Review:generic Y-beam stakes

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Originally Posted by prob

Agreed! Seriously, eBay or Wal-Mart, your money goes to China either way.

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Not necessarily, the manufacturers in China are just contractors. They fall under the expense category in the financial statements. The owners and a big chunk of the money stays in the U.S. for the guys at the top. Just being a smart@$$:laugh:

Heya,

Went for a family car camping trip last weekend and got to test my new stakes out. Spent 3 days, 2 nights at Fortescue bay in the Tasman national park. I will post a trip report later on.

The stakes worked great, although the soil was a sandy type I had to use my foot to stamp one of them in with no ill effects. The second night was quite gusty but the stakes did not budge which is nice to know as the superfly certainly has a whole lot of surface area. I gotta say I am really happy with them.

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Originally Posted by Chris K

I like the MSR Groundhogs...and the Mini Groundhogs...but for just a little bit more you can get similar stakes from the HammockForums store. The sell for $2.49 a pair...so 10 would be $12.50 or so. I just ordered 6 and don't mind paying a bit extra if it will help keep this hammockforums website running that much longer.

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Hey Chris, of all the places I checked out stakes,I didn't think of this site...:(

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Originally Posted by zukiguy

I have several of the Coghlans variety. I think they were around $4/4pk. They work great in the FL sandy soil but I did finally bend one a bit trying to cram it into the ground with my boot sole. Luckily, I just bent it back into shape and it's basically good as new.

We don't get that brand down here.

I tried the Chinese even cheaper e-bay version in a bright blue. Believe it or not that color is very hard to lose in the forest duff. The gold color disappears into the leaves almost instantly. Better put a piece of brightly colored string on there (reflective is better) or the stakes might vanish on you.

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I think due to the fact we don't have the same sort of leaf litter in Australia the gold colour seemed to stand out, which is nice.

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Originally Posted by prob

Agreed! Seriously, eBay or Wal-Mart, your money goes to China either way.

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Does anyone know where MSR stakes are made? I kinda assumed they were made in Asia.

Cheers,
Simon

So I got my Hammock Forums Y Stakes and thought I would post a pic in case anyone wanted to see a comparison with MSR groundhogs and MSR groundhog mini's. I threw a typical aluminum sheperd tent stake in there too. I don't have any titanium stakes yet...may need to grab a few.

The pic really doesnt show it well (crappy phone pic) but the MSR stakes are a deep red color, and the hamock forum stakes are a lighter orange color. The HF stakes are a little shorter than the regular groundhogs by about 1/2 inch.

MSR Groundhog stake are 7 1/2 inches
Hammock Forum stake are about 7 1/16 inches
MSR Mini Groundhogs are about 6 inches

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psdebf79f2.jpg

Kmart sells Coleman red ones that are about 9". They have held up well.

MSR's made in china...MSR, My Soldout Republic?

swank

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Originally Posted by swankfly

MSR's made in china...MSR, My Soldout Republic?

swank

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oooooh snap :laugh:

So are all stakes made in China?

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Originally Posted by Chris K

So I got my Hammock Forums Y Stakes and thought I would post a pic in case anyone wanted to see a comparison with MSR groundhogs and MSR groundhog mini's. I threw a typical aluminum sheperd tent stake in there too. I don't have any titanium stakes yet...may need to grab a few.

The pic really doesnt show it well (crappy phone pic) but the MSR stakes are a deep red color, and the hamock forum stakes are a lighter orange color. The HF stakes are a little shorter than the regular groundhogs by about 1/2 inch.

MSR Groundhog stake are 7 1/2 inches
Hammock Forum stake are about 7 1/16 inches
MSR Mini Groundhogs are about 6 inches

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psdebf79f2.jpg

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Yup I'm still kicking myself that I didn't get my stakes from this website...I plead ignorance :(

I mean the postage is actually way cheaper than a lot of US sites.

I used generic 99-cents-each "y" stakes with total satisfaction until my first time winter camping when I bent almost every one attempting to hammer them into the frozen ground. I was shocked when the tops bent over like they were made of soft lead. On that same trip, my girlfriends only-slightly-more-expensive DAC "j" stakes not only penetrated the frozen ground without bending, she even accidentally hammered one almost totally into a frozen tree root. I had to use a hatchet to remove it!

For three-season use, the generic "y" stakes work great for me.

Take it easy,
desmobob

I've purchased 2 dozen of these in blue and have been using them for 2 years now and never had a problem. I've actually bent more stock stakes that came with my tents and canopies than anything else. Also remember that not everything that is made in the U.S. is going to be top quality. Also realize that some materials that are used in U.S. Manufacturing are actually produced in China, hence the "Assembled in the U.S." logo. As with everything different people will experience different circumstances when using a product.