Choosing the best stakes for guy lines can make or damage your tent's stability in tough terrain. We search for stakes that hold well and are lightweight for backpackers counting every ounce. We also consider durability metrics like whether the stake can be wacked with a club without breaking or flexing.
1. Material
For those who are trying to conserve every last ounce in their packs, the material used for the risks can be an essential factor to consider. Aluminum and titanium risks provide great toughness at an affordable weight, while carbon fiber stakes are ultralight yet can be much more susceptible to breaking or breaking under tension.
The Toaks Titanium V-shaped risks are lightweight and load to an impressively tiny size. They're very easy to drive into rocky dirt and have a plastic top that protects the steel from rocks and origins. Though they don't included a pull cable, there is an opening to include one and an opening for permanently affixing man lines. The only downside is their fragility. The candid ends aren't as resilient to impacts from a mallet as some other risks, and they may damage under excessive stress in a severe tornado. Regardless of this, they stay our choice for a light backpacking tent insulation risk.
2. Size
This metric is important virtually solely for backpackers, considering that every ounce counts when you're hoofing it through the wild on a 10- to twenty-mile hike day in day out. We seek risks that pack down small which are simple to install with a club and by hand, while supplying sufficient durability for the problems you will certainly come across on the path.
Needles (or pegs) are cylinder-shaped risks with sharp ends and a head or notch on one end for guy-line accessory. They are easiest to pound into the ground, yet are prone to flexing. Shepherd's hook risks, which have a similar form to needle stakes but a head on just one end, are more durable than needle stakes, yet need an additional step in arrangement to safeguard the line. V-stakes, which have a v-shaped body that offers greater surface and are a lot more resistant to flexing, are also an alternative. Some come with a paracord loophole, which makes it easier to eliminate the stake when you require to move camp.
3. Pointer
The stake tip's capacity to withstand flexing and turn is a crucial metric for those making use of man lines on rocky surface where the line may scrub versus the rocks. The risks with a spherical factor, like needle risks or guard's hook risks, often tend to flex and transform a lot more easily than those with a level or V-shaped suggestion. They can additionally trigger the line to battle royal as it scrubs versus the rock. Finally, for the ounce counters around, we determined each risk's weight and how portable it packs down right into its stuff sack. The best stakes load down to a really tiny dimension.
