Rope Recliner

This technique quickly converts a tripod stool into an adjustable outdoor chair.

tripod stool (normally found under fishing)

Paracord (length >216 in)

A tree/higher fixed object

This is an important step, It will help you get close to a comfortable position when using.

Take out your stool and unfold it. Place at a distance far enough the rope won’t be going straight up, but not so far away you run out of rope. This step depends entirely on your length of rope and how much stability you want. If you’re not sure, come back to this step once reading the rest of the guide.

Next, take out your rope.

find an anchor in the tree that’s near a 45 degeee angle from your chair. The farther away the seat is, the higher this anchor needs to be.

take 1/3 of your rope and put it around the anchor in the tree in a counterclockwise direction so it drapes down towards the ground. Then, bring that left rope end around the anchor again in the same counterclockwise direction while ensuring you do not secure this tightly. With your left hand, grab that end of the rope firmly and use your right hand to pull the line on the tree facing you towards yourself. This will create a loop!

Now do this again, feeding new rope into this equation from the right pile. The amount of times you need to repeat this may vary, most of the time you just need two loops at the end of this step. However, more loops means more stability, but also means the closer to the tree you will end up being. I suggest more loops only when you know you have a lot of rope.

When you need to pull out a new loop, make sure your left hand holds both the end and previous loops.

After you have your desired amount of loops, take the two ends of the rope and tie them firmly together using your favorite knot. Be careful, a knot too weak will come undone quickly while you’re using it!

Take one of these three loops and bring it over and onto the seat, so now the stool is in the middle of it.

Finally, hold the two remaining loops in both hands, by holding the left side of the both with your left hand, same for the right hand but on the right.

Seperate your hands so you can step into the center of the two loops.

Sit down in the seat, facing the tree, and adjust both loops into different positions that feel the most comfortable. Common spots are right under the ribs, and an inch lower than your armpit flanks.

Lastly, carefully lean backward as the rope slowly holds around 25% of your weight, while keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground. At this points they are held in place by friction and you can now let go of them.

Congratulations! You can now take a break in an upright-sitting hammock. Read a book, take a nap, do whatever! I’ve put these two materials in my backpack many times and biked to and around parks. When I want to take a break for a bit, I set this up and relax!

BONUS TIP: in step 4 if you make sure the knotted loop is not the one that goes underneath the seat and the knot centered at the backward-maximum point (right behind your back), this drastically slows the time it takes for the knot to untie.