Inexpensive Tri stake source

[Javaman]

FWIW, found these inexpensive Tri stakes - MSR Groundhog lookalikes?

$.99 each seems like a good price.

http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_...eb395cda97e101

[Cannibal]

FWIW, found these inexpensive Tri stakes - MSR Groundhog lookalikes?

$.99 each seems like a good price.

http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_...eb395cda97e101

DON'T DO IT!
I've tried 3 different brands of Groundhog knock-offs. They all inhaled deeply (sucked ). I think I bent them all by the second night. I don't know what they're using for metal, but it's not so good. Spend an extra buck-fifty and don't worry about them for a couple of years. JMO

[Doctari]

I have bent groundhogs!! Took a few tries. The knockoffs are much easier to bend, so as Canabal says: "Don't do it"

Then again, I'm still trying to find stakes I don't bend. IMHO most arn't ment for the amount of use (2 of every 3 nights most weeks) I put them to. So I often wonder how many stakes a AT thru hiker goes through in a thru hike.

[Mustardman]

I've found the Vargo titanium nail stakes pretty dang burly and have never bent one. That included pounding them into rocky soil on top of a mountain, using a big ole rock as a hammer

I still use the MSR ground hogs most of the time - they hold better, and I won't cry if I bend one.

[Cannibal]

I have bent groundhogs!! Took a few tries. The knockoffs are much easier to bend, so as Canabal says: "Don't do it"

Then again, I'm still trying to find stakes I don't bend. IMHO most arn't ment for the amount of use (2 of every 3 nights most weeks) I put them to. So I often wonder how many stakes a AT thru hiker goes through in a thru hike.

Really? Pretty sure I still have 2 or 3 of my original stakes from 2 years ago. They survived the AT without a kink (the sand in Florida really doesn't count). I've bent 2 of them out here pounding thru rocks, but the bends were minor and didn't prevent them from being effective. The only ones I've replaced are ones that were lost, so yeah....I've replaced quite a few.

[Rushthezeppelin]

I as well have never broken/bent a groundhog and I use them in very dry rocky dirt mostly.

[Greg Dunlap]

50 or 60 penny nails from the local True Value Hardware. Never have broken or bent.

[bonsaihiker]

Aluminum gutter nails work great--strong and light, and cheap.

[Ramblinrev]

I finally went to the vargo tri stakes cause I got tired of bending the gutter nails. But that's PA... two rocks for every dirt.

[Going Gear]

Well, that sounds like a challenge to me.

I'm the owner of Going Gear. I have used the stakes I sell for over a year now with zero problems, as have many of my customers. I have pounded them into Georgia red clay (tough stuff) and very rocky soil with logs, rocks, hammers, and just about everything else with no issues. I am no AT thru hiker (wish I had the time), but I do a fair amount of backpacking and camping.

Will they bend if you pound them halfway into the ground and then stand on them with all your weight, trying to bend them? Of course they will, they are aluminum, but so will the Groundhogs. If you get them all the way into the ground, they hold VERY well.

I buy custom and stock designs direct from manufacturers, so you do not have the middleman markup that you see most places. Just for reference, take a look at the pricing on the small aluminum items (capsules, whistles, carabiners, etc.) that REI has online and near their registers and then take a look at my prices.

If anyone buys my stakes and has them bend on the 2nd or 3rd night like mentioned above, I will gladly give them a full refund.