Lashings: Build a Camp Tripod
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What you will learn
- 1Tie a tripod lashing with wraps and fraps
- 2Tie a square lashing to join two poles at a right angle
- 3Start and finish each lashing with a clove hitch
- 4Spread a tripod and have a grown-up test it before use
Mini Lesson
A lashing ties poles together with many turns of rope. In Grade 4 you learned that a clove hitch starts a lashing. Now you learn the whole lashing, turn by turn. With one rope and three poles you can build a camp tripod. A tripod can hold a wash bowl, dry your gear, or carry a pot hanger that the adult uses over a fire.
🌿 The Wild Way (the tripod lashing)
- THREE POLES: lay three straight, strong poles side by side on the ground, tops level.
- START WITH A CLOVE HITCH: tie a clove hitch around one outside pole, near the top.
- WRAPS: weave the rope over and under the three poles, around and around, about six to eight times. Keep the wraps snug, not too tight, so the legs can still spread.
- FRAPS: wind the rope two or three times around the wraps, in the gaps between the poles. Fraps squeeze the wraps and lock them.
- FINISH WITH A CLOVE HITCH: tie a clove hitch on the other outside pole.
- SPREAD THE LEGS: stand the tripod up and spread the feet wide so it stands steady.
The square lashing (two poles at a right angle)
- CROSS THE POLES: lay one pole across the other to make a plus sign or a corner.
- CLOVE HITCH: tie it on the upright pole, just under the cross pole.
- WRAP IN A SQUARE: take the rope over the cross pole, behind the upright, over the cross pole again, and behind the upright - three or four times.
- FRAP AND FINISH: add two or three fraps between the poles, then finish with a clove hitch on the cross pole.
A grown-up checks every lashing is strong before anything is hung on it. Never climb on, swing on or sit on a tripod. A pot hanger over a fire is only ever used by the adult - you build and test the tripod, but you never hang or lift a hot pot. Choose dead, fallen poles, not branches cut from living trees.
Words to know
lashing
Many turns of rope that tie two or three poles together.
e.g. We used a lashing to join the three poles.
clove hitch
A knot that grips a pole, used to start and finish a lashing.
e.g. I tied a clove hitch on the outside pole.
wrap
One turn of rope around the poles in a lashing.
e.g. I made seven wraps around the three poles.
frap
A turn of rope wound around the wraps, between the poles, to tighten them.
e.g. Two fraps made the lashing firm.
tripod
Three poles lashed at the top with the legs spread so they stand.
e.g. Our tripod held the wash bowl.
square lashing
A lashing that joins two poles crossing at a right angle.
e.g. We used a square lashing to add a cross pole to the gear stand.
🧠 Survivor’s Trick: if a tripod will not spread, the wraps are too tight. If it wobbles and slips, the fraps are too loose. Untie it and try again - a good lashing often takes two or three tries, even for experts.
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