One of the most pleasant activities of all is an outdoor meal. The central point of a picnic, no matter whether we are talking about barbecue, clambake, cookout, fish fry, wiener roast or just some simple sandwiches, is the picnic table.
Actually today you can't imagine yourself in an outdoor area without a picnic table. It has been part of our culture for generations for many reasons. Their main purpose is to offer you the chance of getting out of the house, to breathe some fresh air and have a pleasant meal in the heart of nature. They give you the opportunity of gathering together not only the family, but also friends and why not business partners or colleagues? Around a picnic table the people feel more free and relaxed, without their day by day stresses. Relationships can get closer, you get the chance to know each other better. Picnic tables are very convenient for two reasons: they are large enough to seat many people around them and they don't require protocol and formal manners and clothes. Everybody can relax and be themselves without the fear of doing something wrong or offending somebody else by his/her lack of formality.
But eating outdoors does not have to be the sole purpose of a picnic table. You can also use it for common projects and crafts that involve a large number of people. It's much more fun, you don't feel the pressure of your four walls, you have a great view (picnic tables are placed in green areas, parks and gardens) and you can get rid of the worry that you may mess up your office or kitchen table with ink, glue or paint.
Usually there are two types of picnic tables: private and public ones.
Public picnic tables were very often made of wood (pine, cedar, teak), but today, to increase their durability and period of use, they can also be made of concrete, metal (aluminum, steel etc), recycled plastics or other materials and fiberglass. The classic model for a picnic table is a long rectangular table or a square one with benches on each side. Modern ones feature a round, hexagonal or octagonal shape, sometimes with an umbrella in the middle of the table, to assure picnic convenience, and a bunch of chairs.
Concrete picnic tables
The concrete picnic tables can be found in parks, private and public gardens, near a waterfall or mountain chalet. They cannot be placed in locations where the weather is freezing for periods of the year. It may be any shape and generally there are no chairs only a bench (no matter whether the table is round, rectangular, oval or octagonal). A concrete picnic table has two unique advantages: one is the table requires very little maintenance (or may even be maintenance free) and the other is its natural protection from vandalism and theft. Optionally the concrete picnic table can be equipped with an umbrella hole. They may be different colors that allows scratches to go unnoticed (natural gray, brown, adobe, honey or buff) and finishes (exposed aggregate concrete, polished concrete or a high gloss industrial quality clear coating).
Octagonal picnic tables
No matter what material it is made of, the octagonal picnic table is favored by everybody not only because it is large enough to seat up to 8 people, but due to its shape everybody around it has a clear view of the others and the sense of closeness (being equally distanced from one another) without crowding, pushing, shoving or going over the edge.
Folding picnic tables
Sometimes you feel the urge to take your family away from the daily routine and spend some quality time together on a beach, in a meadow or in the woods. Then you'll have to have a folding picnic table, because is more comfortable than eating sandwiches on a blanket or just standing.
There are simple small models (up to 4 persons). They have a top made of teak, laminate plastic or aluminum with steel legs which fold underneath the top when packing. They can be easily stored in the house pantry or in the basement. There are others (up to 8 persons) with a larger top but as easy to fold as the small ones. Some made of lightweight aluminum and capable of withstanding the weight of eight people (up to 250-300 pounds per square foot) are bought with a life time guarantee.
A folding picnic table it will worth the money paid for it due to the pleasant moments that you and your family will share around it.
