Pot Hangers & Cooking Tripods: How to Hang a Pot Over a Campfire

Which pot hanger should you build?

Build the simplest pot hanger that fits your pot and your site. For one person and a light pot, a dingle stick is up in five minutes. For a group, two pots or a long evening, a crane is more stable and keeps the whole fire free. On rocky or frozen ground where nothing can be driven in, or for a heavier pot, a cooking tripod stands on its own three feet.

All three do the same job: they hold the pot by its bail above the fire, so you can control heat by height instead of by building the fire up or down. That is the core idea behind every hanging method in campfire cooking setups, and it is why the old word for an adjustable hanger, the trammel, survives in many languages. In the glossary you will find it under pot hanger.

Which pots can hang over a fire?

A pot can hang only if it has a wire bail handle – the loop of wire that swings over the top. Billy cans, many stainless steel camp pots, camp kettles and cast iron camp ovens have one. Pots with short folding side handles, plastic or silicone grips or a single long handle cannot hang safely: they tip, slip off the hook or melt. The billy can section of our cookware guide explains why the bail is the most useful feature a fire pot can have.

Weight: what the hanger really carries

Water weighs 1 kg per litre, so the contents quickly outweigh the pot. A 1 L stainless billy weighing 200–350 g carries roughly 1.3 kg when full; a 1.5 L kettle about 2 kg. A cast iron Dutch oven is in another league: a 30 cm (12-inch) camp oven typically weighs 6–9 kg with its lid, before any stew goes in – see Dutch oven sizes. Choose the hanger for the full weight, and add a margin, because a pot that swings or is stirred loads the hanger more than a still one.

A lid keeps ash out and shortens boiling noticeably; the boil time calculator estimates time and fuel. A bail with a small dip in the middle keeps the pot level on the hook.

How to set up a dingle stick

The dingle stick is the fastest pot hanger there is: one long stick, its butt end pinned to the ground, resting on a forked support so that the tip reaches out over the fire. The pot hangs from a notch or short wire at the tip. It works like a lever – the pot pushes the tip down and the butt up – so the butt must be held down by a rock, a hooked peg or by pushing it firmly into soft ground.

What it should look like: the stick sits firmly in the fork without rolling, the butt does not move when you press on the tip, and the pot hangs straight down over the centre of the fire, not over the edge.

A dingle stick suits a single billy or a small kettle. It is less suited to heavy pots, because the long lever multiplies the load on the butt and fork. If the tip sags noticeably when you hang the full pot, use a thicker stick, move the fork closer to the tip or switch to a crane. The classic variant without a fork – a stick pushed into the ground at an angle with a rock on its base – is shown in the cooking without a grate section.

How to build a cooking crane (pot gallows)

The crane, also called pot gallows, is the workhorse of camp kitchens: two forked sticks driven into the ground on either side of the fire, with a straight crossbar lying in the forks. One or two pots hang from the bar on hooks. Because the supports stand to the side, the fire area stays free for a grill grate or a pan on stones at the same time.

The numbers match our campfire cooking guide: forks 1–1.2 m apart, green crossbar 3–4 cm thick, at least 60 cm above the flames. If the ground is too hard to drive the forks in, wedge them between stones or use a tripod instead. A small folding saw cuts the bar cleanly; a light hatchet or a machete also works where it is legal to carry one.

How to build a cooking tripod with a tripod lashing

A cooking tripod is three poles bound together near the top with a tripod lashing and spread into a free-standing frame. A chain, wire or cord with a hook hangs from the crossing point, and the pot hangs below. Tripods stand on rock, frozen ground and gravel where no fork can be driven in, and three legs carry a heavier pot than one angled stick.

The full knot sequence with drawings is in our guide to how to tie a tripod lashing. The most common beginner mistake is wrapping too tightly: the legs then cannot spread, and the tripod stands tall and narrow and tips easily. Loose wraps that still let the poles move, then frapping turns to lock them, give a wide, stable stance.

Checkpoint: press down on the crossing with your full hand. The feet should dig in, not slide outwards, and the tripod should not twist. On smooth rock, set each foot against a stone; on soft ground, push the feet a few centimetres in. The pot should hang in the middle between the three feet. If it hangs closer to one leg, the tripod is lopsided and can tip when you stir.

Tripod sizes

For a small fire and one pot, poles of 1.5–1.8 m are enough and are easier to find; at about 2 m you get more room for a taller flame and can stand comfortably next to the pot. Thicker poles (5 cm and up) are worth it for a group pot or for hanging a Dutch oven by its bail.

How to carve an adjustable pot hook

An adjustable pot hook, or trammel, is a green stick with a short hook at the lower end for the bail and two to four notches near the upper end. You hang it over the crossbar (or into a cord loop) by one of the notches. Use the topmost notch and the pot hangs at its lowest; use a notch further down the stick and the pot rides higher. It is the classic second whittling project after a tent peg – see the pot hanger project in our whittling guide.

Carving the notch is just two cuts: the stop cut, which defines the flat face that rests on the bar, and the ramp, a sloping cut from below that removes the chip. Always cut away from your body and away from the hand that holds the stick, and keep your knife hand braced. The grips and the notch types are explained in bushcraft carving, and any sharp bushcraft knife with a fixed blade does the job.

Other ways to adjust the height

• Chain and S-hooks: hook the pot into a higher or lower chain link. Robust, fire-proof and quick, but it adds weight to the pack.
• Adjustable hitch: on a cord hanger, an adjustable hitch such as the taut-line hitch slides up and down. Keep the knot well above the heat – see knots for camp jobs.
• Bail notches: a hook with notches along its lower part, into which the bail is moved, is another common design.

Height = heat: how high should the pot hang?

The height of the pot over the fire is your heat control. Flames are hottest at their tips, and coals radiate strong, even heat upwards. Low and in the flame tips brings water to a rolling boil fastest; 10–20 cm above glowing coals is the classic simmering height for soups, stews and porridge; higher up, the pot just keeps warm. Most cooks use both: boil on the young fire, then simmer once it has burnt down to coals.

To make water safe, bring it to a rolling boil for 1 minute, or 3 minutes above 2,000 m, as explained in boiling water. Use the young, flaming fire for this, and save the coals for cooking food. Dense, dry hardwood gives the best coals; the firewood calculator estimates how much wood an evening of cooking needs, and fire lays shows which structure burns down to an even coal bed.

Green or dead wood? Choosing sticks for a pot hanger

Use green wood for every part close to the heat – the crossbar, the tip of a dingle stick and the pot hook – because living wood is full of water and chars slowly. Dead, sound hardwood is fine for supports that stand outside the fire and for short use over it, such as boiling a single pot of water, as long as it is not rotten, cracked or bending. Dry softwood and thin dead sticks can burn through or snap within one meal.

Permission and rules

Cutting living trees or branches almost always needs the landowner's permission, and in parks and nature reserves it is usually forbidden. Collecting dead wood is allowed in some places and restricted in others. Rules differ by country and region – this is no legal advice, so check locally. In many countries, campsites and fire spots sell or supply wood; buying a few poles or bringing a light metal tripod is often the simplest legal solution. Lying, fallen branches are also the first choice for Leave No Trace.

Which species?

Hazel, ash, maple, birch, willow and beech are common choices: straight, strong and non-toxic. Avoid wood you cannot identify near food, and never use yew, laburnum or holly for anything that touches the pot or the food, as our campfire cooking guide warns. Our tree identification guide helps you recognise the common species.

Cord, wire or chain: what holds up near the fire?

Cord and fire do not mix. Synthetic cord such as paracord melts at temperatures a flame reaches instantly, and natural cord chars and weakens long before it visibly burns. Hot air rising from the fire is enough to soften synthetic cord well above the flames. Keep every piece of cord high and away from the heat – on a tripod at the lashing and the top of the hanger – and use chain, wire or a wooden hook for the last part above the fire. Our campfire cooking guide recommends metal chain or wire for the last 50 cm above the fire.

A couple of metres of steel wire weigh almost nothing and turn any stick into a safe hanger. Natural cordage made from bark or plant fibre, as shown in natural cordage, is fine for lashing a tripod – just keep it high.

Pot hanger safety: footing, spills, burns and children

A hanging pot full of boiling water is the most dangerous object in camp. Most injuries happen when a hanger tips, the bail slips off the hook or someone lifts the pot and spills it. Five habits prevent nearly all of them.

• Stable footing: build only on firm, level ground. Forks driven in deep, tripod feet in scrapes, the butt of a dingle stick pinned. Test every hanger with your hand – and with the full, cold pot – before you light the fire.
• Small fire, right size: a compact fire is easier to cook over and does not reach the wooden parts. Follow the campfire safety rules, including at least 5 m from tents and hammocks and 3 m from synthetic tarps.
• Gloves and a stick: bails, chains and wire get hot enough to burn. Lift pots with leather gloves and a stick or pot hook through the bail, never with bare hands, and wear wool or cotton near the fire rather than synthetic fleece – see bushcraft clothing.
• Clear the swing path: before lifting a pot off, know where you will put it down: flat ground, out of walkways, not next to children.
• Never leave it unattended: a pot that boils dry can damage the pot, and a charring crossbar can drop the pot into the fire.

Children at the cooking fire

Mark a no-play zone of at least a metre around the fire and the hanger, and agree that children walk, never run, there. A tripod or crane is a tempting climbing frame and a dingle stick a tempting lever, so explain why they are hands-off. Older children can carve a pot hook under supervision or help build the crane before the fire is lit – ideas are in campfire with kids.

Packing down and leaving no trace

A pot hanger is built in minutes and should disappear just as quickly. First put the fire out: drown it, stir it and drown it again until the ashes are cold to the touch. Then pull the forks and the tripod legs, fill the holes with soil and press them flat, and untie every lashing – cord left in the woods can trap animals for years.

Scatter the sticks well away from the fire site, cut ends down or facing away from paths, so the place looks as untouched as you found it. Fresh cuts on living trees cannot be hidden, which is one more reason to use fallen wood whenever possible. If you camp in the same place for several nights, as at a base camp, leave the hanger standing until the last day, but take it down before you go.

Troubleshooting: common pot hanger problems

Most problems come from the ground, the wood or the cord.

In windy weather, a hanging pot loses heat quickly and flames lean away from it. Build a windbreak on the windward side, lower the pot a little and use a lid; in strong, gusty wind or dry conditions, do not light a fire at all. For a quiet morning brew without any of this, a small stove from camp stoves is often the better choice – and the only one during fire bans. Coffee lovers can find the hanging-kettle method in camp coffee, and a pot hanger is just as useful when you keep a fire going overnight for a hot drink at dawn.