Tent Stakes (not double-pegging)

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.

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.

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.

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.
Uh huh. Very funny.

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.

Every tent of mine has a mix, Mini Ground Hogs for non-critical staking, full-sized Ground Hogs for critical staking.

I don't carry stakes. I use long tie outs and rocks. Flame me.