View Full Version : Staking in windy weather
HappyCamper
04-08-2008, 09:08
What are favorite lightweight stakes for tarps when it's windy? (If there is already a thread on this, please direct me to it.) Do people mix up the type of stakes they use? Or do they pretty much use all the same type?
I have a bigger tarp now and want to make sure I can anchor the thing in a bad storm when backpacking in WV, PA, MD.
Thanks!
What are favorite lightweight stakes for tarps when it's windy? (If there is already a thread on this, please direct me to it.) Do people mix up the type of stakes they use? Or do they pretty much use all the same type?
I have a bigger tarp now and want to make sure I can anchor the thing in a bad storm when backpacking in WV, PA, MD.
Thanks!I like the MSR Groundhogs with a Figure 9 on the end of the cord. Works good for fast tie down and anchors like nobody's business, but that's just my opinion. :D
Yea, MSR Groundhogs. I use figure 9s also, but mine is on "backwards" that is the 9s are tied to the tarp, the cord to the stake. Same effect, different approach. My stakes have withstood 50 mph gusts witout pulling out of very soft very rainsoaked topsoil in my back yard. I use 2 per side, & have the option of tieing the middle of each side to a handy dandy rock or stick or ???? "Just in case".
headchange4u
04-08-2008, 10:11
I use the Sierra Designs "V" stakes which are the same thing as the MSR Groundhogs.
nickelanddime
04-08-2008, 10:53
Just another face in the crowd using MSR ground hogs
TiredFeet
04-08-2008, 19:18
Interesting - I Googled the stakes and found several places for them. Most sell the 8 stake kit. REI sells them individually. It is actually cheaper by a few dollars to buy 8 individual stakes from REI than the 8 stake kits elsewhere.
Seldom see that happen.
Interesting - I Googled the stakes and found several places for them. Most sell the 8 stake kit. REI sells them individually. It is actually cheaper by a few dollars to buy 8 individual stakes from REI than the 8 stake kits elsewhere.
Seldom see that happen.I originally had 6 of them for my old ENO DryFly tarp and bought them individually like that at REI. When I recently got a new tarp with 8 tie outs, I had to get 2 more, but no REI locally. I did a little looking and it turns out that the local Sportsman's Warehouse has them individually as well. $1.95 a pop, if I remember correctly.
I got my golite Y stakes from campmor. Can't complain. I only had them pull out a few times. More from the soil conditions than anything else. I try to tie to any log or tree around out of lazyness when it lines up.
Four MSR groundhogs plus four titanium needle stakes. Can't always use the MSR stakes in the Ouachitas with its rocky ground, but sometimes when down near a creek the needle stakes won't hold in the softer ground. Plus more stakes = more options with my new big JRB tarp.
But a lot of times I just tie to rocks I find laying around. Tie to a smaller rock and set a larger one on top of the line against the smaller rock, push the combo away from the tarp until you achieve the appropriate tension.
pure_mahem
04-09-2008, 14:49
I got my golite Y stakes from campmor. Can't complain. I only had them pull out a few times. More from the soil conditions than anything else. I try to tie to any log or tree around out of lazyness when it lines up.
In your softer soil where they continually pull out try making a T trench the size of your stake then tying your guy line around the center of your stake and laying it in the trench and then tighten your guy. This works really good in soft soil and Snow and adds versatility to your V and Y stakes.:D
Oh Yeah! Go Ground Hogs!
spidennis
04-13-2008, 10:10
I've got a speer winter tarp (swt) and practicing setting it up in the backyard. What methods are there for the tie down strings in attaching them to the tarp and to the ground? I saw some videos and they mentioned not attaching the strings to the tarp and I found out why while in windy conditions, what a mess! I thought about using shorter lengths attached to the tarp so I could quickly set up the tarp, hopefully without a tangled mess. I also have the idea of small caribiners staying attached to the tarp and the strings not attached, but already setup with loops at one end to snap into to mini caribiners. ideas? and better yet, pics?
note: I have this posted on another thread, but there's different posters on each so what the heck, I'm trying on both!
stakes, yeah, I need some of them too! hummmm .......
I've got a speer winter tarp (swt) and practicing setting it up in the backyard. What methods are there for the tie down strings in attaching them to the tarp and to the ground? I saw some videos and they mentioned not attaching the strings to the tarp and I found out why while in windy conditions, what a mess! I thought about using shorter lengths attached to the tarp so I could quickly set up the tarp, hopefully without a tangled mess. I also have the idea of small caribiners staying attached to the tarp and the strings not attached, but already setup with loops at one end to snap into to mini caribiners. ideas? and better yet, pics?
note: I have this posted on another thread, but there's different posters on each so what the heck, I'm trying on both!
stakes, yeah, I need some of them too! hummmm .......I have a SWT too, and this is how I like to tie mine down thus far. I use a NiteIze Figure 9 on the loop of each MSR Groundhog stake. Then I just put up the ridgeline of the tarp first, then stake and quickly tie down each line as I come to it. It's quick, easy and easily adjustable. Give it a try some time. BTW, credit where credit is due. I got the idea from Cerberus in Hot Springs back in the fall.
stoikurt
04-13-2008, 10:17
If there are some rocks or small logs around you can lay them over the tie out cord right at the stake to help hold it in the ground.
spidennis
04-13-2008, 10:29
these?
http://www.niteize.com/category.php?category_id=29
these?
http://www.niteize.com/category.php?category_id=29Yup, like this:
warbonnetguy
04-13-2008, 11:48
In your softer soil where they continually pull out try making a T trench the size of your stake then tying your guy line around the center of your stake and laying it in the trench and then tighten your guy. This works really good in soft soil and Snow and adds versatility to your V and Y stakes.:D
Oh Yeah! Go Ground Hogs!
i'll have to try that, thanks
spidennis
04-13-2008, 12:32
. BTW, credit where credit is due. I got the idea from Cerberus in Hot Springs back in the fall.
" Originality is the ability to conceal one's source " ........
but we're not trying to be artists here.
I like the idea of spreading knowledge around .....
that's why I post lots of pics!
spidennis
04-13-2008, 12:37
Yup, like this:
yeah, I like ....
gonna start ordering more "stuff" soon!
I'm playing around in the backyard with my swt today, it's such a pretty day, and I'm wasting it in the backyard? I'll have to go for a ride later on the beach to make up for me being the researching house mouse!
You know, the Figure 9 attached to the stake makes me think someone should come up with a superlight V or Y stake with a line-locking mechanism built into the top of the stake...
slowhike
04-13-2008, 15:30
adding weight (as in rocks or logs) on top of the guy lines is a very effective way to secure the tarp in high wind.
when hard wind gusts hit, it will lift the weight (as long as it's not to much weight), allowing forgiveness to the tarp & guy lines.
here i used a grill that someone had left behind to distribute the weight over a larger area & provide a smooth surface between the guy line & the rock.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/5/P2180042.JPG
to much weight can result in a failure of guy line or tarp. this picture is dark but note the torn tarp corner.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/5/P2180040.JPG
large limbs laying across the center tie outs help buffer the wind blasts.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/5/P2180017.JPG
warbonnetguy
04-13-2008, 16:02
You know, the Figure 9 attached to the stake makes me think someone should come up with a superlight V or Y stake with a line-locking mechanism built into the top of the stake...
i've thought the same thing. actually with the groundhogs, you can just wrap the line around the head of the stake 1.5 times and force the tensioned wrap over the slack wrap, then the line will advance in only one direction. works pretty great, the stake has to be positioned a certain way, but it really does work well. i wonder if they designed it like that or if it was by accident, should would work with the v stakes too.
spidennis
04-13-2008, 16:25
to much weight can result in a failure of guy line or tarp. this picture is dark but note the torn tarp corner.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/5/P2180040.JPG
large limbs laying across the center tie outs help buffer the wind blasts.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery/files/2/5/P2180040.JPG
these are the same pics?
snow, cold and wind? that's got to be brutal!
but it looks like a dry cold .......
I'll have to try this out in the next blow we have!
btw, the pics really help to see what's going on, thanks!
slowhike
04-13-2008, 22:21
these are the same pics?
snow, cold and wind? that's got to be brutal!
but it looks like a dry cold .......
I'll have to try this out in the next blow we have!
btw, the pics really help to see what's going on, thanks!
sorry about that. i changed the last picture to the one i intended put there.