These are the military stakes I like:
http://www.mcssl.com/store/aamsusa/catalog/product/c8ea453c342047eaa9a70e2ca4c5ed7dIn my case, the local surplus store has them in 9" and 12" lengths. For staking the 12 man in most conditions, I use (4) of the 9" ones for the first 4 stakes, and then the 9" coghlans ground hog knock offs for the rest. In the case of the sloppy snow described above, I really wanted *all* 12" ones. I suspect I'd feel the same about sand. The 9" ones are 2oz apiece, so they add up. That's why I try to minimize using them as much as possible. But when you need a solid stake, you need a solid stake. I've typically got at least one, just in case.
My method for tipi pitching is straightforward and no hassle. It is based on the Kifaru method, but varies somewhat from how I've watched Patrick pitch tipis. Just need to know the setbacks. In the case of an 8 person SO, the initial setback is 4 feet if I remember correctly. Then the side setbacks are each 1 foot I think. In the case of the Kifaru 12 man it's 6 9" stake lengths and 1 9" stake length on each side. Here's the procedure:
- stake down the back door
- pull the front door loop all the way taut
- measure your length setback back from the taut distance
- stake the front door at your setback distance
- pull the sidemost stake loops all the way taut
- set them each back the side setback length and stake them
- put the center pole in place and re-zip the door
- stake out each of the four stake loops that are the midpoints between the stakes you've just driven. in each case, pull them as taut as you can. (on the SO 8 man, you can't go directly between them. Choose one of the nearest ones to center and go with that)
- now that all 8 of your anchor stakes are in and pulled tight, go around and put stakes in the rest of the loops, pulling taut each time. No need to alternate or anything like on the first 8. Just go around in a circle.
Using this method, the only thing you have to remember is two setback measurements (which you can remember as stake lengths), and then everything else just gets pulled taut. No measuring out from the center pole at specified intervals, no pulling out and re-staking stakes, no trying to pull the edge at a certain angle. This has always given me a quick taut pitch.
