I don’t bring the lightest stakes with me. I’ve been using the longer MSR Groundhogs.
I see a lot of people with the tiny carbon fiber nail ones. I’ve tried a few different lighter options, but I’ve had issues with them pulling out of loose ground when I tension my TarpTent. So, I’ve just stuck with the Groundhogs.
However, last weekend, I somehow drove one of them under a mess of tree roots. When I went to break camp, I couldn’t get the stake to come out. I broke the cord loop, and I tried using my trowel to dig it out, but I kept hitting roots. Then I tried wiggling it by tapping it with a rock. Eventually it bent and broke before coming out. I think I could have used it again, but luckily it was my last night.
So, this got me thinking, do you ever pack extra tent stakes? I do bring extra cord so I could potentially have tied it to a tree, or found a pile of rocks to anchor it. But maybe I should consider bringing an extra titanium shepard’s hook stake.



