For those who like DIY and want some really, really, really strong stakes, you might try this:
Buy the high strength titanium (grade 5) from McMaster-Carr.
It's available in 12", 36" and 72" lengths. The 36" length will yield 6 6" stakes at a cost of $4.90 each ( neglecting S&H - with S&H, it'll come to slightly over $5 each). The 72" length will bring the cost down slightly. A group buy of 2 or 3 people would be feasible with that length.
Now what do you get with your DIY TI Nail Stake?
The Al & V alloy is super, super, super strong and it is lighter than pure Ti.
How strong you ask - well my experience today is the following:
I cut 2" lengths of their pure Ti 1/4" rod for toggles and drilled a hole in one end of one. Drilling the hole was harder than for Stainless steel, but doable in about 15 minutes using a putty dam and water to keep things cool.
Then I cut 2 6" lengths of the 3/16" Ti alloy for nail stakes. The cutting went well using the fiber glass reinforced wheels on the dremel. It was about the same as for cutting the pure Ti and about the same as cutting 1/4" stainless steel tubing..
Next I used the grinding wheel to put a point on one end - that was an experience - it took 20 minutes to grind a simple point on one end using the coarse wheel and another few minutes to smooth it somewhat on the fine wheel. In comparison, I have ground off half of a 4" length of the 1/4" stainless steel tubing in about 5 minutes.
I thought the hard part was over.
Then I decided to drill a 7/64" hole for some guy line cord. Drilling that hole took over an hour, way over an hour. I've never worked so hard to drill a simple hole in some 3/16" diameter stock .
That Ti alloy stuff is HARD. If you think Ti is hard, try that alloy.
And it's actually slightly lighter than pure Ti (well their 98.9+% stuff anyway )
So, if you have ever bent a stake and want one that will probably just punch down through solid stone, make some from that 3/16" Ti alloy.
Super strong and actually lighter than the pure Ti nail stakes you can buy (I think it's Vargo that makes the 6" Ti Nail stakes).
I've found in the past I usually only need 1 or 2 nail stakes - I can drive one of the nails into really hard ground, pull and insert a regular Ti stake into the hole and it works fine.
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