Quiver of tent pegs

[fastfoxengineering]

I'll be staking out a duplex on the AT.

Here is my quiver of current tent stakes.

Duplex needs 8 for full pitch.

4x shepherds
2x V Stakes
4x nail pegs
2x groundhogs

What would you bring?

I was leaning towards 2 groundhogs, 4 nails, and 2 shepherds. I do like the cord for pulling out pegs.

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[Singto]

I have Groundhogs for my Lunar Solo but am thinking of carrying Shepherd hooks. Anyone have a good experience with Shepherd hooks on the AT?

[MuddyWaters]

Shepherd hook ti stakes.
Two heavier stakes for Ridgeline

Use rocks if more holding needed

Use your guyline to pull on, no additional cord needed

[rocketsocks]

Snow stake; a cat hole digger, spoon, back scratcher and prolly a few other things as well.

[El JP]

You know what i really dig about Whiteblaze? Even something seemingly as trivial as tent stakes are a technical exercise. I learn something new here weekly.

[Hatchet_1697]

Setting up my Altraplex on the AT I went through a number of stakes looking for ultralight solutions that weren’t stupid light (like 2g Ti spoke stakes). I settled on this combo. BTW, an Altraplex uses 10 stakes.

1 Ti ground hog for the center / main tie out (+1 for cat hole digs and spare)
8 MSR Carbon Core Tent Stakes
1 Ti nail peg.

Here’s why:

The AT can be very rocky in places and duffy in others. Sheppard hooks get chewed up, bent, broken, or won’t hold in winds without rocks on top of them. I’m tired after ~15mi and do not to want to deal with a rock hunt at the end of the day... might as well just tie off to a rock.

The MSR carbon stakes hold great, are very light, and if you push them in straight and avoid lots of sideways pressure (e.g. using your boot) they will last years. ZPacks makes carbon stakes too but MSR adds a metal covering for durability.

Ground Hog is for the main tie out. On my Altraplex if that fails the tent risks collapse (other tie outs are just a nuisance if they fail). This I want secure. It always gets a pet rock on top too.

The Ti nail peg I use to bust through rocks. You find the perfect spot, flat, higher than the surrounding area, has a fantastic morning view of the sun coming up over the valley, no dead branches above, and lots of soft leaves to lie on. Everything is laid out perfectly and you start putting in stakes when “WHAM!” a rock 2” below. Then another, and another... So I use the peg to bust through rock to make a pilot hole for the other stakes. Works great so far.

Hope that helps.



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[Rain Man]

I carry a variety as not all 4 or 6 or whatever "holes" are always the same, plus can use certain stakes for other purposes as others mentions.

Recently, my "go to" stakes have been titanium shepherd hooks (or the ones with "circles" rather than "hooks") and a couple of titanium V's, with perhaps a snowstake for good measure. But after reading this thread, might mix it up a bit more.

Almost always, I use rocks, shrubs, fallen limbs, etc., for some of my tie-outs. Rarely do I need a stake for each guyline.

[jjozgrunt]

I'm taking 4 msr groundhogs and 4 msr carbon core for my duplex.

[skylark]

I have had problems with the vee stakes bending. I may switch to groundhogs.

[Gambit McCrae]

I carry 8 shepherds hooks and they can be a pain. Most times I end up putting large rocks on top of them

[FrogLevel]

My tent takes 7/8 for a full set up. I usually take 4 and find sticks when I get to camp if I need extra support. Never had any issues so far.

[dcdennis]

for my money: 8 shepherds hooks, vargo.

[Just Bill]

Looks good to me...
By a few weeks in you'll have bent a shepards hook and lost/left behind a nail so it will be bout right.

I like V stakes and Sheppard hooks as my tent use is mainly around home in the midwest.
Guessing you already know the trick as far as spinning the sheppard hook and burying the hook tip so it don't spin on you...

But the groundhogs do have an advantage in the rockier Appalachians over the V stakes... so having the two bomber stakes like that for a stake dependent shelter like your Duplex is a solid bit of thinking. Backed up by the pair of V stakes in a pinch. You get those two stakes right and the rest are replaceable.

You may find the groundhog and nail combo best but I'm not intimately familiar with that shelter so don't know if you have any critical stakes beyond the two main RL/pole stakes. I've heard many others in rocky soils and AT style terrain chime in along those lines. Even the TI V stakes with the punchouts can bend if you hit a tough rock, the nails and groundhogs tolerate that better. I don't think the Y truly offers any better holding power than the V... but it is more durable when you whack a rock or root when driving them in.

The nails vs the Sheppard is the same reasoning.
Specially if'n yer one to grab a handy rock or stick to hammer them home. But a hook can bend under the ol foot press even if you don't hit something. With a nail you'll probably put it through your foot before you bend the stake if you hit a subterranean obstruction.

Being an engineer you are probably versed enough in proper pitch angles and location of stakes relative to direction of load... that's probably the bigger real life issue with holding power.
Quite true that the capacity of sheppard hooks rip out on a main guyline but a V will hold fine in decent soil when put in properly... User error tends to skew opinion of UL stakes.

[fastfoxengineering]

Looks good to me...
By a few weeks in you'll have bent a shepards hook and lost/left behind a nail so it will be bout right.

I like V stakes and Sheppard hooks as my tent use is mainly around home in the midwest.
Guessing you already know the trick as far as spinning the sheppard hook and burying the hook tip so it don't spin on you...

But the groundhogs do have an advantage in the rockier Appalachians over the V stakes... so having the two bomber stakes like that for a stake dependent shelter like your Duplex is a solid bit of thinking. Backed up by the pair of V stakes in a pinch. You get those two stakes right and the rest are replaceable.

You may find the groundhog and nail combo best but I'm not intimately familiar with that shelter so don't know if you have any critical stakes beyond the two main RL/pole stakes. I've heard many others in rocky soils and AT style terrain chime in along those lines. Even the TI V stakes with the punchouts can bend if you hit a tough rock, the nails and groundhogs tolerate that better. I don't think the Y truly offers any better holding power than the V... but it is more durable when you whack a rock or root when driving them in.

The nails vs the Sheppard is the same reasoning.
Specially if'n yer one to grab a handy rock or stick to hammer them home. But a hook can bend under the ol foot press even if you don't hit something. With a nail you'll probably put it through your foot before you bend the stake if you hit a subterranean obstruction.

Being an engineer you are probably versed enough in proper pitch angles and location of stakes relative to direction of load... that's probably the bigger real life issue with holding power.
Quite true that the capacity of sheppard hooks rip out on a main guyline but a V will hold fine in decent soil when put in properly... User error tends to skew opinion of UL stakes.

Nice to hear from ya!

The one thing I never understood about UL tent stakes is that people always say they routinely need to anchor them down. Doesn't that take a good amount of effort? Not all campspots have a healthy supply of heavy rocks.

And doesn't that make a UL hiker less efficient? So it kinda goes against the mindset. And therefore wouldn't it be smart to carry an extra ounce of stakes?

Ps. Been thinking about a summer weight synthetic quilt lately. Not in love with my 40* enigma here in the humid Northeast.

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[Just Bill]

Nice to hear from ya!

The one thing I never understood about UL tent stakes is that people always say they routinely need to anchor them down. Doesn't that take a good amount of effort? Not all campspots have a healthy supply of heavy rocks.

And doesn't that make a UL hiker less efficient? So it kinda goes against the mindset. And therefore wouldn't it be smart to carry an extra ounce of stakes?

Ps. Been thinking about a summer weight synthetic quilt lately. Not in love with my 40* enigma here in the humid Northeast.

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I'd rather grab a few V stakes as well... but I mainly got sick of stakes period so try to avoid them if at all possible these days.

Course the problem is folks like you and yer fancy cubano shelters that need to be razor tight pitched an anchored down or they will rattle your ears off everytime you fart.

But I digress...
There are times when the anchoring is needed... other times folks are just pushing that TI hook too far expecting it to serve as a primary anchoring device for a trekking pole shelter.
I'm sure an engineer could crunch the numbers but I'm fair certain a 3/32" pin 4" deep ain't quite enough surface area to resist much. Good thing I'm just a carpenter and know to just grab the next size nail, lol.

I'm not making those quilts at the moment officially. With the down market dumping to rock bottom and me getting busier building bridge hammocks... didn't make much sense to put my limited time and effort into convincing people they should pay $180 bucks for a premium summer synthetic when you can get an economy 20* down quilt and vent it. Takes a customer who done did some thinkin to understand what they do.

Shoot me an email- pretty sure I can get you one. Summer only left, roughly 45-50* rated. Nice choice for the AT IMO come summer time.

[Deacon]

I'll be staking out a duplex on the AT.

Here is my quiver of current tent stakes.

Duplex needs 8 for full pitch.

4x shepherds
2x V Stakes
4x nail pegs
2x groundhogs

What would you bring?

I was leaning towards 2 groundhogs, 4 nails, and 2 shepherds. I do like the cord for pulling out pegs.

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I also carried a Duplex from Georgia to Maine , and I have never ever needed anything other than the 6.5” shepherds stakes. They’ve always held just fine for me on the AT. The nice thing is you just push them in - no pounding needed. I’ve never had an issue.

I did carry 8 brass screw eyes in addition, as they came in very handy when setting up on a platform, or screwing into a tree for at least one pullout.


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