Appalachian pine mixer

A fine dining experience for through-hikers on the trail. After hiking 50 miles of the Appalachian Trail together, our team designed from what we learned. Hikers don’t need another product to carry, they hike for the experience, so that’s what we gave them.

Screen Shot 2018-11-12 at 12.59.13 PM.png

Read the article about us in The Trek.

trail community

The trail is full of kind of people from all walks of life, and a beautiful place to be. Trail magic is people doing acts of kindness for others on the trail. Trail magic often comes in the form of food, because hikers only carry what they need. Food is heavy, and perishables don’t last long mashed in a backpack.

giving back

The Appalachian Pine Mixer became a restaurant-style affair complete with dining tables and chairs, three-course meal, waiters, cooks, servers, and even a violinist. Among creating the menu, preparing the food, and deciding on a location, our biggest challenge was finding lightweight collapsable dining furniture. We decided to design and build our own.

Problem

To create a dining experience on the trail, we needed to pack carry everything in and out. Dining tables and chairs are heavy. Camp furniture is lightweight but is small and low to the ground, and chairs typically sit in a reclined position, not ideal for sitting up-right at a table.

Design

As the leader of the furniture team, I orchestrated ideation meetings and sketch sessions, mechanism prototyping, material research, and the assembly of four sets of lightweight dining tables and chairs.

Screen Shot 2018-11-17 at 8.52.46 PM2.png

Solution

Lightweight, collapsible dining tables and chairs complete with a white table cloth.

Vinyl coated nylon canvas reinforced with fiberglass rods made the tabletop surfaces. Half-inch stainless steel round-tubing legs supported and stretched the fabric top.

Screen Shot 2018-11-12 at 3.24.48 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-11-12 at 3.29.25 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-11-12 at 3.28.55 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-11-12 at 3.29.10 PM.png

Screen Shot 2018-11-12 at 3.28.39 PM.png

Success

After successfully setting up the tables, chairs, and cook station that my team designed, we served through-hikers free, hot, gourmet meals, prepared on-site.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. The hikers expressed both disbelief and gratitude and were eager to hear our story. The Appalachian Pine Mixer was an incredible success, and the communal experience touched both the hikers and our class.

creating community

To foster a close-knit team in the classroom, we become part of the community on the trail. Watch our video.