Stakes

**dragon360** · 03-15-2011, 10:36

I second the Lawson stakes - and he's great to deal with. If you like the shepherd hook style like Vargo's that Shug and Fronkey mentioned, then Joe at Z-Packs has some for a good price - and he is also great to deal with.

**kobold** · 03-15-2011, 10:43

i want the titanium, but i found meat skewers for $4/dozen that look just like the mountainfitters ti. they are not as strong and light, but they are fine for a tarp imho and i already lost one - no biggie, but would be annoyed if it would be the fancy stuff... anyway that style of hook works great for sure! you can't go wrong

**wolf track** · 03-15-2011, 11:04

I painted my ti stakes with flourescent orange spray paint. It'll start to chip and flake as soon as you start pounding them into the ground but even with most of it gone you will be happy at how much easier it is to find them if they fling out of the ground in the middle of the night. That orange really sticks out. Its an easy touch up also.

**PapaSmurf** · 03-15-2011, 11:57

I've got more stakes than, well.... you can shake a stake at.

Couple thousand sitting in my basement. Haven't had time to sort and inventory them, but I'll probably do a "buck a stake" sale soon.
http://www.mydiygear.com/pages/proje.../ti-stakes.php

**Cranky Bear** · 03-15-2011, 12:15

I use the Ti Sheppard hooks from here http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com...products_id=61
So far the color coating that Ron uses is strong stuff 2yrs worth of use and it hasn't come off yet!

**Colonel Panic** · 03-15-2011, 12:15

Originally Posted by ScottD

hey Myles, no I haven't. To be honest I'm still new to all this and my BB is in the basement and I haven't set the thing up totally yet with the tarp. Been waiting on all the pieces and besides, we've still got 37 feet of snow(??) and it finally got above 0c yesterday.

... and I don't remember seeing many trees there. Least ways any tall enough to stick up through 37 feet of snow.

**richtorfla** · 03-15-2011, 12:16

Aluminum gutter nails work well for stakes too. Cheap, inexpensive and fairly strong. Have to angle them so line stays under nailhead. Make a parachute of ripstop nylon and attach that to your guyline for sand or snow. It works pretty well for both. Havn't camped in snow for years but it works real good for sand.

WV · 03-15-2011, 12:40

For my winter setup I carry squares of nylon with cord loops at the corners so I can use snow or other weights (rocks, branches buried in snow, logs on top of snow) in case my stakes alone won't hold in the snow. I find I often use them for supplemental tie-outs even when there's no snow on the ground, and I was wondering about just using them year-round without bothering with stakes. It seems half the time the ground is too soft or too rocky for stakes anyway, and I tie to vegetation when I can, too. They're also lighter than stakes. I'll probably still carry some of Mountainfitter's 6" Ti stakes, but expect to use the "winter" anchor points more and more.

**Cannibal** · 03-15-2011, 12:50

Nuthin but Ground Hogs for me.
They get the job done in almost every soil I've found; beaches being the exception.

**Raul Perez** · 03-15-2011, 15:05

For serious cold... like 20*F and below with limited snow I'm going to use roofing nails. Seems like the only thing that can penetrate the concrete ground. Luckily this last winter I just had to deal with snow but in 2009 it was all rock hard ground.

For normal 3 season I went from the ground hog to the mountainfitter ti stakes.