What exactly are the ...military stakes... you mentioned and where might one buy some of these?

So far, the best I have found are the 9ish inch steel pins from REI and the Coghlans longer ones with the little orange doodads on their top ends.

I would really like to be able to stake and totally trust my Kifaru 8-man and would like to find some better stakes than those I now have. The stuffsack-deadman method is OK, but, it is not that easy in many conditions and I would prefer stakes.

I have one of the original Chouinard Pyramids made even before the Megamids were introduced and it is very stout, but, mine is worn on the bottom edges with the polyurethane peeling a bit and it is that depressing dark blue, which I really dislike.