easton nano nail stakes

[Terran Terran]

Bummer. I’ve had groundhogs bend. I’ve bent a 9″ MSR carbon core stake too.  Not to that extent. I was using my foot to push it in and wiggled my foot a little. Pounding them into a 2×4 might work if kept perfectly straight. Longer stakes can be the worst. Try a small pilot hole and dribble some water into it giving it a few minutes to soak in.

[sbennett3705]

Interesting idea about using water, but unfortunately this was a water carry route, no local water at all, so couldn’t spare any.

Unusual conditions. Haven’t seen ground that hard before. Usually JT is pretty sandy. I’m still thinking the Groundhogs are stronger.

[Terran Terran]

CaCO3. Calcium carbonate is drawn up into the soil through evaporation. It often looks like broken pottery when the rain puddles dry out. Then it gets baked by the heat. Combined with the sand, it’s like concrete. Caliche. Groundhogs are stronger. Sometimes you can’t get them out. Even the Shepard’s hooks get stuck. It doesn’t take much water, but as noted, it’s a limited resource.

[Alan W]

I’ve started carrying 1 Vargo nail peg (full weight, not the UL) to make pilot hole(s) when necessary.

Use a rock or small log to hammer, then pull, then push in Al tube.

It’s heavier than Al tubes, but doubles as my spare and extra for storm upwind guy.

6″ pilot depth is usually enough.  If it’s not, usually don’t need the full 9″ insertion of Al stake anyway.

[Eli]

The 8″ Easton stakes have become my favorite general use stakes overall. I pitch my silnylon mids and flat tarps very taught and with a lot of tension on the line/stakes and the Eastons work better than Groundhogs in every situation — the extra 2″ makes a big difference.

However, I made the mistake last fall of pounding them in to frozen soil with an MSR stake hammer and I ended up popping off the end cap of one stake while removing them and seeming to cause undue wear on the points of the others. These stakes, like other conventional aluminum stakes, are simply not made to withstand being pounded into frozen ground. Oops.

I shelled out for some Vargo titanium nail stakes for use when the ground will be frozen under minimal snow.

I’m a big fan of 4-season one-and-done gear items, but at some point you have to adapt to the conditions:

• 3-season unfrozen soil: conventional stakes
• unable to use your stakes on a long route that takes you high into frozen/thin soil for a minority of the nights: improvise with rocks or other natural anchors
• frozen soil with minimal snow: Vargo titanium nail stakes
• deep snow winter camping: deadman anchors to branches etc

All of this is made much easier by using the “Skurka guyline method” that allows for easy adjustment to alternative anchors when necessary.

[Jerry Adams]

I like the Vargo Titanium Nail Stakes.  a little heavy – 0.6 ounces.  The easton nano are 0.4 ounces.

Sometimes I pound one into a tree root and it’s almost impossible to get out, but none of them have broken.  For years of use.

Occasionally, I’ll have to take other stakes and dig out a hole around the stake until I can wiggle it back and forth

[bradmacmt]

I prefer Big Sky Tube Steaks over the Easton’s…

[Jerry Adams]

those are 0.54 oz for 9 inch stake, 0.33 inch diameter

“The Tube SteakTM tent peg was originally designed by Big Sky International about 20 years ago. Originally, Big Sky offered their tents with a similar tent peg design offered by another company, but the heads would pull off so Big Sky designed the Tube SteakTM tent peg so the head would not come off. Since then, others have copied our design, but it was Big Sky that originally designed the head of a tent peg this way.”

Those vargo nail pegs are only 6 inches for 0.6 ounces.  They are 0.2 inch diameter, smaller than big sky steaks

Easton Nano – 0.4 ounces, 8.75 inches, I can’t find what the diameter is

 

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