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That time a ranger told me my tent stakes were junk
Last summer at Yellowstone a ranger walked by my site and said 'those 6 inch stakes won't hold in this soil' and he was right. I swapped to 10 inch shepherds hooks and my tent actually stayed put during a 30 mph gust last week.
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gracewebb7d ago
Heard this exact thing from a guy at an REI workshop last spring. He said most people buy stakes that are basically just glorified toothpicks and wonder why their tent flies away. I swapped to those 10 inch hooks after seeing a buddy's tent turn into a kite at Big Bend. Soil type matters way more than people realize, right? Sand or loose dirt especially, those short stakes are just asking for trouble. Did that ranger give you any other tips about staking patterns or angles?
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seth6837d ago
Swapped to a 45 degree angle after a ranger showed me at Palo Dune and it made a HUGE difference. I bury the stake at a slant facing the tent so the hook digs into the dirt instead of pulling straight up. Also started using a rock to hammer them in deeper when the ground is hard. For sand I bring those big plastic snow stakes, they hold way better than anything metal.
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