What stakes do you use?

[Cranky Bear]

Great question....

I have a whole bunch of different stakes, and just recently at the NJ winter hang I broke 2 different types and bent another 2 types. Man that ground was super hard.....

I have used the MSR groundhogs (and two different knock offs), gutter nails, 2 types of eastons, ti v stakes, ti sheppards, alum sheppards, plastic stakes, carbon stakes, snow stakes, steel stakes, and more. Also don't leave out or forget about the length of the stake as there are some that are almost 5" long, and some that are almost 9-10" long and this may prove to be as useful as the type of stake.

The stakes I use depends on where I'm going, what type of ground (soil) will I be facing, and the time of year (mostly is it winter or not).

Where I'm going- If I am going to a pine forest I know the duff will be pretty thick so I may need a longer stake to get it deep enough into the soil to hold securely. Also if I am going to a place that has a lot of rocks in the ground then I may want a thinner stake to get past the rocks and they can anchor on them, or with trees that have a lot of surface roots.

Soil type- Sand, rocks, clay, hard pack, soft....you get the idea

Time of year- this applies mostly to the time frame that the ground will be frozen, as I talked about earlier I had a lot of trouble at this past NJ winter hang and broke a easton stake, ground hog, and destroyed a couple other stakes.

But I saw Dylan had the Ti Nail stakes and he had no issue, so these will be my next purchase for winter, well and to replace the one's I broke.

I have been experimenting with the new Easton Nano's, one of the lightest out there (besides the carbon stakes), but also one of the shortest, if not the shortest. But my plan was to drive it in as far as I could get it, and the little loop of cord that I had on it would have a Dutch Hook on it and I would attach my tarp line to this. It worked pretty good the couple times I got to test it, although I broke two at the NJ hang so I gotta replace em'.

My decision with trying all of them out was I am a gram wheenie, but I was also trying to decide which worked and which didn't and if one was slightly heavier but worked better then I felt that that increase in weight (we are talking grams here) was worth it. The testing continues, well when I replace the broken one's.....

[Jungle Jim]

I use Ti shepherd hooks from various sources. I haven't tried them yet but I have some more on order from Lawson's. Can't beat their price for Ti.

If the ground is sandy or there is deep snow I make "deadmen" out of sticks and bury them. If the ground is too rocky or frozen to get the Ti stakes in, I tie off to rocks or logs and pile more rocks or logs on top. No need to be bending or breaking tent stakes, but I sure have lost my share over the years....

Jungle Jim

[Unmighty]

But at $20something a pop that is crazy expensive!!!

I just picked up some titanium nail pegs from vargo after bending/breaking a few of my groundhogs on frozen ground. Otherwise, normally make my own on site.

[howlinmadman]

Thanks for all the posts, I live in PA so most of the time I will be in rocky terrain. Are the msr groundhogs good for this?

[Cranky Bear]

The groundhogs work great in a variety of soil, one of my pet peeves with them is the color, so I attached some bright florescent green line to them.

I know the HF store used to sell them, but it's been a while since I looked.

Be careful if ordering on ebay and the like as there have been some cheap knock offs sold before, and they break pretty easily.

[Hawk-eye]

Thanks for all the posts, I live in PA so most of the time I will be in rocky terrain. Are the msr groundhogs good for this?

Well you're not going to bust a rock with one but the short answer is yes. Like Cranky Bear pointed out there are cheap knock offs of the MSR's but they are not as strong. I had four once ... two bent with minor tapping and one of those cracked opposite the bend. Can't remember what I did with the other two!

But they never hitched a ride in my pack again

[MedicineMan]

and I'm usually in soft(er) ground. I like a steak I can push in with my palm, those stakes that look like the Mercedes symbol in cross section cut into my skin when I push them, then you're looking for a rock to hammer with and that eventually destroys the stake:

[fallkniven]

But at $20something a pop that is crazy expensive!!!

That's $20 for a 6-pack+free shipping.

[Notare]

Use the Gossamer gear V stakes. Two wraps and a slip not. An ease to adjust and hold well for me. Put two perpendicular to each other and girth hitch in snow.

[gunner76]

I tie off to a tree or bush if possible. If not, I take some aluminum Y stakes and Ti stakes. The Alum Y stakes for soft ground and the Ti stakes for hard, rocky ground. And yes, you can bend Ti stakes.