Permanent or Portable

• The design and size of your homemade camp table needs to be determined by your camping style. Will you be camping at a different campground or campsite each weekend? If so, your table will need to be totally portable; it will need to disassemble to fit in your vehicle or camper. It will also need to be fairly lightweight to facilitate loading and unloading.
  
  If your camp is semi-permanent, you may wish to construct a movable table which can be repositioned with a bit of effort to take advantage of shade, sun, wind direction or other factors.
  If your camp is permanent--meaning the camper is always in a specific spot and the location of the campfire, cooking fly or other amenities never change--you may wish to consider a permanent location for the camp table. Instead of being movable, it can be installed using decay-resistant posts or four-by-fours as legs and supports.
  
  

Size Matters

• Some campers are minimalists and others don't feel at home in the outdoors unless the outdoors have most of the comforts of home. Size the table for the duties you expect to perform on it. If it's to serve as a food-preparation area and a spot for a small camp stove for one or two people, a rather small table can suffice. If your camping group is quite large and will feature "sit-down" dining, size it for that. A rule of thumb is to make the table larger than you think you'll need. Eventually, you'll need it.
  
  

Materials

• A camp table by nature is going to be subjected to rain, dew, direct sunlight and other weather conditions that a table designed for indoor use will never see. Stay away from plywood or wood-based composite lumber such as strand-board or particle board. Even when sealed or painted, these man-made materials won't stand up to the weather over the long run.
  
  Using pressure-treated lumber for table legs and framework is a good idea for any table and a necessity for tables which will be left outdoors permanently or seasonally. Use stainless steel or special ceramic-coated screws and bolts with this lumber as the salts used to preserve the wood is corrosive to bare steel fasteners.
  
  Don't use pressure-treated lumber for the table top if the surface is to be used as a food-preparation area. The chemicals in the wood aren't lethal, but who wants exposure to potential toxins if it can be avoided? Redwood or cedar are good alternatives, but any wood will suffice if you keep it sealed, stained or painted. Plastic "lumber" is available and will offer years of trouble-free service.