DIY Floyd Leg

A while back, somewhere deep in an internet hole, I found this furniture design that caught my attention. Now, ordinarily I am not researching furniture, but anything with an innovative design aspect regardless of subject, I get interested. The Floyd Leg is at its basic level is a clamp on table leg. Looking more into the design objectives, it is a non-permanent solution to big heavy furniture in a nomadic living arrangement. It can be used on almost any table surface, and when you need to pack up and move, just un-clamp and go.

I was morally offended when I found out these legs go for upwards of 200 dollars a set, almost 300 dollars for a set that doesn't wobble if you use the table for anything more than a decorative piece. At this price one could move ten times and just source thrift store or craigslist tables at $20 a pop.

Then again I can't get over my intrigue for these legs. Solution: DIY. (really the solution to everything).

I found some steel bed frame rails for zero dollars. These provided all of the structural material I needed. Next the clamping apparatus. After a bit of internetting I found who I imagine The Floyd Leg company sources there bits from. TE-CO make precision machining components and the sell these clamping screws for custom machining jigs. TE-CO Swivel Clamp

Bed frame rail before getting chopped

I spent close to $50 on Amazon for three pairs of these clamping screws. An even cheaper alternative would be to buy some large eye-bolts and weld a plate onto the end after threading it through your leg. This would be more permanent and could be modified so it could be taken on and off. These swivel head screws just provided a nice clean solution, so I spent the money.

Legs cut to 29.5" (common table height)

Potato quality engineer weld.

Hardware: Swivel Head screws from TE-CO,
1/2-13 & 5/8-16 Nuts from local hardware store.

Drilling plate to hold screw

Variation: The Floyd Shelf

Ready for paint

I set up the legs on a piece of 3/4 ply and it worked well. The top angle deflected a little when the clamp is really tightened down. And the table wobbles a bit too much for my liking. I plan on welding in the corner to help the deflection, this should provide a little more rigidity to the whole structure as well. I also plan on painting the legs. Ill upload part 2 when that happens.

April 17th - 44 - Knot Maul Branch to Chestnut Knob

In a great stretch of communal hiking tonight is the culmination.

I wake up early and lower the bear bag. Mama Bear is the only other person up this early. I cook and eat breakfast and watch the sunrise. I start hiking around 8:30. At lick creek I break, Grease and I fool around and take an un-necessary foray over a log bridge close to the trail.

A white blaze on chestnut knob.

I took lunch by a spring fed pond on the way up chestnut knob. The water source looked bad, but if you circle around to the back of the pond there is a piped spring. The weather is gorgeous, sunny, warm enough to sit and lounge without getting cold. After lounging about for an hour or two, almost every hiker I can name on trail today is here. Slowly we pack up and keep moving. Not very far though.

Sunbear hiking up a bald on chestnut knob.

After a short 2-ish mile hike across the top of Chestnut Bald, I reach the shelter. It is a completely enclosed shelter, the first I can recall (Fontana Hilton has no doors). It is rather nice except for a slight stale smell inside. Hawk, Yo Teach!, Birdamn, and Mumbles keep hiking on. But as more and more hikers arrive here a consensus is made. It is far too nice up here to keep hiking.  Mama Beear volunteers to go fill water for many of us. The source for this shelter is almost half a mile back south on the AT, almost a deal breaker.

Sunbear and Grease scout out flat tent spots.

The view out over the valley is easily top ten for the whole hike. as the sun sets behind me I watch the shadow of the ridge move out across the valley. More friendly faces come in tonight including One Day, Fun Size, Canadiaah, Youngbeard, and Sunshine.

Sunset over a bluebird valley.

Many thru-hikers sit about and converse til after dark. Tonight is one of the nights where you sit back and think about how lucky you are to be sitting here. at this place, at this moment, with these people. And how you would not trade it more any amount of money, fame, or time on this earth. It reminds me that happiness lies not in money or fame, but in the human experience.

Sunset and a campfire.

April 16th - 43 - Atkins, VA to Knot Maul Branch Shelter
The first thing I note in my journal today is that I crossed the mathematical one quarter point of the AT. I guess this was important to me at the time. Or more realistic is that when you are hiking you spend a lot of time thinking. So maybe I just thought a lot about where I was on the trail.

It was only 13.9 miles of hiking today, but that really doesn't matter giving the solid group of hikers that I am with. Imagine being 6 years old again and having a sleep over party with  10 of your closest friends. Now make those people interesting, varied in background, with a common albeit far off goal of hiking a long trail. Now stretch that sleep over to one hundred and fifty days.

Grease hiking out in front of me across a lovely open meadow. 

Off of the road the trail weaves up through some old fields. There is barbed wire and abandoned equipment adding to the ambiance. The trail for the next few day would cross these old fields, still to this day one of my favorite parts of hiking in Virginia. The air is perfect, cold at night, crisp in the shade and the perfect amount of warmth provided by the sun. 

Does this really need a caption?

Handsome Dan after vaulting one of the dreaded fence stiles.

Holston Branch, great place to eat lunch and cool of your dogs.

Dan and I stop for a snack by the Holston Branch. Half Moon is here nursing a rolled ankle. I follow suit and put my feet in the water. This is a great idea for any long distance hiker. At the very least take your shoes off during longer breaks. Not only does it feel good, but it really does help the pain inflicted on the feet by hiking all day everyday. 

At the shelter there is a great communal atmosphere. Sunbear, Grease, Blink, Rambo, Halfmoon, Dan, Mama Bear, Hard to Kill, Sunshine, Youngbeard are here. There is a fire going (a rarity for my hike), Hard to Kill surprises us all by cooking brownies over the fire in his cook pot flipped upside down. We hang a collective food bag that by our estimates is in excess of 100 pounds. Some whiskey is passed around, and good times are had by all.

April 15th - 42 - Partnership Shelter to Atkins, VA
Took the shuttle back down to Marion with the hikers that came in last night. I couldn't resist getting more snacks and another round of fast food. I a cold drizzle hikers walked about Marion resupplying. the shuttle took us all back up to the visitors center and I was hiking by noon. The eleven and a half mile hike to Atkins was cold and rainy to begin with, the weather switched to snow for a period, and the sun finally creeped out as we approached the road. Dan and I split a room and the Relax Inn as does the rest of the hiker hoard and we head up the road for some grub. The barn restaurant here is a renowned hiker stop, complete with a mail drop resupply and hiker box. I order the 16 ounce hiker burger as more and more hikers pile in. as more show up we arrange the table into one long community dining table. Those present include; Dan, Blink, Rambo, Sunbear, Grease, Hard to Kill Phil, Mama Bear, Half Moon, Sunshine, Young Beard, Hawk, Achilles, Yo Teach!, and Birdman. After dinner I stop and buy a Miller 40 ounce at the gas station and watch modern family til 11pm, well past hiker midnight.

A strange phenomenon happens on the AT. the longer you stay on trail the better and better days become. as winter turns to spring and spring turns to summer, the hike becomes easier and harder. one thing remains, every day is better than the last.

April 14th - 41 - Zero Day #2. Marion, VA

There is a shuttle that runs from the Mt. Rogers visitor center here down to Marion. I have a mail drop waiting at the post office and I need a fuel canister. Flex, Bluesky, Coconuts, Spice Kit, Grease Spot, Wiffle, Tuesday, and I take the shuttle down to resupply.

Marion's claim to fame seem to be that Mountain Dew, the liquid cavity juice was formulated here. The town has clearly waged war on enamel,.. and fuel canisters. After a walk across town, the Army/Navy store back across town is suggested as the place with the isobutane. Success, at a slightly inflated price for some off brand gas I can cook for the next two weeks. On last stop at the Virginia ABC store and we call the shuttle to arrange a ride back up the mountain.

Everyone is hiking on except for Grease spot. I head back over to the shelter to sort through my maildrop and pack up. At about 2pm Mama Bear rolls up to the shelter and informs me of all the people headed this way. Rambo, Blink, Wrong Leg, Half Moon, Sunbear, and Grease. I decide to stick around and reunite with these awesome people. Achilles, Outlet, Sunshine, Youngbeard, and even Handsome Dan shows up. Night two of the Partnership Pizza extravaganza is underway.

April 13th - 40 - Hurricane Mountain Shelter to Partnership Shelter

Woke up and watched the sunrise while I cooked and ate. Its the warmest morning so far on trail I wrote in my journal. when you wake up early and exit a shelter you try to make as little noise as possible. for some reason whenever I try to do this it almost never works. This morning I drop my canister, pot, and lid on the hard dirt floor. I cook on a hill 20 yards from the shelter so I can think out loud whilst I eat and pack.

Nothing like that food-bag dawn.

I am hiking at 8 am. Waking up early and hiking hard until noon would become my ideal hiking day. those hours don't count really, and you generally don't get bonus hours at the end of the day.

As I sit for a break a few miles later, a whistling Mr. Bluesky comes arround the bend. I am not sure how he got his named, but if I had to guess, it may have something to do with his ever sunny disposition. He hikes on through and I don't catch up to him until lunch. At Trimpi shelter I chill with Bluesky and Flex, Bluesky is finishing his 13 thru-hike tomorrow in Atkin, VA but I would see Flex on and off until Katahdin.

One of my favorite parts of Virginia is crossing the fields between ridges.

Just before a dirt road, there is a tent set up with some coolers underneath. Its pretty warm out at this point so I sit underneath. I find a luke warm root beer. In any other scenario most people would turn this down without a flinch. For me, a welcome treat. Ill take all the sugary boost juice I can get, but really just one, so others can enjoy the warmth.

Trail Magic!

I reach Partnership at 4:30. The shower hasn't been turned on for the season yet, but a compensation pizza is ordered from the Mt Rogers visitors center.

April 12th - 39 - Cove Mtn Shelter to Hurricane Mtn Shelter

"Woke up around dawn and cooked my last home mixed oatmeal until my next mail drop. Packed and  L-N-L and I headed north towards fox creek by 8:50." We hike very quickly stopping only momentarily at Old Orchard Shelter. Live's parents are picking him up from Fox creek campground supposedly around 11. We arrive and wait around until 12;30, when they show up. I twas nice there are trash cans and port-a-potties here. Noodles and Biscuit are here eating lunch as well.

Back on the trail, I hike up to Hurricane Mountain Shelter. A German couple is here and we have the cursory hiker interaction. Its ten miles to the next shelter so I decide to chill here for the night. Its early yet and no one else comes in. I fear this will be my second night alone on trail. I head down to the creek and take a hiker trash shower, I even get to my hair. The rest of the day I lay in my sleeping bag drawing and contemplating life. It was sunny and 70 today be its starting to get a little chilly now.

Doodle for the day

I doze off and get startled by voices in the distance. Mr. Bluesky, Flex, Mr. Coconut, Spice Kit, Vegemite, Owl, and Dr. Scrambles show up and my worries of being ambush by a pack of rabid grizzly bears with no one around to hear my screams are alleviated. This is a great group of hikers, most of whom this is my first time meeting.