Bamboo pull-up exercise bar

[tickingaway]

First off, this is my first post here, so hello everyone! I'm also new to the world of bamboo but eager to get my feet wet.
My situation is this: I want to have a pull-up bar as I think they're an excellent exercise. The trouble is that I live in a college dorm where I'm not allowed to install your average door mount bar. But I've also been really interested in bamboo craft over the past few months.

So it occurred to me that it might possible to construct a bar from bamboo. What I'm seeing in my mind are 4 poles acting as legs supporting a 5th pole as the bar- roughly in the shape of a saw horse or swing set. Does this sound feasible? Does the idea of a bamboo pull-up bar at all seem feasible?

I'd be willing to try lashing the poles together if that will work, if not I'm open to other suggestions. I'm not at all worried about making this thing look pretty, just getting it to work. I'm also not married to the idea I described above but I do really like it as I think I could easily store the finished product on top a large dresser I have. Thanks in advance for any input.

[Mark Meckes]

Hi tickingaway,
Sounds like a great use for bamboo!
What is the usual diameter of the bar and how wide would it need to be?

The main challenge would be in the joinery for the uprights, so that it would hold your weight and also be stable.

Mark

[tickingaway]

Hi tickingaway,
Sounds like a great use for bamboo!
What is the usual diameter of the bar and how wide would it need to be?

The main challenge would be in the joinery for the uprights, so that it would hold your weight and also be stable.

Mark

Thanks Mark,
The usual diameter is a little more than an inch but it wouldn't be a problem if it were thicker. So long as a hand can firmly grasp onto it. The width of the dresser I was hoping to store it on is about 3 feet.

What do you think my best options are for the joinery?

[william k.]

Best joinery would be 100% Hemp twine, good quality, Wet the twine, loop one end, thread the loose end, pull tight, and lash multiple times until the twine is wrapped tightly around all poles. Two tripods on each side of cross bar would enable you to support your weight on the crossbar, ability to collapse and store the tripods would enable portability and use of space. Lashed tripods with a lower twine extended between the poles would allow set-up without the poles moving. the crossbar would stay in place with only a single loop thru cord on both sides and could be removed for storage.