Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting best light weight tent pegs?

Bought a Kifaru ParaTarp and need to get some pegs.

I've found these Easton pegs to be very sturdy. They're the best weight/strength compromise that I've found yet.

I got some of those Easton pegs from Seek outside and I am really liking them so far. Might have to get some sets for my other shelters.

edit: I should say they are not the Nano model but they look the same to me.

Same here, I like em 8 inches long. Good for sandy soil too.

I really like the coughland groundhog stakes for the money to.

I don't think there's one "best" kind of stake so I mix a couple of high quality types. I really like the MSR groundhogs, especially in rocky soil. The "y" profile seems to hold in rocks better and the stake is very sturdy. I don't need the slightly heavier groundhog at every stake point so I mix in about half and half with high quality, lighter weight solid aluminum anodized wire stakes that work well in packed soil or for less critical stake points. If snow or sand is likely, then I add in some small stuff nylon bags to use as deadman stakes.

Easton's work well as a general purpose peg. The heads do have a habit of popping off - this can be easily solved through the addition of a couple of pop rivets. Real easy to do.

Best lightweight tent stake - Tree branches and a bit of knofe work.

Every stake is good at some things and not others.

We provide easton stakes, as they work well in moderately loose soils, can be driven in frozen ground (trust me I set an 8 up in ice today). The ground hog style are good as well, however, I think the style of them does not lend themselves to being driven in certain soils. The CF stakes are good for 3 season stuff. Our choice of eastons are mostly based on that a lot of our customers seem to favor rocky soils, or icy / frozen conditions.

Eastons, sometimes loose a head (not on a nano so far), the ground hogs bend at the head and become useless.

There really isn't a perfect stake, if there was I would try to make it, but instead there are best choices for certain conditions and soil types. Generally speaking, in loose soils depth is king, but if you can not get deep, then surface area is king (say you can only drive in 4" or so).

Other things that can work
- Stuff sacks filled with rocks or soil
- Bracing a stake behind some rocks

It really just depends.

I've run the Easton nano pegs, just didn't like them. Had a couple break, and I don't think they hold that well, round isn't a particularly good profile, and they twist. Just my experience, others seem to like them.

I like the north face V stakes, slightly heavier, but tough and hold better than the Easton pegs. I have never broken or bent one and I have driven them through frozen ground and pressure treated timbers with rocks.

If I can get by with less stake I take the MSR needle stakes. Pretty close to the same weight as a nano, maybe a bit lighter, but I think hold as well or better, and they don't twist in the ground.

Just some more ideas. I think having a couple of different types is nice, so you can match them to the soil conditions you expect. Buy a couple of the above types and stake them around your tent, see which ones you like best, then buy a full set, use your test stakes for spares.

How about the REI knock-offs of the MSR stakes?

I haven't tried the REI Y pegs specifically, but I did try some other off brand Y stakes. My personal opinion is to stick with North Face or MSR. They at least have a reputation to hold up, and I trust that they do a bit of quality control and test their stakes once in awhile. The knock off Y stakes I tried, some were just fine and others so soft they were basically useless. My feeling is most of the knock offs are just some low bid contract order from China, that might be made of recycled coke cans for all you know. Spend the tiny bit extra and get a stake you trust. Just my two cents...

Biathlonman mentioned them, but I'll mention them again. The only 9" MSR style of stake that I know of, knock off or no, is made by Coghlans and available for about a buck apiece at most lower end outdoor retailers. I don't think the construction is quite as good as real 6" MSR groundhogs, but the holding power is, well, about 50% better than groundhogs and the like. If MSR made the groundhog in a 9" length, that's what I'd standardize on. Since they don't, the Coghlans are my preferred stake for most conditions.

What is this loose soil you all speak of?

Everyone knows you cannot find dirt without rocks.