Introduction
What are tripods? Here is a curated collection of resources collated by the Commons librarians about what they are, how to use them, and examples from around the world.
What is a Tripod and What can it Achieve?
A tripod is an independent, free standing three pole structure that is lashed or clamped together and occupied by a person to blockade a road. Earth First Direct Action Manual
Tripods are often placed at chokepoints, such as a gate, entrance, railway line, or narrow road, so that vehicles cannot get past without the device and sitter firstly being removed. They can also be directly placed over vehicles, machinery and other equipment to prevent movement. Protesters either sit at the apex of the tripod or hang from it in chairs, hammocks and baskets. Sometimes the sitter locks themselves to the tripod to make removal more difficult. Supporters at ground level can also lock themselves onto the poles.
Authorities often use a cherry picker to enable police to reach and remove the sitter but may also cut small sections of each pole off until the tripod is low enough to the ground for sitters to be grabbed. The use of chainsaws can be hindered by ‘armoring’ the poles with metal, yarn, chicken wire and other materials.
The tripod was first invented and used in 1989 during blockading in the South-East forests of New South Wales, Australia. Since then it has been used in campaigns relating to a wide range of issues, from shutting down rail lines used to transport coal through to Reclaim The Streets parties and blockading entrances to companies involved in the detention of refugees.
The most common form is made by tying three wooden poles together at the top but some tripods use metal poles clamped together as well as rigging, spikes and other means to help secure the base. Over the decades variations on the tripod have emerged, including monopods, bi-pods, and assemblages of pole based devices connected together.
Tripods can be used on their own or combined with soft blockades (people occupying space with their bodies), barricades, lock-ons, and other obstacles. Their advantages include that the materials involved (scaffolding, tree poles, rope, etc) are relatively easy to scavenge or cheaply source. They can also be easily hidden on site.
Compared to some other blockading devices tripods are quick to assemble. They are not only visually powerful in themselves but can also have banners hung from them. On the downside they can be uncomfortable to remain in for long periods. Depending on the region authorities may also be familiar with the tactic and thus able to remove them relatively quickly.
Other than directly obstructing movement tripods, in keeping with similar tactics, can incur financial costs for opponents and authorities through delays and policing expenses. As a more spectacular form of blockading they can draw media and public attention and thus incur political and reputational costs by drawing attention to activities and culpability.
Safety
Using a tripod is a risky tactic that requires skill and training to undertake. Great care should be taken with set up and climbing. The inherent risks of being positioned at heights should be understood by all.
Like other devices of “manufactured vulnerability” the obstructive capacity of the tripod is based on it being difficult to safely remove sitters. As such they should only be used in contexts where authorities and opponents are considered unlikely to deliberately harm protesters due to legal constraints, moral norms, or the possibility of sparking a public backlash.
Alongside lock-on devices and other means of obstruction, tripods have been specifically targeted by anti-protest laws in some places and so may attract heavier penalties than other forms of action. Be sure to understand the legal risks involved.
How To
The following manuals and articles outline the materials required and include instructions on how to safely set up and occupy a tripod.
- Earth First! Direct Action Manual (First Edition)
- Earth First! Direct Action Manual (Third Edition)
- Intercontinental Deluxe Guide to Blockading
- Scaffold Tripods Guide
Examples
- Blockade Australia Has Shut Down Newcastle Coal Line for 10 Days Straight: Interview With Grace
- Seattle Activists Mount Tripod – Stop Exploding Oil Trains
- Adelaide peak hour traffic blockaded with giant tripod
- Refugee activists blockade Wilson Security car park
- Oil Train Blockades in the Pacific Northwest and the Transformative Power of Direct Action
- Activists use tripods to shut down migrant deportations coach company
Explore Further
- Blockades that Changed Australia
- Environmental Blockading in Australia and Around the World – Timeline 1974-1997
- Frontline Action on Coal FLAC: Ten Years on the Climate Frontline
- Preparing for a Community Blockade
- A Beginners Guide to a Blockade Camp
- Enabling Emergence: The Bentley Blockade and the Struggle for a Gasfield Free Northern Rivers
- Blockades: Activist Rights
- Nonviolent Direct Action (NVDA): Start Here