How to Set Up a Field Bar for an Outdoor Picnic

A picnic done properly is not just a meal moved outdoors. It is a specific kind of afternoon. The blanket goes down without ceremony, the field bar opens at the spot it was always going to open at, and the conversation finds its pace by the second pour.

The phrase "field bar" comes up more often than people realize. It is the difference between a picnic that runs out of momentum after the first sandwich and a picnic that turns into the reason for the weekend. A proper field bar takes a long lunch and extends it. A proper field chair makes the second hour as comfortable as the first.

This is a Field Traditions guide to setting up both, with notes on what to choose, what goes inside, and the rituals that turn a lunch into a Saturday afternoon that stays.

What a field bar actually is

A field bar is a portable bar, designed to be carried to the spot where you want to drink rather than the spot where the kitchen happens to be. The best ones are built around three principles:

1. A real surface. Not a cooler lid. A proper flat top that holds a bottle, a glass, and a board without anyone reaching.
2. Storage that works. Bottles, glasses, and the small tools (corkscrew, jigger, knife) all sit inside the case for the trip and come out for the pour.
3. Materials that age well. Wood, leather, and brass beat plastic every time. A field bar that gets used for a decade should look better after the decade than it did at the start.

The Handcrafted Teak Camp Field Bar with Solid Brass Fittings hits all three. Teak case, solid brass fittings, opens into a full bar surface, packs down for the carry. Built to be the centerpiece of an outdoor afternoon and to be in the family for a generation after that.

Handcrafted Teak Camp Field Bar with Solid Brass Fittings

Where to set it up

The best field bars find the edge of something. The edge of a field. The edge of a river. The edge of the long view from the top of the rise. The setup is the kit, but the spot is the work. Walk a little further than feels necessary. The five extra minutes is what turns a meal into a memory.

Set the field bar where the light is going to be best in an hour, not where it is best now. The picnic shifts as the afternoon goes; the bar should be set for the shift, not for the start.

The field chair (the other half of the setup)

A field chair is the unsung hero of an outdoor afternoon. The picnic blanket carries the romance, but the field chair carries the second hour. Most picnics die because nobody wants to sit on the ground any more by 3pm. A good field chair fixes that.

The Safari Folding Teak Director's Chair, Ripstop Sand, is the field chair we use. Teak frame for the weight to feel right, ripstop sand canvas that takes the field without complaint, folds flat for the back of the car, sets up in a single move. For a picnic of four, two of these plus the field bar plus the blanket is the full kit.

Safari Folding Teak Director's Chair - Ripstop Sand

For the lighter setup, the Cotswolds Foldable Field Seat and the Alcon Leather Foldable Field Seat are both made to carry one-handed and to set down without fuss. Either works as the secondary chair if you are bringing more than two.

Folding Chairs and Shooting Seats

The basket

A good picnic basket carries the meal, opens flat enough to use as a side table, and is the kind of thing you would happily leave on the floor at home for the rest of the week without it embarrassing the room.

The Field Traditions 6 person Deluxe Houndstooth Picnic Basket with Rope Handles is the six-person all-rounder. The 4-Person Black Watch Tartan Picnic Basket is the same idea at the smaller scale. The 4-Person Green Tweed Picnic Basket with Wine Drawer is the one for the picnic that intends to be a long one.

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The blanket

A wool blanket sets the tone in a way a cotton picnic blanket never quite manages. Wool holds its shape on uneven ground, does not catch every blade of grass, and gets better with age. A waterproof backing keeps the damp out from below; a leather carry strap means the blanket gets taken everywhere it should go.

The Field Traditions New Wool Tartan Field Picnic Blanket has all three. If a picnic basket and a picnic blanket are added to your basket together, 15% comes off both at checkout. Automatically applied, no code needed.

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What goes inside the field bar

The contents of a field bar are the place where most people overdo it. Pack less than you think, but make every piece earn its weight.

The minimum we would pack:

• Two bottles. One white in a cooler bag, one red at room temperature. A picnic that has a choice tastes better than a picnic that has a chosen.
• A glass each. A heavy whiskey glass works for almost anything. The Field Traditions "Long Live The Hunt" Whiskey Glass holds a wine pour or a spirit pour with equal weight. The Field Traditions Bobwhite Quail Tumbler Whiskey Glass and the Mallard Duck Whiskey Glass are the matching pieces for a set.
• A board with three things on it. Not five. Three. Hard cheese, a soft pâté or rillette, a cured meat. The board ends the meal as well as starts it.
• A jar of olives. Always.
• A linen napkin per person. Wool blanket on the ground, linen napkins on the lap; the textures matter.

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The rituals

The first pour at the field bar is what starts the picnic. It is not a formality. The bottle is opened slowly, the cork is pulled with the same corkscrew every time, and the first glass goes to whoever made the effort to find the spot. Then the basket opens.

The second pour is what extends the picnic. By the time the second is poured, the meal has settled, the conversation is finding its rhythm, and the question of whether to walk back yet has not even been asked.

The third pour is what makes the picnic a memory. The light has shifted. The plates are still on the blanket. The dog has settled at someone's feet. Nobody is rushing. This is the hour every long afternoon has been waiting for.

The pieces, gathered

If you are starting from scratch, four items will carry you through every picnic from June to September:

1. A Handcrafted Teak Camp Field Bar with Solid Brass Fittings (the centerpiece)
2. Two Safari Folding Teak Director's Chairs (the second hour)
3. A four- or six-person picnic basket (the Houndstooth Deluxe or the Black Watch Tartan)
4. A wool tartan blanket with a leather strap

Add the basket and the blanket together and the 15% bundle saving lands automatically.

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Long Live The Hunt.