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A bipod is a V-shaped portable attachment that helps support and steady a device, usually a weapon such as a long gun or a mortar. The term comes from the Latin prefix bi- and Greek language root pod, meaning "two" and "foot" respectively.
Bipods are designed to support the weight of the weapon's front portion and gun barrel, and provide significant stability against unwanted side-to-side movements (i.e. canting) while allowing free movements around the transverse axis (pitching). Most modern bipods have foldable and/or telescoping legs, and allow some limited movements around the vertical axis (panning) and even the longitudinal axis (tilting).
A bipod by itself, with only two supporting legs, is not completely stable and needs to be reinforced by at least one more point of support to be steady, especially against the horizontal shearing force from . This third point of support is typically the buttstock that is firmly pushed/braced against the shooter's body, but can also be a baseplate (in mortars), sometimes with additional support from a monopod or a bean bag.
Bipods on rifles are first known to have been used in an improvised fashion during the mid-19th century, particularly by frontiersmen hunting American bison and other wild animals. For example, the painting "The Long Shot" by Howard Terpning The painting "The Long Shot" by Howard Terpning shows native American hunters shooting a rifle with an improvised bipod consisting of two crossed arrows.
During the 20th century, use of dedicated bipods increased, and was seen on different types of rifles during wars. For example the Lewis gun (1914) was fitted with an adjustable bipod. Weapons History - Lewis Gun The technology became more advanced, with hinged legs and even extendable or retractable legs. The Brixia M1923 machine gun used a bipod that could also be used as a harness allowing the user to move around firing the weapon handling only the spade grips.
One of the first companies to manufacture commercially successful bipods was Harris Engineering, Inc founded in 1979 in Barlow, Kentucky by Gerald Harris, Margaret Harris, and Susan Wilkerson. Before starting the company, Gerald had applied for a patent on the bipod. US3327422A - Bipod for attachment to a firearm - Google Patents In 2019, their successful Harris Bipods have been produced for nearly forty years, and have remained relatively unchanged.
Recent advances in manufacture of bipods include use of lightweight materials such as aluminium, carbon fiber and titanium, use of different quick attachment and detachment mechanisms (Picatinny, M-LOK, etc. or even magnets Steinert NeoPod Bipod | Bipod Reviews | Gun Mart) and various types of feet materials such as rubber, metal, or a "basket" designed to stop the bipod from sinking into soft surfaces such as fine sand or deep snow (inspired by and ).
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