Proper staking technique?

[KiwiMark]

I have a bunch of Shepherd hook stakes, but I also have a few bigger stakes for soft soil.
My bigger stakes are the MSR 9 Inch Cyclone Stakes.

[gargoyle]

Stomp on the area where the stake goes.

[JSH]

I'm going to bookmark this thread. A good one. I haven't seen it mentioned but I learned the value of staking all corners to my tarp last weekend. I have a WBB Superfly and had just got it up as a pretty decent thunderstorm rolled through. I had four corners down with stakes plus my pull outs and was enjoying the rain when a couple wind gusts came up. I'd neglected in my rush to secure the doors. Fortunately I had my hammer and stakes under the tarp and at first chance grabbed the corners and hammered them down. I could have done this before this before the storm but was looking forward to sitting in my hammock dry and watching it rain. Stopped staking too soon but in the end no damage done. Might have been different if this had happened at night or if I'd been away from camp. Was a good lesson learned for me.

[Cadenza]

While the Ti shepherd hook stakes are certainly light, I found they just don't have enough surface contact to hold well.
My favorite stakes are the "Nobendium" shepherd hooks from Kelty. (Yes they can bend, but they are relatively strong.)
The hex shaft has a lot more surface contact than a round stake and they hold in soft soil much better.
Made from aluminum alloy they are still pretty lightweight.

[Floridahanger]

As Mad said, the stake is not where to lose your weight. That said, you can make your stakes on site with small branches and such. I've used on-site stakes many times and decided that Y stakes are for me.

The V stakes above from Z-packs are Y stakes without the third leg. They both use the 2 legs to spread the load and the V are lighter, but more expensive. Another positive is that they have the holes in the middle and can go sideways in sand and snow.

[accrete]

That being the case, I won't be hiring you for your graphic design skills!

; ) you could hire me...
I'm quite versed at tying knots



Thom