Lightest Stakes

[ikemouser]

Hi again guys! Ike here. Looking to get the lightest stakes i can for a tarp. Listening to all recommendations. Do i need different stakes for hard and soft ground, or can i just carry one type of stake the through all terrain?:confused:

[Just Jeff]

Gutter nails from Home Depot or Lowe's are probably the lightest (and almost the cheapest) you'll find.

You can use needle stakes (like gutter nails or the normal tent stakes with the shepherd's hook at the end) on hard or rocky soil. Softer ground sometimes requires wider stakes to get a good hold...like a big curve.

I use Y-stakes, shaped almost exactly like the capital "Y" for almost all of my camping. It's a nice mix, although I have had to reinforce it with a stick every now and then. No problem with that, though, and it saves me from having to carry more stakes.

[angrysparrow]

The carbon-fiber stakes (http://www.titaniumgoat.com/stakes.html) from Titanium Goat are very light, extremely durable, and hold well in a wide variety of soils. They aren't the cheapest option, though.

[adkpiper]

I tend to use sticks that I find on the trail, supplemented occasionally with aluminum needle stakes. The sticks are both cheap and light, since I can pretty much always find some kicking around on the forest floor.

[Peter_pan]

UL Ti 6" shepard hooks are the lightest, reasonably strong, minimal holding power.

Personally, I usually carry a mix of Y pegs, alum sheppards and ti sheppards... minimizes weight with big pluss up in flexibilty for what ever ground conditions encountered.

Pan

[Perkolady]

UL Ti 6" shepard hooks are the lightest, reasonably strong, minimal holding power.

Personally, I usually carry a mix of Y pegs, alum sheppards and ti sheppards... minimizes weight with big pluss up in flexibilty for what ever ground conditions encountered.

Pan

Me too! I've had unruly wind rip out my Ti shepherd hooks and throw them who knows where one too many times! :(

I usually carry a couple of MSR Groundhogs and then the rest are the Ti shepherd hook stakes.

[ikemouser]

thanks everybody.

[Knotty]

I just don't trust those thin little Ti stakes. Not enough surface area to get holding power. The "Y" shaped MSR Groundhogs are pretty light and hold well. Guess it depends on where you live and what kind of ground you have.

[vitamaltz]

Check out this thread: http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8077&highlight=good+source

If I had to buy a new set of stakes, I'd consider him over MSR.

As a sidenote, I wish I'd thought things through before I made a tarp with two cat cuts on either side, so I need six stakes...

[koaloha05]

V shape Vargo Ti 165mm @0.4oz hold nice in soft soil. Lighter for soft soil is weightless in the pack. Green sapling cut into a stake. Don't really remember a time where something provided by nature couldn't become a stake or tie down. But I've become a bit of gear junky. So I still carry the V shape Ti stakes and couple nail style stakes.

bpl has one listed as the Lazr Ti at 0.215oz. Also list an ultralight version at ~0.1oz. Not sure if I would trust the ultralight version. Nail version at 0.29oz.

l

[Cannibal]

I'm a MSR Groundhog fan. I've used them in the sandy soil of Florida to the rocks of the Rocky Mountains and most everything in between. Fantastic design and pretty light.
The stakes from Going Gear are holding up very nicely and they are packed up for departure in the morning. If they can last the length of the Colorado Trail, Going Gear will be my new stake source!

[ikemouser]

Yea i ordered 6 of the silver gg stakes today, cant beat the price, i got backups now. Its only aluminum, i dont see how it could be any different than the msr groundhogs, as they are made of simply aluminum as well.

[warbonnetguy]

Yea i ordered 6 of the silver gg stakes today, cant beat the price, i got backups now. Its only aluminum, i dont see how it could be any different than the msr groundhogs, as they are made of simply aluminum as well.

the only difference is could tell was the length, the gg stakes were an inch shorter i believe than my msr's. i do like the red color of the msr's too, i think it's easier to spot in the ground or laying around

[Wags]

i carry 4 stakes for my tarp. 2 AL shepard hooks and 2 Y shaped stakes i pirated from a big agnes tent. if i'm concerned that the stake will pull out of the ground i simply place a rock or something heavy on top of it. has worked so far but i haven't been hammocking that long

[Bulldawg]

For what it's worth, I am a big fan of the Easton's. Very light, strong, solid...

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/easton_tubular_al_stakes.html

[gargoyle]

I like to pack these.
http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/200312433-001.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=5B253C78B6C5E7C959A1141AE333C1F51F6F6178A68B340C

[Knotty]

I like to pack these.
http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/200312433-001.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=5B253C78B6C5E7C959A1141AE333C1F51F6F6178A68B340C

That's a lot of weight to carry around. ;)

[gargoyle]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.veer.com/IMG/PIMG/SIP/SIP2007518_P.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.veer.com/products/detail.aspx%3Fimage%3DSIP2007518&usg=__YUQZJIY6u1LkEqj_B738ZujyZ3c=&h=352&w=400&sz=84&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=WyrT4UjTQTeALM:&tbnh=109&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dman%2Bcarrying%2Brocks%26hl%3Den%26rl z%3D1R2GGIE_enUS328%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1Yeah, but I have down-sized. Might have seen me on the trail before.

[beep]

I carry a mix of titanium shepherd hooks and Easton aluminum stakes (the 8" version). I mix'n'match depending on the soil type and the need for holding power. The smaller shepherd hooks are easier in rocky soil to find a way to "thread" around sub-surface rocks, and the Easton stakes are better for high stress use or in sandy/loose soil.

[koaloha05]

If needed or desired these stakes can double up as trowel. Not the best digging tool. But beats your fingers. So if you consider them your trowel. They became weightless stakes.

[molawns]

Another vote cast for the GoingGear "GroundHog knock-off" stakes.

I own both the Groundhogs and the GG stakes. There's very little difference, quality-wise. Price-wise, GoingGear wins all the live-long day.

[Knighthorse]

My backyard use, no on the trail experience here with a hammock, just plain sticks. If you're collecting small firewood, and making shavings or whatever, sharpen the sticks, use the shavings for tinder. No weight penalty.

[oldgringo]

I attempted to buy some aluminum gutter spikes, and couldn't find them anywhere, including Homey's and Lowe's...ended up ordering them from Amazon.

Seems like they're being phased out in favor steel nails and screws.

I'm no fan of gutters, anyway, and mixing dissimilar metals like that seems like asking for problems.

Anyway, for those that want them, get 'em while you can.

[BER]

I use leftover tent stakes from BigAgnes:
http://bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Accessory/X-pegSuperlightStakes

Simlar to MSR groundhogs but X shaped instead of Y. Listed as 0.5oz so not the lightest, but have never bent or broken one in 7 trips.

[MacEntyre]

Gutter nails are my favorite stake. They weight 1/2 oz. each.

- MacEntyre

[whitefoot_hp]

The carbon-fiber stakes (http://www.titaniumgoat.com/stakes.html) from Titanium Goat are very light, extremely durable, and hold well in a wide variety of soils. They aren't the cheapest option, though.

i have found them to be other than 'extremely durable.'

had one snap on me as i was pushing it in the ground, because i had a bad angle and was not applying all the pressure vertically, if that makes sense.

however, they are still functional and reliable, just don't pound on them with your foot...

[angrysparrow]

It does. I've got a set of six of them that have been in near constant use for over a year, so I'm pleased with them. I'm careful not to 'pound' them, though.

The only way I've ever destroyed any of them is to use them as toggles with Amsteel tree huggers.