Stake Boom

**NCPatrick** · 06-17-2011, 13:09

Wow, Dutch... that would be cool if you could make it really whistle too. Maybe each one could play a different note, so that you could make your own pan flute...

. Now seriously, this looks great. Any actual ground testing going on?

Good design Alamosa! Can't wait to see what these are going to be for.

Way to run with it guys.

WV · 06-17-2011, 13:49

There's another advantage to stake booms that we haven't mentioned. They allow you to use shorter stakes, and often it's hard to get an 8" or 9" stake past the rocks beneath the surface. The stake that Dutch sent to Alamosa was an early model from Mountainfitter - 6" long and coated red (collector's item? I hope Dutch remembered to autograph it, along with the boom.

)

I forgot to ask what the Ti boom weighs. Maybe a 10" stake with a 45° bend at 6" would be good. I know there are bending forces on the boom, so it might need to be thicker than the 1/8" that Mountainfitter uses, and thus heavier than a stake and a separate boom. (FYI the usual "shepherd's hook stakes, e. g. Vargo, are made with heavier stock.)

**Dutch** · 06-17-2011, 15:30

NCP-It looked so much like a whistle that I had to try it. Apparently there is more that goes into a whistle than just an angled slot. Like me with piano it couldn't play a note.

I never thought to weigh the boom. Maybe Alamosa can do that when he gets it. The weak part is the stake at eh boom but it was surprisingly strong.

**Alamosa** · 06-19-2011, 17:14

Originally Posted by Dutch

NCP-It looked so much like a whistle that I had to try it. Apparently there is more that goes into a whistle than just an angled slot. Like me with piano it couldn't play a note.

I never thought to weigh the boom. Maybe Alamosa can do that when he gets it. The weak part is the stake at eh boom but it was surprisingly strong.

Dutch, I can't thank you enough. I'm excited to see it. I'll measure it as accurately as I can with my postal scale.

**Alamosa** · 06-19-2011, 17:28

OK, as most of you probably already guessed, my goal for creating the Stake Booms was for a hammock stand. I was finally able to try it out this week. Full report of the stand is at http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=34776.

So here were my criteria for making it work for the stand I had in mind.
1) Each anchor needed to be a foot or less and under 1" in diameter to accomodate the nesting of components.

2) Each anchor needed to provide 400+ pounds of holding power. If my calculations are correct, based on angles used, each anchor will recieve 100-125% of the wieght loaded in the hammock. I also wanted to have large safety margin on top of that.

3) Anchors had to be easy to install and remove. These install as easily as a 12 inch spike and with the boom as a handle, pulls out easier.

4) Wieght, within reason, was not a major concern. This is primarily for when I don't have a choice of sites. I will also take it in a canoe, but the weight is not really an issue there either.

The Stake Booms I created provide all of these features (as far as I can tell anyway).

So with these goals in mind, and full disclosure finally provided, hopefully it is easy to see the need for these booms and why they have such a beefy build.

Anyways, I am wide open to suggestions or comments. Thanks.

**oldgringo** · 06-19-2011, 17:49

How did they perform in that sogginess? Any discernible creep?

**Alamosa** · 06-19-2011, 18:03

Originally Posted by oldgringo

How did they perform in that sogginess? Any discernible creep?

I didn't see any indication that they creeped at all after 3 nights.

**Alamosa** · 06-21-2011, 09:37

Originally Posted by Dutch

I never thought to weigh the boom. Maybe Alamosa can do that when he gets it. The weak part is the stake at eh boom but it was surprisingly strong.

OK, this arrived in the mail yesterday. Based on my postal scale, that only goes to one decimal position, the stake wieghs 0.2 oz and the boom wieghed 0.2 oz - 0.4 oz together. That's as precise as I could go.

Dutch, this is way cool!

I had questioned myself whether using stake booms would be overkill for a tarp, but seeing the small size and holding power of these, I like it a lot. If you do start making them, I want to be first in line! Thanks for the prototype.