My vote as well for 4x MSR Groundhogs. More importantly IMO, I bring longer guylines and use Skurka's guyline system, which gives me options and potentially lets me reach natural anchors farther away, which are infinitely better than stakes.
My vote as well for 4x MSR Groundhogs. More importantly IMO, I bring longer guylines and use Skurka's guyline system, which gives me options and potentially lets me reach natural anchors farther away, which are infinitely better than stakes.
I've been a naysayer on this from the beginning, but I have to admit setting up/taking down the tarp is my lease favorite thing ever. Switching to this method would pretty much solve that.
So you hold all 4 stakes and wrap all 4 lines at the same time? If that doesn't tangle, I will have to try this. And the LineLoc hooks would be a great option here.
I wrap the line around each stake with tarp hooks on the lines, and just click it onto the wrap to hold it in place. Haven't run into any tangles, but it does make the stake bag a bit bulkier.
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Yep, piece of cake! It would work well with any of the hook-type connectors tethered to the stake, with the shock cord CL on the tarp. One benefit to this approach that surprised me: when the stake is in the ground but not connected (usually half pitch, or tarp in snakeskins), I coil up the guyline and drop it on top of the stake. Since it's so visible, when it starts raining at 3:00am, I don't spend 90 seconds bleary-eyed and cursing as I try to locate the stake in the dirt. And since I put the guylines on the stakes, I've never accidentally left a stake behind.
It's a fun project for your new-found splicing habit.
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Last edited by ufdigga; 01-23-2020 at 11:02.
This is my setup (lines on, and stored around winter stakes, with LineLocs on the tarp) for winter when I'm not dealing with dirt or mud, but it is not always tangle-free IME. For summer, lines stay attached to the tarp to stay clean and tangle-free in snakeskins.
To the OP question, 4-8 of the DAC (v-stakes?), generally the smallest size, but I've got a few larger ones for duff or softer soil, as well.
I've played with Ti shepherd hooks and others, but I always come back to the DACs.
I, too, prefer the DAC V stakes. In short_med.
They pack better, hold as well as the Y stakes and are tougher than most.
http://www.thetentlab.com/stakesncor...derstakes.html
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Up here in the rocky NE, I end up using Lawson "HD" Ti shepherd hooks (7") because they're good at "finding" little cracks and gaps between the rocks.
(oops, checked my link and they're out of stock right now... worth waiting for, however.)
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
Yep... Ditto this ^^^^^^
Four HD Shephards and two UL Shephards for the doors. Unless it's a frozen world which is where I switch to 6" gutter nails so I can pound the snot out of them if needed and feel not bad about bending one.
All three tarps have their own lines attached. If I lose my stakes, I can improvise. If I lose my stakes AND my lines are attached... I'm screwed.
Last edited by MikekiM; 01-25-2020 at 11:40.
Yes, my pack weighs 70lbs, but it's all light weight gear....
Bob's brother-in-law
I carry 4 titanium Shepherd hooks for hard ground and 4 big aluminum Lawson stakes for soft ground.
The Lawson stakes are my favorite because you can't lose them and they hold quite well in soft ground or heavy duff.
I keep my Shepard hooks separate in there own bag, tips up. As I pack at home, I count out the number I'll need given the tarps I'll have (packing for two + possibly a picnic table cover) plus some extra. This summer I'll proablly include some Y stakes in the mix. I also have some titanium "nails" I had picked up for ground shelters.
In order to see what few have seen, you must go where few have gone. And DO what few have done.
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