stuff on like I
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: think it was like on Amazon and some of these
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: sort of okay online retail so that that was one
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: of the reasons it was hard to get in touch
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: with someone to try and get a hold of one
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: to test. But one hundred and fifty dollars, so they're
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: they're again they're not overly expensive and they look like
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: just kind of a solid camp table. Sure, maybe worth considering. Elanox,
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: which we mentioned briefly at the beginning of the podcast.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: I think they are They're going to be one of
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: the lightest, most compact ones. I mean I have this
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: little side table that they make for backpacking and it's
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: like it's smaller than my tent. Yeah, you know, it's
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: it's tiny. It's tiny. I don't think they have any
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: tables that work for standing tasks. They're all very low,
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of like side table to a camp chair.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and they have some small tables as well, like
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: for eating at that kind of thing, very small ones.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but they make really cool stuff. Their designs are
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: really clever at great chairs. Yeah, their chairs for motorcycling,
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: their chairs are excellent. I have a couple of their
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: chairs and we've used them kind of consistently. They have
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: this really interesting thing, the Tactical Field Office, which we
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: didn't end up testing. It was felt like a little
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: too far removed from a camp table, but it features
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: a table and it was like it weighs five pounds.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: It has this integrated cargo bag that lets you carry
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: things like computer equipment or photo equipment, so it's kind
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: of like a mobile office table with storage. Yeah, it's
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: really interesting. That's that's a two hundred. Taking the remote
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: work really serious. Yeah, I mean, you know, if you're
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: if you're like a lifestyle travel you know, outdoor photographer,
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: and you want a way to haul your gear out
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: and then have a clean surface to set it up
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: on and sure to work with it on, this could
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: be maybe worth considering interesting. Yeah. Yeah, again I didn't
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: get to test it so sure, but it looked neat
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: maybe we got to make sure we get one the
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: tactical field office. Yeah, and then Lifetime's totally worth mentioning.
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: Let's come back to the kiss approach. You know, keep
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: it simple. You don't need a quote camp table that
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: costs one hundred and fifty dollars. You can get one
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: of these plastic lifetime tables that people use at farmers'
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: markets and throwing you know whatever.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: And they're available in a bunch of different sizes too.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: So you go to Costco. Yep, you can get an
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: eight foot long one, you get a six foot long one.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: You can get a four foot long one that's a
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: little narrower. They can actually get pretty compact, and they're cheap,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: like fifty bucks.
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the one I looked at was seventy. But they're
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: super inexpensive. Yeah, you know. I mean when it comes
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: back to it, right, like if you have a limited
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: budget and you want to go and do the trip,
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: spend the money on the trip, not on the fancy
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: gear totally. You know. So remember like, you don't need
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: a camp table. You can use a folding plastic table.
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: It will just fine. Maybe throw throw a nice tablecloth
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: on it, and that's the way around photos. That's the
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: way around it.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Like if you're if you're you know, prepping dinner
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: for your family or whatever, and you're got a date
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: with you whatever, you put a tablecloth on it, nobody'll know.
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: Obviously.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: The one consideration is they are heavy, yep. And then
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: they also the top is made out of plastics, so
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: you have to be really mindful of putting hot things
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: on a plastic table. But they I see them a
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: lot out in the field because they really do work.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: They do. Yeah, It's like they really do work. You know,
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: there's there's no problem with using one of those. Honestly.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: I like seeing people who are just just using like
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: the bare minimum and the emphasis is on the trip
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: and the experience, not on the gear. It's it's kind
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: of refreshing, you.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Know, totally well for me, I bring along. Primus started
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: making some tables and they make a really nice canvas top.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: So if you think about the one that has the
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: sleeves that are made out of rubber or plastic, this
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: is the same idea. The sleeve is made out of
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: canvas and then there's a you know, a folding leg
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: structure and they're they're very compact, so you end up
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: with this black canvas table for prep and for you know,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: putting chips and salsa out and all that. So it's
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: a really nice table and it doesn't rattle at all.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: But the downside is is if you get it dirty,
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: it's a little bit more of a thing to clean
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: it up.
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: Like if you.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: Spill some salsa, got it like it's it's you're cleaning canvas,
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: not a plastic, easy clean surface. But I really like them.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: They're lightweight, they look nice, they're fairly stable standing prep height,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: and that's what I typically bring along because I normally
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: find that if you've got a fire going or whatever,
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: you end up just kind of sitting and eating with
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: the food in your lap. I find like you just
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: kind of got a plate in your lap and you're
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: sitting around the fire, and the standing height the prep
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: table is pretty key.
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: It is. And also, you know Demetic obviously well known
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: brand in the space. They've since since we wrote this
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: article and published it, they've debuted some new camp furniture
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: big time. Yeah. Those are cool. Yeah, they have really
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: some really cool looking items. And I believe the camp
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: table was in there. There's like a bench and so
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: that might be another one worth looking into.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll put some photos of that here and if
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: you see the podcast on YouTube, you'll be able to
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: see what they look like. But the metic's got a
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: bunch of new, really interesting products coming onto the market.
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: Well, good work on that, man, Thanks. Yeah, it was
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: a fun one. It's always fun to take the gear
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: out and you know, test it in the field and
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: see how it works.
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we all kind of We all use a table
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: when we're camping, typically of some sort and maybe it
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: is just the tailgate in a lot of ways. It's
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: good to see what's out there. Yeah, good work. Well,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: we're going to talk about fridges soon. We're going to
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: talk about cooler boxes. We're going to talk about chairs soon.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: So we're going to get into these subjects as we
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: get into twenty twenty two. Sounds good, all right, thanks
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: for being on the podcast, Matt, thanks Scott, and thank
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: you all for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.