toejam
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Post by toejam on Feb 29, 2020 11:55:31 GMT -8
I often have to pound tent stakes with a rock and destroy quite a few of them. My current favorite stakes are the Easton Nano Nails that came with my Tarptent. I've had good performance from Vargo aluminum Y stakes. Lately I haven't found a good selection of tent stakes locally - just MSR groundhogs & minis and bendable shepherds hooks. I might need to order some. What tent stakes are you using that you like?
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 29, 2020 12:24:31 GMT -8
The t cross section of the groundhog and mini ground hog have stood up to my use. As a thought? Maybe carry extra guy line and if the chosen stake spot is that impenetrable then you’ll have some flexibility in location.
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Post by trinity on Feb 29, 2020 12:39:10 GMT -8
I use DAC stakes pretty much exclusively these days. link I'm pretty sure mine are smalls. They are very small and lightweight, they nest together nicely, have good holding power, and they are quite sturdy. I have never had one break on me, whereas I've had the heads break off of several Groundhog Minis.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Feb 29, 2020 13:03:59 GMT -8
I use groundhogs almost exclusively. Been known to tie off to local rocks when the ground is too tough. That's where a little extra line comes in handy.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on Feb 29, 2020 13:05:42 GMT -8
I use groundhogs. Typically the regular size. But I sympathize with your plight. Depending on where I am driving the stakes can be pretty easy or real hard if it's rocky, in which case shepherds hooks are easier, and the rocks or tree roots will hold them in place.
The Eatons are hollow, easily bent/broken, and pretty much worthless IMHO.
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almostthere
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Post by almostthere on Feb 29, 2020 13:19:55 GMT -8
I have a mix of groundhogs, mini groundhogs, and titanium hook stakes. Having sand anchors in places where sand or very hard/rocky ground is common helps too - wrap one around a tree, a root, or pile rocks in it and it's nearly as good as a stake in the ground.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on Feb 29, 2020 13:46:46 GMT -8
Yeah, regarding shepherds hooks, I should have noted that they need to be a strong type of aluminum or something else strong like titanium. The same is true of any stake, really, but more important with thin round stakes.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Feb 29, 2020 15:28:37 GMT -8
My set of tent stakes is like a quiver - there's some of this and some of that - so I can adapt to conditions as I go. I have a lot of different stakes, multiple bags (which were not labelled, but which I was once sufficiently familiar with), but I haven't updated my collection in some time. There's a bin in my closet with snow and sand stakes and a whole bunch of Hilleberg (and other brand) v-stakes I've never used, the DACs which came with Tarptents, plus groundhogs, old giant aluminum stakes from cheap tents, yellow plastic (both giant and mini), red plastic ones I got for staking out plants in the back yard, and on and on and on. There are even some plastic ones which have threads, and which screw into the ground. At one point, I bought giant nails from the hardware store, but they were simply too heavy. Most of what I carry consists of titanium shepherds crooks. The two bags of stakes I have in front of me right now (that I just pulled out of a storage bin) have 1) 12 titanium shepherds crooks & 4 MSR needles and 2) 12 titanium shepherds crooks & 6 MSR mini groundhogs. I think bag #1 was an actual bag that was used multiple times (I actually recognize one of the bent shepherds crooks as one I have been meaning to replace or attempt to straighten for a very long time). I typically used the MSR needle stakes to drill a hole in very hard ground (granite composite, for instance) for the shepherds crooks to get started. I think the other bag I opened had the mini groundhogs because I had thought about testing them at one point. A couple of them are missing cords, so I must have used them, but damned if I can remember. The cords are all soiled and the bag has a bit of dirt inside, so they must have been used at one point or another. It appears that MSR has discontinued the needles. Everywhere I go they're displayed in "MSR red", but are labeled as "discontinued". The ones I have are plain silver with an MSR stamped along one side. It's sad they're no longer available - I have never broken one, even when pounding them with a rock in the hardest composite material you can imagine. I know I've used the ones I have, but there aren't even any minor scratches on them. Bag #1 Bag #2 This bag had another Ziploc bag inside with a couple of mini yellow plastic stakes and 4 more ti shepherds crooks (and a little pile of dirt which I was carrying as well). I was always experimenting with stuff - taking more than 1 stove or tent or a few of a new set of stakes - when I went to a local park, so I must have been doing that here. This is, as driftwoody has noted before in another context (stoves), part of my pile of stuff that has become an "archaeological dig". I wasn't able to find any snow/sand stakes, or the dozens of v-stakes and spare DACs I have. At least one of the v-stakes (Snowpeak, I think) was converted into a toilet trowel by slipping a length of vinyl tubing onto its head. This is the smallest ground hog mini I have used Uh huh. Very funny.
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on Feb 29, 2020 15:43:09 GMT -8
Full sized groundhogs and never destroyed one. They don’t work in sand or slick rock so collecting rocks is the way of that issue. Like Zeke I have extra cordage to wrap those so my Triptease won’t abrade.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Feb 29, 2020 16:31:34 GMT -8
I have a mix of groundhogs, mini groundhogs, and titanium hook stakes. Having sand anchors in places where sand or very hard/rocky ground is common helps too - wrap one around a tree, a root, or pile rocks in it and it's nearly as good as a stake in the ground. I carry a similar mix. Mostly groundhogs, mini groundhogs, and some really thin Ti hooks for places where you have to wedge them between buried rocks. Easton nails are OK in many situations, but they pull out more often in high winds.
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Post by hikerjer on Feb 29, 2020 22:23:14 GMT -8
Groundhogs for the most part but like others, I supplement them with other types for different soils and situations.
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Post by bradmacmt on Mar 1, 2020 6:51:06 GMT -8
Every tent of mine has a mix, Mini Ground Hogs for non-critical staking, full-sized Ground Hogs for critical staking.
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rangewalker
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Post by rangewalker on Mar 1, 2020 7:04:39 GMT -8
Whatever you use, count them and make sure you have them all when you leave a site. [looks at his scarred foot from a broken off tent peg]
I am with the take what is appropriate group for the area I am headed to. One more stake than the shelter needs and extra cord or pre-cut runners with line tighteners that give a the hiker a chance to use natural hold downs. I have a retired Wilderness Ranger friend last week who told me about slipping rocks into a couple of stuff sacks and placing inside the tent at the corners in a windstorm when she was on a solo patrol so she could set the first stakes.
Do not buy or gift those cheap Coughlan's bucket or blister packs. I have bought and recycled the remains of a few when caught out on the road without an enough stakes. The needle stakes with the hook are really handy for staking out foot prints or ground tarps where you need taut without wind load. For years I had a SD tipi or conical tarps shelter with duct tape corners on a Tyvek sheet for floor. Stab the needle through the tape and its was a good as a grommet. Good on Easton for coming up with a way to make use of the aluminum scraps, but those stakes suck badly. I was able to repurpose a few of the machined heads.
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Post by johntpenca on Mar 1, 2020 11:09:33 GMT -8
I don't carry stakes. I use long tie outs and rocks. Flame me.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Mar 1, 2020 12:20:08 GMT -8
Whatever you use, count them and make sure you have them all when you leave a site. I have a process for that. Never deviate from the process!
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