Idea to make those expensive titanium stakes more visible.

I like the shrink tube idea.

I got a $.99 jar of blaze orange finger nail polish at the 'Mart, scuffed the ends of my Ti stakes with sandpaper and gave them a few coats. Works great so far – I haven't used a rock on the stakes yet, but do push them in the last few inches with my toes (shoes).

Thanks. I like your idea too. Hadn't thought of that but the nail polish would probably be a lot more durable than the regular spray paint I used. How many times have you used them?

I too used nail polish. I used various colors and painted them like candy canes. Bright red, white and green. I tried to make them unnatural looking so they would show up in a variety of backgrounds. When I painted them green, I lost them in the grass, so the red and white in that case gives contrast and helps them stand out etc…

i've used them on only 2 trips thus far, but they held up fine.

Can't go wrong with bright pink. Name one possible trip where bright pink wouldn't stand out? Grass? No, Snow? No, Water? No (unless its deep or dirty water), Sand? No. Thus concludes our lesson for today. Have a nice day. I'll post up my pictures once I do a test run with a new way I tried.

> My latest attempt is heat shrink tubing.

I tried that, but I found the heatshrink tubing did not bond at all to the Ti wire of the existing orange paint. So the tubing crumpled up towards the top of the stake, around the hook, after being poked into hard ground a few times.

It may be of course that actually putting the heatshrink tubing over the hook, rather than over the shank, might solve that problem. Must try that some time.

But in the meantime I find model aeroplane oil paints stick very well – that or bright orange epoxy primer, well cured. With black rings around the orange for contrast.

Cheers

Roger,

Your titanium stake is moving. That should make it easy to find but are they hard to set into the ground? ;-)

I'll think twice about helping you break camp! ;-)

Seriously automotive parts stores sell very high temperature epoxy based spray paints. On another thread on this same subject bright metallic blue was suggested for use as a contrasting color.

Party On,

Newton

My shrink tubing only runs down the shank a short distance. It covers the entire hook though. Have not tried the stakes in the field yet. Hoping it works as it was so easy and quick to do. Color wise, I like the other idea of hot pink. Obnoxious yes but unmistakeably visible.

Thanks, everyone!

Rusty – I've had those stakes in the ground a half-dozen times or so since painting them. It's not terribly convenient to individually paint the hook of a stake one by one with nail polish, but it is easy/cheap.

>> It's not terribly convenient to individually paint the hook of a stake one by one with nail polish, but it is easy/cheap.

That actually sounds like a fun day with my girls. I'll scuff the pegs, they can pick the brightest colors and paint them any design they want! I think I know what we're doing next Daddy/Daughter Day.

Maybe you guys can simply throw stakes into the fire. With the certain termperature, titanium would shows the color from gold to purple.I've done this with my ti spork.

Plasti Dip

http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

Used to coat the handles of old, worn tools, like screwdrivers.

Get it at your local Home Depot or Lowes.

> Your titanium stake is moving.
Snicker …!

> very high temperature epoxy based spray paints.
Sounds perfect to me.

Cheers

Surprisingly (at least to me), blue seems to be one of the easiest-to-find colors in the wilderness; certainly better than red, yellow, or orange. This result seems to be born out from a recent hike I took where they had blazed the trail with blue placards. The blue blazes were so visible that they became downright annoying.

Here's the reference article which includes a comparison photo: http://gossamergear.com/wp/tips/how-to-keep-from-losing-ti-stakes

I’ve been using ceramic coated stakes with yellow for awhile now. Its practically day glow bright and doesn’t wear or chip like the normal orange paint / coatings we typically get. Its a little tough to find someone to do your own like I did but fortunately you can get them from Gossamer Gear as of a month or two ago.

Gossamer Gear’s Stakes.

DM

lightpack.blogspot.com.

Don't have a photo handy, but nail polish works well. Many high vis colors, dries quick, cheap price , minimal weight:) I use similar yellow.

Edit: Duh just saw other nail polish post.
Jim

Don, those look great! Exactly what kind of paint is that that you used?

Chad, I didn’t do the work. A buddy of mine does ceramic coating and did those as a favor to me (we barter back and forth). As I understand the process, there is a ceramic material that you brush or spray on depending on the application then its baked on. You end up with a bomber hi-viz coating. Fortunately, the guys at Gossamer are using the same stuff so its easy for anyone to get the coated stakes.

Another advantage of the ceramic coating is that its relatively easy to clean up compared to raw ti in my experience.

Don Meredith

lightpack.blogspot.com

I use marine grade epoxy, because that is what I had on hand. It is one of the most durable ways to paint the tops of your stakes.

Anything will wear in the area where they get pounded.

I have found that red and yellow becomes invisible against fall leaves in my neck of the woods.

Blue or violet stands out better in most conditions, the exception being if you pitch you shelter in a field of flowers:-)

So I was in Gander Mountain tonight to pick up a GSI mug and I was browsing the fishing section when I came across this stuff called Pro Tec Powder Paint for powder coating lures. I am not a fisherman so maybe some of you guys know about this stuff. It made me think immediately of this thread and I picked up some in blue ($4.97 for the jar). Just heated one of my Ti hook stakes with a plumbing torch and dipped it. I didn't do a very good job at shaking off the excess, but once it cooled this stuff is like hard as plastic and I can't chip is off with my finger. Just another option for some of you maybe…

This seems to be the website:

http://www.csipaint.com/products/powder-coatings/pro-tec-powder-paint.asp

Very very cool.

There are other solutions besides paint.

Here’s my feedback on the v-stakes with ceramic coat. Pretty much the same summary as my groundhogs & hooks with the ceramic coat… good stuff.

lightpack.blogspot.com – Ceramic Coated Ti V-Stakes

DM

I bought a can of bright pink spray paint normally used by surveyors. Sprayed the hooks on all my Vargo ti stakes, and haven't lost one yet. Paint seems to hold up well enough to occasional weekend trips.

I used my stakes Fri, Sat and Sun. I was happy enough with the red heat shrink tubing that I applied it to my remaining 6 stakes when I got home. I like the idea of a different color but for my conditions, this red stands out just fine. No fuss, no mess, quick and easy.