Tarps And Snow/Ice

[breyman]

Neat idea, thanks for sharing. That must be some frozen ground to break a Groundhog. Those are the toughest camping-specific stakes I've ever used.

[Hotdogman]

Landscape spikes are like gutter nail, but longer and made of steel. They are used to pin timbers together. One weighs about as much as five or more gutter nails. The gutter nails work well in the frozen ground, I like the ones with some twist at the tip. If they freeze in I pour hot water on them,usually works quickly.

[Floridahanger]

Great idea using the bags. I like your thinking in the multiple weather scenario. No snow here in the "beyond" deep south, but plenty of sand at the beaches and scrub areas.

[Acer]

Last year I learned a lesson on how hard the frozen ground can be. I broke some MSR Groundhog Stakes trying to pound them into the frozen ground. This year I've done the simple thing and used some plastic shopping bags filled with snow and then covered with more snow. Works very well. You can also use dirt to fill the bags. As you know, those plastic bags weigh next to nothing. The handles held up well in the wind last night. Didn't stretch at all - tough plastic.

Just be sure to take them home or to the trash can when your done playing in the snow. I'll be keeping a half dozen grocery bags in my pack for winter camping. They'll also work in sandy areas.

Awesome idea Lost Biker. going to give it a definite shot. Keep the ideas coming!

[Bannerstone]

Used that same technique on the beach, worked great.

David

[DuctTape]

Ha, that's pretty clever. Did you try wrapping the cord around a stick, and burying that in the snow? Wonder if that would work too?

Works great. This is what I do. If not much snow, and it is freezing out, a little water onto the stick will get it to freeze to the ground.

[BrianWillan]

For frozen ground, I use landscape spikes. They are essentially a very big nail. I also use that in conjunction with a fender washer so my lines don't come of the head of the nail. It works great. Just don't pound then flush to the ground. You need some exposed nail to hit so it will break any grip and aid in removal.

Landscape spikes? Anything like a gutter nail thats 8" long? How do you get them back out of the frozen ground?

Landscape spikes are like gutter nail, but longer and made of steel. They are used to pin timbers together. One weighs about as much as five or more gutter nails. The gutter nails work well in the frozen ground, I like the ones with some twist at the tip. If they freeze in I pour hot water on them,usually works quickly.

Getting the landscape spikes out is rather simple. If you leave some of the spike above the ground, whack them in about a 3/8" in further to loosen the grip of the frozen ground and then you can pull them right out.

Cheers

Brian