Take-apart Campfire Cooking Tripod
Over on the right, check out a take-apart campfire cooking tripod in action. The tripod legs are made of ½ inch electrical conduit. They are 4 feet long and cut in 2 feet long sections connected together with conduit connections screwed in place on one end and glued in place on the other end.The light blue object in the right foreground is the carrier. It's made of 3 inch PVC sewer/drain pipe with a cap on one end and a screw–on/screw–off plug on the other end.
Here's a closeup of the carrier which contains the entire taken-apart tripod with room left over for a screwdriver. (The carrier also doubles as the shipping container.) For scale, I stood it on end beside the Bluesmobile's right front tire. It's exactly 27 ½ inches long, or a little over knee high to a tall person. Compare it to the tire and notice how easily it would fit into the trunk of your Bluesmobile.
Store the tripod in the carrier and never worry about getting soot on your other camping gear. /
Here's a closeup of a conduit connector holding a leg section together.
Each conduit connector is glued to a 2 feet long leg section
with J & B Weld.® The not-needed set-screw is left in place as a spare.
If you don't need portability, use 4 feet long sections of conduit. /
The pot hangs from an "S" hook on the end of a 24 inch chain. You can see a stirring/dipping spoon hanging from an "S" hook at the top of the tripod. /
The tripod contains 3 "S" hooks:
- One at the top to hold the spoon
- One at the bottom of the chain to hold the pot
- One near the top of the chain and used to adjust the length of the chain and the height of the pot above the fire
Notice the three eye bolts at the top and holding everything together. I opened the eye of one bolt with heavy pliers, put the chain end, the spoon "S" hook and the other two eye bolts inside it, then closed it with blows from a hammer.
To erect the tripod, simply insert the treaded ends of the eye bolts into the ends of the connected-together legs. It takes about 45 seconds from the time you unscrew the end of the PVC carrier until you're ready to cook.
If you build your own, make sure you completely close the ends of the "S" hooks where they connect to the chain and to an eye bolt. Also completely close the opened eye bolt.
If you decide to move a tripod leg with a pot in place, grasp the tripod leg at the bottom.
- The leg will be cool near the ground
- If you didn't tighten a screw on a conduit connector or a screw became loosened, the leg will remain together if you move it while grasping the bottom section.