I hear the Ti spikes are good for frozen ground but doubt I'll be out when it's that cold.
That being said I like to save weight (14g vs 6g) but don't want anything coming up when weather kicks up?
Any recommendations?
I hear the Ti spikes are good for frozen ground but doubt I'll be out when it's that cold.
That being said I like to save weight (14g vs 6g) but don't want anything coming up when weather kicks up?
Any recommendations?
I prefer the y-stakes, they hold really well in the loose soil I typically hammock around. However when I was hiking in the mountains I was wishing I had the thinner spikes because the ground was so hard and rocky. So it really all depends on what the ground is like in your area.
The y-stakes will for sure hold in some pretty nasty conditions. I have never had one pull out.
I switched from the MSR ground hog stakes to the Dutch burly hook stakes and would just bury them in the ground with my foot. But i've recently switched to some meyers tech titanium spikes which are thicker. My stakes weigh in at 14 grams for the MSR ground hogs, 11 grams for the Dutch burly hook and 16 grams for the Meyers titanium spike. While the spike may weigh slightly more I do like that I can marlin spike hitch my tie outs to it and has a reflective cord pull out.
Formerly McBlaster
The Tent is a Lie
6" or 8" ti Shepherd hook stakes for me.
I generally use Ti hooks when I'm in the backcountry and inexpensive Ground Hog knock-offs when I want to hang casually. If you don't know what the conditions will be like where you are going, it's good to have more than one kind of stake to have some options to adapt as necessary.
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I've got both ti shepherd hooks and cheap al y stakes. While the titanium shaves a few grams I've come to realize that the aluminum y stakes hold better for me when the ground is loose or soft. I can't quantify the difference in holding ability so take this for the anecdotal evidence that it is. I think aluminum bends easier; certainly my aluminum stakes all have some curve to them now that they're 3-4 years old.
The titanium stakes came from Lawson Equipment, the aluminum from Walmart.
"...the height of hammock snobbery!"
I carry Vargo stakes (Massdrop deal) - 4 Ascent , 4 Ti Tent (shepherd hooks), and 4 Ti Nail Peg - Ultralight when I'm not walking far and I bring my pole mod and floor. The hooks are for the floor (really more trouble than they're worth). I almost always use the Ascent stakes - occasionally in rocky places, I need the Nail Pegs. When I'm going farther, I take 4 Ascent and 2 Nails.
I often think about saving a little weight and bulk with the shepherds hooks, but they just won't hold in the sandy Michigan soil. Even the y-stakes will wiggle out if I don't stomp the ground with my heel first. There were only a few occasions where I had beefy clay ground; hooks would have been nice in that.
Whether I need 4, 6, or 8 stakes, I've yet to find all stake spots around my rainfly to be the exact same. Thus, I take a variety and never more than the number of tie-outs and even then I rarely use them all because of handy rocks, bushes, etc. to tie off to.
BTW, Ti stakes for frozen ground? Mine have bent occasionally in simply hard ground. Can't imagine driving one into truly solid frozen ground.
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