Figure of 8 Lashing (Tripod Lashing)

This lashing is used to tie three poles (spars) together to make a tripod.

Tripods are the base for a lot of Scout Engineering projects, which makes this one of the most important lashings you will need to know. Projects include the chippewa kitchen (https://www.instructables.com/id/Chippewa-Kitchen/)

You will need:

3 Poles (spars), to make the 'legs'

1 Length of rope (sisal)

1 Short pole

To start, lay your poles down, side by side. Place the 'fat' ends at one end, this will be the bottom of the tripod. You can put the short pole under the 'skinny' ends to raise the top of the tripod off the ground, this will make it easier to tie the lashing.

To start the rope work, you must tie a clove hitch.

To tie a clove hitch, take the rope around one of the outside poles (pic 1).

Then wrap the rope around the second time, crossing over the first wrap, making a 'X' (pic 2).

Finish the clove hitch by threading the rope through the 'X', passing the working end under the cross-over from the previous wraps (pic 3).

When you pull both ends of the rope it will tighten on itself and hold.

Now with the three legs side by side you can now start the 'figure of 8' wrap. Weave the rope under the first pole, over the second and under the third pole. Complete a full wrap around the third pole, then weave the rope over, under and over, back to the first pole (with the clove hitch). You can 'catch' the tail end of the clove hitch when you wrap the rope around the pole for the second round of wrapping (pic 6-7). Continue this until you have at least 4 full wraps.

When you have enough figure of 8 wraps, complete a full turn around the end pole so the rope comes up through the gap between the first and second poles. Pass the rope over the figure of 8 wrapping and feed it trough gap at the other side of the wrapping. Complete four fraps, then bring the rope over the middle pole to make the frapping between the second and third poles.

Finish the lashing by making a clove hitch on the opposite pole to the start clove hitch. You can tidy the ends with a pen knife.

Stand the tripod up straight. Move the middle pole back, this will make room above the lashing for the two outside poles to be moved apart. Work the ends of the legs out to the desired width a little at a time. For extra security you can 'brace' the legs with other poles to stop the ends from kicking out.https://www.instructables.com/id/The-Irish-Lashing/

Enjoy