What is the deal with MSR Groundhog pricing

Do you have some examples of those prices ?

https://www.msrgear.com/tents/tent-accessories/groundhog-tent-stakes/05807.html

https://www.backcountry.com/msr-groundhog-tent-stake-kit?s=a

Turns out that the predominant price for the fulls-size groundhog is $2.95, $2.50 was the mini, but that still gives you a kit of 6 for under $18, or $7 less than what MSR is charging for the kit

https://www.rei.com/product/682543/msr-ground-hog-stake

In all honesty, I haven’t noticed any significant difference between Groundhogs the past 15 years and some Taiwan knockoffs the past few years. I’m happy with Groundhogs, no doubt. But I have many stake sets depending on conditions for that trip. Typically for southern Appalachians, 2-3 Groundhogs and 4-5 Ti skewers. That Easton gold long peg that Tarptent uses is really good in soft soil and thick forest duff.

OK.

I see that MSR now only list them in kits of 6 at $24.95 RRP.

I haven’t found a shop that has both the single and the pack on offer.

My guess is that the singles are from non packaged bulk buy.

This has been going on for quite some time, but when the 6-Pack was $20 it was not that glaring of a mismatch. But now you can get 8 singles for the price of a 6 pack. The singles seem to be getting phased out because fewer and fewer stores carry them.

At least they flip flopped the prices for the minis and the regulars. I remember several years ago trying to help an REI employee understand how absurd it was that the minis were more expensive than the regulars ($2.95 minis vs 2.50 regs). Yes, it follows the principle of “less weight, more money”, but there’s nothing about them to justify the upcharge. Exact same design, same material, just shrunk down (less material cost). REI didn’t seem too concerned about the discrepancy though

how absurd it was that the minis were more expensive than the regulars

Years ago the Red Robin menu had both a cheeseburger and a bacon burger.  The price was different depending on whether you ordered a cheeseburger with bacon, or a bacon burger with cheese.  I would always grill the waiter as to why…nobody ever had an answer.  I would always insist on the cheaper option.  They eventually fixed the problem.  Corporate no doubt heard about me.

“Corporate no doubt heard about me.”

Maybe they hoovered up all of your personal data from the Red Robin app you were using…

https://www.amazon.com/MSR-Groundhog-Tent-Stake-Kit/dp/B006ZC5KLG?th=1

Yes, the price has been dropping.  It was $17 a few days ago, I ordered a set of six.  Now that it is down to $13 I ordered another set of six.  There was also a used set for $10 for those that want to save a few bucks.

Also note that Amazon has upped their digital credit to $3 for not using 2-day prime.  I have stopped using 2-day quite some time ago for most of my orderes and collecting the $1 digital credit.  My wife uses them pretty much as soon as they are available.  Helps offset a significant fraction of the cost of the prime membership.

Boyan, another thing you should know about the MSR Groundhogs is that the pre-2014 versions were the original ones. After that, they did a slight design change, which had a slight change wherein the shafts were a bit different, with a somewhat rotated configuration which might have increased holding power a wee bit. Also, when people talk about Asian knockoffs, be careful. A lot of the Groundhog look-alikes are made from an inferior aluminum alloy, whereas MSR uses the good stuff. There’s a difference in strength.

Any reliable way of telling a knockoff from the real stuff?

On a different forum someone got very upset with me when I pointed out that his “MSR” branded stakes were a copy. (sent me a nasty PM full of insults…)

Neither the  font nor the colour  corresponded  but because it was written MSR he was adamant they were.

(yes made with soft metal and that is why they broke and was complaining about it)

So it is a matter of comparing labels and fonts carefully to those on the MSR site? Would be the first time Amazon sold fakes on their website.

I don’t think that anyone stated that Amazon is selling fake MSR stakes. The one I mentioned , according to the OP in that thread, were bought at REI , however when I questioned that ( as in :what REI store ?) I got back some insults and those comments were later remouved.

For anyone interested this was the thread, so you can have a look at what fake MSRs look like :https://www.trailspace.com/forums/gear-selection/topics/132289.html

Thanks for that. Appreciate you being super careful with the wording, I should be more disciplined about it too. I would not use color as an indication, since a cheap cell phone camera will distort color tremendously, especially under artificial light. However the shape of the head is a giveaway as is the signage and the fact that it does not engrave down to a clean white baseline. I think that the cheap ones listed on Amazon now are sold by third parties so a careful inspection is definitely called for. The $13 price is almost too good to be true.

First order of groundhogs arrived today.  They look exactly as in Franco’s pic in post 5 above.  However, both the “MSR” and “Groundhog” insignia appear screen-printed with block letters not engraved as in the thread Franco linked above.  I have compared these against the dozen groundhogs I have from previous orders (~12 months ago) and they look identical.  My previous order was from EMS.

screen grab from the official MSR video.

As you can see , the name is engraved , enough to be seen trough the back.

I really doubt that what you are seeing indicates ‘engraving’. That means cutting the metal, and it would not ‘print through’ the metal. I would be happy to accept stamped or punched, as these do ‘print through’. And they can be done about 100x faster too.

Nit pick, nit pick, nit pick.

Cheers

As you can see above, I have two distinct styles of Ground Hogs.  The bottom, with the stamped name are probably a decade old and purchased from a local outdoor store, are much more substantial than the top ones, which came with a shelter I purchased off gear swap.  They are thinner and have a much smaller head, which seems to be the weak point in this style of stake.  Has MSR changed the classic Groundhog design?

Mine look like the top one, including the the red cordage. It is possible that they have changed the design yet again to something more substantial which would explain the significant price increase. However the official image on the MSR website clearly shows screen printed signage. The video may be a “historical artefact”

Wouldn’t a simple email containing pictures to MSR solve this?

Wouldn’t a simple email containing pictures to MSR solve this?

Last time I sent them an email requesting product support for a Windpro stove they took 3 months to respond (July-Oct)  and 1 month to ship the replacement part (Oct-Nov).   No, this is not an exaggeration, I have the date/time stamps from the emails to prove it.  I will still send the email, I just don’t expect an answer on a timescale that allows me to return my existing orders if indeed they have redesigned the product.  I may give them a call, though with the C19 situation their call centers may be very lightly staffed, if at all.