I recently purchased a full set of these snow anchors. I, since, noted that a popular backpacking magazine (not BPL) test seemed to show the anchors being used in what I thought to be a reversed position. I was right.
An email to SMC got the following outstanding response and technical analysis from them in 10 minutes.
Hi John-
First of all…thanks for purchasing and using our products! Secondly…yours is a great question.
The T-Anchors and their larger siblings (the SMC Snow Flukes/Anchors) are designed to be used with the convex face pointing towards the tent. The dynamics are very interesting…under tension the anchors "push" against the snow and compress it which increases the holding power. It turns out that this "compression" actually radiates outward and ahead of the face of the anchor. I've participated in some testing in the field under actual use conditions. It was interesting to watch the dynamometer as it registered the amount of holding power of the various items. We sometimes saw a minor amount of movement as the anchors compressed the snow ahead of them but this ultimately resulted in a high degree of "hold." I saw how using the anchors in reverse was not as effective. The same sort of dynamics come into play with the SMC I-Pickets but to a lesser degree.
Something else worth noting is that we leave the aluminum in it's "natural" state as opposed to painting or anodizing the surface. While a bright and shiny paint job or pretty anodized surface may look cool it actually makes the anchors less effective. Ideally the anchors will "freeze" into place and grip even better…painted/coated products are more prone to slipping and therefore inherently less effective.
The T-Anchor may appear to be a relatively simple item but they are actually well-thought out.
Hope this helps!
BR
Mark Harman
Sales and Marketing Manager
SMC
Thought I'd share this response from what is obviously a very customer orientated, as well as excellent product driven company.
