Lightest Stakes

**ikemouser** · 07-03-2009, 12:47

Hi again guys! Ike here. Looking to get the lightest stakes i can for a tarp. Listening to all recommendations. Do i need different stakes for hard and soft ground, or can i just carry one type of stake the through all terrain?

**Just Jeff** · 07-03-2009, 13:24

Gutter nails from Home Depot or Lowe's are probably the lightest (and almost the cheapest) you'll find.

You can use needle stakes (like gutter nails or the normal tent stakes with the shepherd's hook at the end) on hard or rocky soil. Softer ground sometimes requires wider stakes to get a good hold...like a big curve.

I use Y-stakes, shaped almost exactly like the capital "Y" for almost all of my camping. It's a nice mix, although I have had to reinforce it with a stick every now and then. No problem with that, though, and it saves me from having to carry more stakes.

**angrysparrow** · 07-03-2009, 13:45

The carbon-fiber stakes from Titanium Goat are very light, extremely durable, and hold well in a wide variety of soils. They aren't the cheapest option, though.

**adkpiper** · 07-03-2009, 14:08

I tend to use sticks that I find on the trail, supplemented occasionally with aluminum needle stakes. The sticks are both cheap and light, since I can pretty much always find some kicking around on the forest floor.

**Peter_pan** · 07-03-2009, 14:41

UL Ti 6" shepard hooks are the lightest, reasonably strong, minimal holding power.

Personally, I usually carry a mix of Y pegs, alum sheppards and ti sheppards... minimizes weight with big pluss up in flexibilty for what ever ground conditions encountered.

Pan

**Perkolady** · 07-03-2009, 14:54

Originally Posted by Peter_pan

UL Ti 6" shepard hooks are the lightest, reasonably strong, minimal holding power.

Personally, I usually carry a mix of Y pegs, alum sheppards and ti sheppards... minimizes weight with big pluss up in flexibilty for what ever ground conditions encountered.

Pan

Me too! I've had unruly wind rip out my Ti shepherd hooks and throw them who knows where one too many times!

I usually carry a couple of MSR Groundhogs and then the rest are the Ti shepherd hook stakes.

**ikemouser** · 07-03-2009, 14:55

thanks everybody.

**Knotty** · 07-03-2009, 16:32

I just don't trust those thin little Ti stakes. Not enough surface area to get holding power. The "Y" shaped MSR Groundhogs are pretty light and hold well. Guess it depends on where you live and what kind of ground you have.

**vitamaltz** · 07-03-2009, 17:41

Check out this thread: http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ht=good+source

If I had to buy a new set of stakes, I'd consider him over MSR.

As a sidenote, I wish I'd thought things through before I made a tarp with two cat cuts on either side, so I need six stakes...

**koaloha05** · 07-03-2009, 20:22

V shape Vargo Ti 165mm @0.4oz hold nice in soft soil. Lighter for soft soil is weightless in the pack. Green sapling cut into a stake. Don't really remember a time where something provided by nature couldn't become a stake or tie down. But I've become a bit of gear junky. So I still carry the V shape Ti stakes and couple nail style stakes.

bpl has one listed as the Lazr Ti at 0.215oz. Also list an ultralight version at ~0.1oz. Not sure if I would trust the ultralight version. Nail version at 0.29oz.

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