Winter tent stakes

[Steven Nelson]

Another vote of confidence for the T-Anchors. They’re expensive, but I’ve found nothing else that holds as well, nor that is as easy to place.

I put loops of spectra line through them, then girth-hitch them to tie-outs on shelters. Ryan’s addition of mini-carabiners is a fine idea as well.

[G Patrick]

hey,
don't know if you still care, but we use a bunch of sil nylon stuff sacks. fill them with snow, wrap your guy lines around them with a hitch and bury them. back fill the hole, stomp it, wait 15 minutes and they don't budge.

greg the trailgoon
SoCal boy

Job 38:22

[Roger Caffin]

> we use a bunch of sil nylon stuff sacks. fill them with snow, wrap your guy lines around them with a hitch and bury them. back fill the hole, stomp it, wait 15 minutes and they don't budge.
Well, ys, but imagine the quite common situation where the snow is a little wet in the late afternoon and freezes overnight. How on earth do you get the bags out in the morning? Cary a serious iceaxe and snow shovel?

[John S.]

Why can't aluminum tin slightly bent in the shape of the SMC T-anchors with some holes knocked in be used? I know I know…the metal fatigue or weakness of aluminum. Why would that matter when it's buried one foot down in snow that becomes rock after it's compacted (depends on snow type)? It seems the metal strength is less important than having some surface area with holes so the snow can help it stay in place.

[b d]

I have been thinking the same thing, or kind of thing John. I am going to try the four corners of a gallon milk bottle, and went to OSH to see what they had in a commercial grade aluminim or light weight item that might secure a tent guy. Found some, will report later. I am thinking of trying super light tent stake to attach the guyline to and poking them through pieces of old aluminum pie pan or the plastic milk bottle corners.

[John S.]

Small tough plastic cups with holes in the bottom. Yogurt cups? Let us know your results.

I also thought about half inch wood dowel cut to six inch segments and used as deadman anchors, similar to a stick. I'd leave them, but that ain't LNT I guess.

[eric levine]

I tried the Ursalite carabiners with some poly spectra guylines (EZC line) this year and it's superb! Quick and easy, and not enough extra weight to cause guilt.

[Eric Parsons]

Homemade stakes work great. I got a 10’ piece of thin aluminum angle at home depot, sawed it into 1’ pieces, drilled a hole in the middle (for deadman style) and at top (stake style) two loops of P-cord. Maybe not the lightest but dirt cheap.

In Alaska we are pretty much always carry shovels so removing deadman fabric anchors is a no brainer. Even very small pieces will hold a lot of force. I used cordura and 3/4 webbing in the past but want to see how Si nylon and p-cord will hold up. I’m pretty sure my beat up shovel blade will shred them quickly.

[Brian Barnes]

I picked up a 4 pack of SMC T-anchors and plan on making my own additional stakes from some thin aluminum sheet. I have a few questions:

Does it matter which direction you face the SMC T-anchors? That is bend side pointing toward the tent like:

> —- TENT (think this is how SMC pictures the config)

or:

< —- TENT

Also, SMC recommends 3-4mm thick cord, which seems unnecessarily thick. How thin have you gone? and what type of cord did you use?

Thanks!

[Mike Clelland]

I'm sorry – you can ALWAYS find a rock or a stick for a deadman. Really.

This is a web-site dedicated to lightweight backbpacking, right? If you truly wanna save weight, take no stakes at all – zero. Traveling in a snowy environment does NOT require a commercial stake of anykind. Sticks and rocks and some piece of your unused gear will ALWAYS work – – even in faceted snow, you just need to wait a little longer.

The one exception is huge glacial ice fields. I camp for 30-days in a row on big alaskan glaciers and I use ICE instead of commercial snow-stakes. If I can't find ice, I bury tiny stuff sacks full of snow.

Please – read this article:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/ditch_your_stakes.html

[Roger Caffin]

> you can ALWAYS find a rock or a stick for a deadman.
In fine mild sunny winter weather this may well be so. But what about here?

Please remember that we could see for maybe 2 yards in the storm the evening before this morning. We had to feel our way by walking around to find a level spot. Just how long should we have spent looking (quite hopelessly) for stick and rocks?

Ice? None around, just half-frozen snow and spindrift. And a 50 mph wind.

> some piece of your unused gear will ALWAYS work
A nice idea if you have lots of unused gear. We don't. Most every bit of gear we had was used that night.

The next night was spent on a saddle on the top of the Range in a wind which was getting over 80 mph at times. Rocks? Sticks? One jests.

Different places, different needs.

Cheers

[Mike Clelland]

I've worked 30-day expeditions in alaska for a decade, and I've worked as a guide out of talkeetna, during all that time I've experienced some horendous weather, and the small stuff sacks work perfectly for holding a tent down in all kinds of snow.

I will add that I am working mountaineering courses, and we have a LOT of available gear to burry.

[Steven Nelson]

Brian –

>–tent is the recommended configuration for the T-anchors, but I've used them both ways and they've been rock solid regardless.

I've been using Kelty Triptease for the attachment loop and have had no problems so far.

Agreed that sticks, ice, rocks, and sacks can make fine anchors and save weight…but I sure like the ease and effectiveness of the T-anchors. I don't mind carrying the extra weight as a trade-off for savings in time and peace of mind.

[Rod Lawlor]

Mike,

I tried the stuff sacks last winter for a crappy windy campsite in warm temps where my plates were pulling/melting out. They worked great. They were pretty big sacks though (tent and mat size)

How small do you think you can go?

Rod

[Roger Caffin]

> I am working mountaineering courses, and we have a LOT of available gear to bury

There's the big difference in styles, and needs.

Sue and I travel by ourselves, with no extra gear. When we pitch our tent in the snow the weather is often poor, there may not be anything around us immediately useful, we are tired and hungry and low on energy, and it is late and getting rather cold. I don't think we have ever camped anywhere near another group: we have to be self-sufficient.

There have been times when Sue has helped me stamp out a platform while shivering and poorly coordinating. OK, we are pushing it a bit fine at times, but we think we know what our limits are. I make sure we can get that tent up fast and Sue inside it into shelter. So for us, a handful of good snow stakes is the optimal choice.

But for other people, other styles, under other conditions …

Cheers

PS: if you are just starting out in the snow, DON'T push your limits! Play safe. We did too, for many years.

[Mike Clelland]

reply to Rod:
========

The stuff-sacks can be tiny. The smallest you can find. THe size of a person's fist is plenty.

[illustration from article – LINK below]
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/ditch_your_stakes.html

That said – be careful digging them up with an aluminum shovel. They tear easily.

I've tried plastic bags, but they tear and shread too easily.

We (my co-workers at NOLS) weighed out the stuff sacks vs metal stakes, and the sacks are lighter. The school has a box full of old stuff sacks for tent stakes.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Most of my winter camping has been done in the east where X'd sticks worked fine. Out west, where I now live, I'm carrying 3 SMC snow stakes and 4 old stuff sacks. Sometimes a snow stake is just what you need, so that's why I carry them as well.

The trouble with stuff sacks sometimes is undoing frozen drawstrings to empty the sacks. I've taken to spraying the cords with Techron DWR. It helps.

Eric

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