There have been a couple threads here lately about tents. I watched a video on a Cabelas tent that said to put in the stakes at a 45 degree angle. I've read on a number of sites that putting them straight down is stronger. So, we have conflicting opinions. I found this video showing some comparisons. I guess I'll have to give this a try with a couple types of stakes that I use.

Always a good coffee table topic.

Interesting test...although those really small stakes are worthless in general.

I’ve always used a roughly 45 degree angle.
Just always made more sense to me.

I'm paying attention. There's a lot at stake here.

The Army says "right angle to guy rope". BIG heavy squad tents.

I’ve used those titanium nail stakes to anchor an 8 man tipi, that has held up to measured 65 MPH winds.
I’ve also used 30” Kifaru SST stakes that would barely hold a 4 man tipi in tundra type ground.
All depends on the ground type.

I'm going into to town for some whisky and a steak...

That guy blabs too much. Did he reach a conclusion?

Long Stakes approx. 45 to 60 deg angle for me.
I have watched people put short stakes in at 90 deg and watched as their tents were blown down in mild winds.

I would never tell someone else how to stake their tent down unless they asked me.

I watched another video with a test of long heavy steel stakes, like you'd use for a circus tent. They drove them in and used a winch on a wrecker to try to pull them out. They had a scale in the cable. The vertical stakes were 3 or 4 times stronger than the slanted ones. That result was the opposite of the video I posted.

For me, it's determined by fining the cleanest rock free path as I'm driving it in.

I made mine from 5/8 rebar and they're 20" long for my wall tent. They don't seem to care what angle they're at. These flimsy things you can buy won't hold much no matter how you drive them in.

how you put the stakes in, and what stakes you use, is largely a factor of what type of ground you are dealing with . It ain't rocket science.

Don't make fun.
Otherwise you may be burned like a steak at the stake.

Me I think it depends on the ground you are staking.

I've gone through two tornadoes and A horizontal can't see 30 feet blizzard in tents and the best angle is the one that stake will not pull out from. A green branch or willow sapling that tapers from1/2-3/8 diameter at the base to maybe 1/4 and shoved into soft ground maybe a foot will hold in almost anything because it will flex instead of work itself loose.

All of that to come up with something that every old tent camper guy learned a long time ago - and nothing about the more important aspect - tent stake FRICTION with the ground, whatever type. Chose the tent stakes with care.

My camping and camp crafts book which I received in 1959 says:

short, heavy pegs are hammered into the ground in a vertical position

in hard ground, long, heavy, pegs are set a a 60 degree angle to ground, pointing TOWARD tent (That one always seemed weird to me.)

in soft ground, long. heavy pegs are hammered in at a 90 degree angle to pull of line. with notch at ground level

If you are concerned about the strength of light-weight pegs, it suggests driving two in at 90 degree angles a small space apart, winding the line around the one nearest the tent, leaving enough tag to tie to the second peg.

It would appear that, like so many things, there are numerous ways to deal with pegs, and, like everything else, all of them except the one that you use are wrong.

Well it's kind of a no-brainer.

When someone is pulling stakes, they sure as hell aren't tugging them sideways. Pretty much the same forces/geometry in play.

But sometimes you wiggle them back and forth to loosen the friction at the top of the hole..

Maybe that ties into how you drive them to hold?

I remember that from years ago. I remember seeing some directions on setting up a wall tent with wooden pegs angled toward the tent. I was trying to find it earlier but failed. IIRC, the idea was to have the stakes pull loose in a wind rather than tearing the tent apart.

Yep. Especially when you have to find a spot in rocky soil to slip them in, the thinner the better. Not to mention, carrying them on your back.....

90 degrees to the rope

All depends on soil conditions and common sense for simple tent.


I know drilling in 3 ft stakes for a Division Jump Talk set up really sucks....

Stack up 8 of ya on the stake line.
While others set up frame under the tent and camo netting once the main beam is up on a 45..
Your good for 2 holes on the drill.

Pass drill on, while moving to end, wait your next turn
Leap frog around the whole circumference.

Lawddy dawddy everybody hands on involved from PV1 to LTC in all tasks

3 hr limit to get it all up and running.

With every fugging thing from generators to 5 tn expando,s under camo net.

Big fast task organized event.

Yup, had an uncle that insisted that was the way to stake a wall tent. Dad and I said, fine stake yours angled to the tent and we’ll stake ours angled away from the tent.
Big wind came up during the night, blew his tent down when the pegs popped.
He finally managed to weigh it down with logs to keep from blowing away and spent the rest of the night in our tent.
All Dad said was “How’d those stakes work out for you?”