We usually use most of the sunlight to hike trails and gather new experiences so that necessitated devising a system to hang lights at the picnic table–particularly in boondocking (no electric or other amenities) situations.

I needed to be able to set up poles on both our aluminum 27″ x 27″ folding table and a standard picnic table.  This is what I invented to solve the problem:

What you need is:

1. Two flag pole mounts (the screw in kind).  I found mine at True Value.
2. Four Shallow Screws (you don’t want to screw past your bottom board)
3. Two scrap pieces of wood
4. A “C” Clamp or a Hand Vise
5. A piece of rope about 11″ long
6. Two Cup Hooks
7. Two 1″ Oak Dowel rods cut to approx 36″
8. Some Flexi-Gear-Tie Clips (Home Depot, Cabellas)

Easy.

• Center your Flag Pole Mount(FPM) in the center of your scrap wood (leaving enough room on each side for your clamp.  Its nice to be able to clamp on either side.)
• Screw the FPM into your scrap wood, taking care not to let the screw tip extend beyond the wood.
• Cut a length of 1″ Oak Dowel to desired size (make sure it fits in the place you want to store it.  We store ours in our back bumper.  I made them 3′ long)
• Drill a pilot hole in one end of each dowel and screw in a Cup Hook
• Knot your length of rope to one pole. (wrap around the pole for storage.)

Now you are ready to  tie off the other end using an easy to remove knot.  Use your gear clips to suspend solar party lights, Luci lamps ( https://mpowerd.com ) or other lighting devices.  Also serves as a nice mini laundry line.

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