Home Made Tent Stakes

[Daryl and Daryl]

These things can be used as tent stakes. They work well in my lawn. Haven't used them in the field.

What are they? Not sure. I bought them off of a rack of accessories in a store that sold yarn, knitting supplies, etc.

I was attracted to them because of their elegance. They are hollow aluminum tubes coming to a sealed and slightly rounded point at each end. I have no idea how they make such things.

They were cheap but I can't tell you how cheap because I bought them years ago. Here's what I do know:

They are a little over 9.5" long and weigh about 11 grams each. They are .362" in diameter (a little less than 3/8").

I modified one end of one of them to get rid of the point. That one now weighs about 9.5 grams.

I added the cap from a pen to another one and that now weighs about 12.5 grams.

[John S.]

Knitting needles.

[Daryl and Daryl]

Thanks John. Knitting needles it is.

They seem to be readily available on the internet. Looks like the single point ones with heads would be the best choice.

Their chief advantage appears to be that some are cheap($1.50 each or less) and light. I've only tried them in my lawn, however. No real world testing to offer…….yet.

I think ones with diameters less than the ones in my op would be prone to bending but the ones I showed in the photo feel pretty stiff.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Try some aluminum gutter spikes.

[Dan Yeruski]

Dale how much does the gutter spikes weigh?

[Daryl and Daryl]

Dale,

I like the gutter spikes too. They would work better in hard ground than the knitting needles.

I think these knitting needles would have the advantage in soft ground (e.g. my yard) due to their larger diameter and length.

Dan, the gutter spike and unmodified knitting needle in the photo below both weigh about 11 grams.

[Anonymous]

I don't know how much those knitting needles cost, but the below are 75 cents per stake if you buy one pack, fairly light, probably more durable than the above, and already conveniently set up for the purpose of tent stakes.

[Daryl and Daryl]

Just,

Hard to beat those Coghlan stakes and you might be able to knit with them too.

[John S.]

I think there are threads about the lower quality Coghlans bending easily even though they are Y stakes.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, they do bend somewhat easily (just bent one this last weekend), but i doubt they would be any weaker than knitting needles. If they were made out of a higher grade aluminum they would be pretty sweet.

[Daryl and Daryl]

I think I posted in the wrong forum. The multi-use forum would have been better.

For those of you who already carry a half dozen fat/long aluminum knitting needles when backpacking this idea gives you stakes at no extra weight.

[Jerry Adams]

Now you've done it Daryl, all the UL fanatics are out destroying their partner's knitting needles. You are a chaos creator…

[Anonymous]

(and if you listen closely and hard enough, you just may hear Daryl in the background laughing manically and with a sinister tone, "Bhwahahahahaha").

[Daryl and Daryl]

Turns out Boye is the company that makes these aluminum knitting needles.

Found them at Joann Fabric so I ordered a couple sizes to experiment.

Here's a link showing the #13 size, 10" long, single point. you'll have to scroll down the page to see them.

here

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