BL Workshop

Build a camp chair

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Relax around camp by building a comfortable chair. It’s easy if you have the pioneering skills.

Materials

• Three spars about 4 inches in diameter, two 8 feet long and one 12 to 15 feet long
• Four sections of rope, one 30 feet long and three 3 to 4 feet long
• 6-by-8-foot (or slightly bigger) tarp, folded into an isosceles triangle
• Three heavy rocks slightly smaller than baseballs but larger than golf balls

Step One: Determine which ends of each spar are the thickest, and designate those as the base of each spar. Lay the two shorter spars together on the ground, parallel to each other, with each base at the same end and even with each other.

Lay the long spar down in the opposite direction, with its base at the opposite end from the bases of the shorter spars, with only about two feet of overlap at the tops. Keep them all parallel.

Use the 30-foot rope to perform a tripod lashing around all three spars.

Step Two: Fold each rock into a corner of the triangle-shaped tarp and twist to create a pocket that will hold the rock. Then tie one of the three shorter ropes around the pocket holding the rock by wrapping a few times and tying off the end with two half hitches.

Be sure to leave 2 to 3 feet of rope available. Repeat for each corner.

Step Three: Attach the tarp to the tripod by wrapping the remaining rope around each spar once or twice and finishing with a taut-line hitch.

The longest spar should act as the back leg of the chair, so attach the rope at higher point on that spar to create the back of the chair.

Step Four: Relax comfortably in your chair.

Read 17 comments about “Build a camp chair”

Comment page:   [2] 1 »

1. 17 - bob bo bill says:
   March 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm

   this looks comftorbal but complicated to build is there a simpler way of doing so

2. 16 - tenderfoot3 says:
   March 20th, 2008 at 4:27 pm

   O.K. ya’ll I tried it(because it stopped raining) it works great!

3. 15 - Robin says:
   March 10th, 2008 at 11:22 pm

   Wow, that’s a most instructive video on how to perform a tripod lashing! A second video on how to prepare the tarp and to tie it to the spars is not shown. However, it is clear enough for me to do it with the assistance of the written instructions. In the flagpole video I learned to tie the taut-line hitch to the main line. In this video I learned that the hitch can also be used to tie a rope to a spar. The grip is good enough to hold the tarp without sliding down. I am just wondering whether Hurt Bottom had tied the taut-line hitch correctly to the spars. By the way, thank you again for the instructive video.

4. 14 - Hurt Bottom says:
   March 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 pm

   I tried making this at the last two campouts.

   It didn’t work.

   The tripod is fine, but when I attach the tarp, it slids to the bottom.

   It still hurts.

5. 13 - Jo Shmo says:
   February 26th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

   Its cool.

6. 12 - super SPL says:
   February 22nd, 2008 at 11:31 pm

   Now this is preety cool im going to bulid this next trip.

7. 11 - tenderfoot3 says:
   February 22nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm

   It’s raining outside, but when it stops, i’m trying this!!!

8. 10 - The Pennsylvania Pioneer says:
   February 14th, 2008 at 9:03 am

   this is really cool im going to try it at the spring camporee

9. 9 - scoutman says:
   February 13th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

   i made this at my camp and everybody wanted to sit in it. it was really comfortable and it counted as my first class camp gadget.boys life rules!

10. 8 - Bob in Boca says:
    January 31st, 2008 at 9:05 pm

    We are going to try to build this gadget on Saturday, any additional hints?

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