Loving my new tent stakes!

[Anthony H]

Really Loving my new Tent stakes from Big Sky.  Much more reliable then the Easton Nano stakes and a much better one piece design (No head that can snap off) and 2g lighter.  The Ultra-C stakes are also very durable and have very good holding power because of the increased surface area.  The smooth curved lip on the head of the stake makes it easy to push into loose soil with your hand without hurting it on sharp edges like some other stakes.  The Ti shepherds hooks are just a run of the mill hook that I use for my ground sheet when I use one.

[Ken Ross]

+1  Been using these for years after repeated Easton failures. They come in two sizes and have a nice storage bag too. Only thing I don’t like is Big Sky’s name for them (“Tube Steak”).

[Brad Rogers]

How did I not know these exist?   I’ve been a huge fan of the Easton stakes for years but they have gotten harder to find in recent years.  Interestingly in 15 years of use I have never had a head pop off though last year in the Sierra, I did beat one hard enough where the stake broke but the head was still intact to the tube.

[Todd T]

I love Eastons.  I’ve had one head pop in the last 12 years or so, but it went back on nicely with with some JB Weld.  But they are getting harder to find and those Big Skys look interesting.

Doesn’t look like you can attach a loop of line to them, though.  I like being able to slide a stake through the loop to get a good solid pull on a difficult one.  Is the top bent at a hard enough angle that you could hang a stake under it to get a pull?

[Michael B]

Are the Big Sky stakes solid, or hollow?

Edit: hollow – just navigated to the website. I was trying to understand what the difference was between the Eastons and these – it is just the location of the lanyard, Easton’s are on the head, and these are on the main body of the tube. Good design improvement. I also like they have two different diameters. The website has “notify me when in stock” but no indication that they are out of stock?

I don’t understand the name – if they were trying to be silly, wouldn’t “Tube Stake” have been more appropriate while still keeping the joke? Some people just don’t understand proper delivery, lol.

[Michael B]

Doesn’t look like you can attach a loop of line to them, though.  I like being able to slide a stake through the loop to get a good solid pull on a difficult one.  Is the top bent at a hard enough angle that you could hang a stake under it to get a pull?

you could probably just drill a small hole in them. Not sure why they wouldn’t do that from the factory –  I honestly had never heard of these guys until they came up on the forum recently. They desperately need to hire someone to get their website and product info updated, as they seem to have genuinely good product, but their site makes me think they are doing this stuff in their garage, not confidence-inspiring. I may have to order some of those stakes though, I’ve been using cheap MSR ground hog copies and have always like the easton ones better (they live with my 2-man tent though for some reason).

[Todd T]

I see I was confused.  I thought the round stakes in the pic above were Eastons for comparison with the flat/curved things to the right.  Now I see the Tube Steaks really are tubular, just like the Eastons, and take a line loop.

[Brad W]

I dunno, I have been burned by every stake except MSR Groundhogs.

[Todd T]

Groundhogs don’t burn, they just pierce your boot sole and sever blood vessels in your foot.

[Rex Sanders]

Everybody’s experience is different. After swearing at MSR Groundhogs (mini and regular), plus a variety of other stake styles, I switched to long Eastons, and I’ll never go back.

Navigating BSI’s confusing pair of web sites, with inconsistent email responsiveness, means I never got a chance to try their stakes.

— Rex

[Russ W]

These would be interesting….but actually successfully ordering anything from Big Sky has been a bust for me, with poor (zero) communication.

[Brad Rogers]

I have a set of Groundhogs and they do hold well, but like Todd and Rex I find them not as user friendly as some other stakes.   I too have had them to through the soles of shoes, though I guess they work OK banging them in with a rock.  I did break the head of one one time though, so they aren’t indestructible.   I find the Easton’s much easier to work with and they still hold well.

On a side note I have found the newer Groundhogs are not as burly as the older ones, and don’t hold as well.  The old ones with the “MSR Groundhog” stamped in the aluminum are better than the new ones with it printed on.

[Daniel Oxnard]

I really like tubular stakes also, but with my budget I am restricted to the Aluminum gutter spikes from Lowes (Amerimax 7-in Mobile Home Nail) . At 0.35 ozs, and 0.60 cents  each, they are pretty great for me!

[Roger Caffin]

Shock horror! A cheap Al gutter spike to replace a high-tech, ultra-modern custom-designed fashion-conscious up-market design? Disgraceful!

By which you might take it that I fully approve!

Cheers

[Jerry Adams]

A little bent there at about inch 2

I carry one of those that found it’s way into my bag of stakes

[Daniel Oxnard]

It was run over a few times! I was stopped at a red light and it was in road. I was worried about someone popping a tire so I jumped out and grabbed it. Then I realized it was lighter than my Coghlan’s stakes, so I grabbed a 6-pack of them.

[Jerry Adams]

serendipity

[Roger Caffin]

Side issue: just what is a gutter spike? I don’t think we have them here in Oz.
Cheers

[Matthew / BPL]

It’s a big aluminum nail.

[Daniel Oxnard]

A spike is a nail, and a gutter spike is usually made out of aluminum (to avoid galvanic corrosion) to attach aluminum rain gutters to a roof, with a ferrule separator to keep gutter from collapsing inwards.

They are pretty light, so they commonly blow out of the backs of pick-up trucks and end up in the road.

[Roger Caffin]

Oh, I see.
Here in Oz we use brackets under the gutter. I can see the advantage of the big gutter spikes, in that they hold up the outside of the gutter as well. But then, a lot of our gutters are galvanised steel, so Al nails would not be so good.

Cheers

[JCH]

“Shock horror! A cheap Al gutter spike to replace a high-tech, ultra-modern custom-designed fashion-conscious up-market design? Disgraceful!

By which you might take it that I fully approve!”

I guess this isn’t the right time to reveal my idea for bluetooth enabled carbon fibre stakes…in custom colors, patterns and/or your family crest and RGB LEDs with programable flashing patterns.  Why else would they be Bluetooth enabled?  Duh!

[Roger Caffin]

Quite right: not at all the place. Far too gaudy.

Now, a flashing LED string on each guy rope, triggered by a proximity sensor, all so you don’t trip over them in the middle of the night: that I could understand.

You would need a mass threshold for the sensor so that it is not triggered by foxes. I did once have a fox flip over a guy rope many years ago. He was very puzzled.

Cheers

[John B]

I have used the (I think anodized) aluminum stakes that came with my BA copper spur UL-1 for over 10 years.  I have never busted one–default insertion method is by hand, by boot if that doesn’t work, and by rock if needed.  Seems I have ended up using a rock about 30% of the time due to high altitude/rocky tent sites I seem to find myself in.  The 6 inch stakes (.4oz/12g) was what I used.  Just replaced the BA UL-1 recently with ZPacks Plexamid and decided to try their 7in stakes–will see how that goes.  Sad to say, in checking BA website, it appears they have modified their stakes, and the type I used/had is no longer available (used to be able to get six for $14.95).  Oh well.

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