Tent stakes in Sierra

[Diane Pinkers]

<p style=”padding-left: 40px;”>I generally hike in the Olympics and Cascades. I use the MSR mini ground hogs for my tent. Occasionally,  I encounter rocky ground where it seems like the Y shape makes it harder to get the stakes in. Would V stakes be smarter for my upcoming Tahoe Rim Trail hike?</p>

[Paul Wagner]

I don’t think that there is much of an issue here.  That trail doesn’t spend a lot of time on hard granite shelves–you should be able to find a place to pitch your tent with just about any kind of stakes.

Of course, if you want an excuse to buy more gear, you really need to buy a different kind of tent stake for the Sierra.  It’s completely different from anywhere else….grin.

[Alex Wallace]

Mini ground hogs will work fine. I use a mix of those w/ the full size around Tahoe (Desolation Wilderness) all the time.

You’ll usually be able to find a patch of duff, decomposed granite, or sand that will take stakes easily. Sometimes one or a few of the stakes end up over the end of a granite slab, but you can just lay the stake down, perpendicular to the shelter and looped through the guy line, and lay a football sized rock on it.

[Diane Pinkers]

Thanks!  I have used the dead man technique with rocks before, on a sand bar in a moraine, where NOTHING was holding.  The last hike I was on I was camping at Camp Mystery in the Olympics, and the best site that did not have evidence of ponding and run off from the last rain shower had rather sandy soil mixed with big rocks.  I had a heckuva time getting the MSR Groundhogs in, but someone had left a DAC J-stake behind in just the spot I needed for one of the vestibules for my Zpacks Duplex.  That sucker was in deep and tight, and it made me wonder if for rockier ground, the V-stakes might be able to wiggle between the rocks better than the Y shape, while still holding.  At 9 grams, though, I’m having a hard time finding anything that weighs as little with as much holding power, and I’ve never tried shepherd’s hooks, but based on the article written here years ago, I wasn’t excited about trying them.

Has anyone tried the Nemo Airpin Stakes?  The tie-off area is fancy, but the actual holding part of the stake doesn’t look any better than the MSR Needle stakes.   Those were touted for rocky ground, but I see them on  closeout, so I don’t know how well folks thought they worked.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Learn to make deadman anchors, using buried sticks in sand or snow and rocks piled on top in solid rock areas. You can buy fabric or metal ones, but sticks and rocks are usually available. I’ve seen improvised ones using pie plates and even a Frisbee.

 

[Diane Pinkers]

Thanks, Dale.  Got it: see above.  The DAC J-Stake just seemed like it worked really well, there, and was obviously hard to get out, otherwise the person might not have left it there.  They may be regretting that decision, though, as I can’t find those stakes for sale in the same configuration anymore.

[Dale Wambaugh]

This would make a great article with empirical testing, just like canister stoves. It’s something all the readers have a stake in :)

[Diane Pinkers]

Har har! Stake in it!

[Terry Sparks]

I’m a tarp user that would rather not use it unless the weather dictates that I do.  With that, I carry two groundhog stakes only, for the front and back of the tarp when set up in ”storm configuration -modified A frame.  For the remainder of the tie-outs I tie them directly to a secure anchor (bush, log, tree etc.) or I tie it to a stick, lay it flat on the ground and put an adequate size rock on top of the knot.  My tie-outs are longer than usual (6’), and I carry a small ziplock filled with extra line to extend them to 9’ when needed.

After thru-hiking the CDT last year with this setup, I’ve found that it works well and I will only carry a full complement of stakes in the future when I have a specific need to do so.

 

[David P]

What do bears call humans that are camping in their territory?

”Tent Steaks”

thank you, I’ll be here till Thursday

[Diane Pinkers]

Ba-da bump! <crash>!

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