How to Build a Camp Table Between Trees

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Keep your stuff out of the dirt by building a table for your camp. It’s easy if you have the pioneering skills.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• Two spars up to six feet long (or long enough to be lashed to both trees) and about 3 inches in diameter
• Several shorter spars, the number depending on the distance between the trees
• Two sections of rope, both around 25 feet in length
• Four sections of rope, each around 50 feet in length depending on the diameter of the trees (Each can be made with two sections of 25-foot rope tied together with a square knot, or a sheep’s bend knot if rope is of two different diameters)

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Step One: Pick out two trees up to five feet apart with nothing between them. Have one person hold one of the longer spars horizontally across both trees. Tie a clove hitch around one spar right next to the tree, then use a square lash to attach the spar to the tree.

Step Two: Repeat the square lashing to the second tree at the other end of this spar, and repeat the whole process with the second spar on the other side of the tree. The lashings on both sides of the tree will have to overlap each other to ensure that the spars are level with each other.

Step Three: Lay the shorter spars across the two spars that are now attached to the trees. Lash the shorter spars to the longer spars with a floor lashing.

Step Four: Enjoy your new camp table.