Tripods have many uses in wilderness survival such as hanging pots over a fire, smoking meat, lift pole traps, back rests, shelters, and whatever else you can imagine.

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Pole Selection

The length and diameter of the poles depends entirely upon the intended use for the tripod. Consider your needs and choose your poles accordingly. Just be sure to use fallen dead wood so as to leave as much of the forest intact as possible. Ideally the tree poles you select should be close in diameter, but this is not essential.

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Cordage, an Essential Element

In this example I am using jute twine, which is one of my favorite types of cordage because it is natural and will biodegrade all by itself. If you are using parachute cord, be certain to remove it from the woods when you are finished unless you are establishing a permanent survival campsite.

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Start the Lashing Process

The tripod lashing begins with making a clove hitch around one of the poles and cinching it tight. A clove hitch is made by forming two loops and passing them over the ends of the pole. A simple way to remember how to tie the clove hitch loops is: “Right over left, right over left, right behind left”. See the video above for the best explanation.

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Over and Under

Now set the short tail from the clove hitch between the poles and begin weaving the long end between each the three poles. The short tail does not have to go anywhere specific: we just want to get it out of the way and hide it by covering it up during the lashing process. Each time you make a pass with the long end it should go “over and under” until you have five or six passes on each of the poles.

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Tighten it Down with Frapping

Now take the long end and wrap between each of the poles for several passes. By tightly wrapping over your previous rope work, you are cinching the entire rig down and adding a lot of strength to it. This process is called frapping.

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Finishing the Knot

Once the frapping is complete, you should be finishing right next to the clove hitch where you started. Now just take the end you have been working with and finish it off by tying several half hitches around one of the poles. The friction from the half hitches will be more than enough to keep the lashing from unraveling, yet it will also allow you to easily disassemble the entire rig if you need to get your cordage back.

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The Completed Tripod

Now turn the tree poles upright and spread them apart… and the tripod is complete! From here you can hang a pot, make it part of a shelter, set a trap, or any other task you wish. Enjoy!