Tent Stake Holding Power: Comparative Evaluation of Various Designs and Lengths

I agree with Franco and others in that I always carry a variety of stakes. Typically I'll stake the tent body with lighter but less effective shepard hook stakes. Then the fly with Y or Easton.

Note: the Y stakes can cut material as well as skin! My Bibler has severly damaged webbing stake loops from someone unknowingly hammering the Y's in to the point where they cut the webbing.

Pat,
I had the same idea -, I was going to modify some but instead I just made them (see link). I have since had them all bent and used them in the field with great results. However, as you can imagine, orientation is absolutely key with these.

You could drill a bunch of holes all the way down some stakes to decrease weight. They may not slide in and out of the ground very nicely (mine don't), but it's the precious grams were after!

By the way, great article. I realize that it was difficult to mimic the same conditions for each and every test, but I think you did a fine job at coming to a conclusion. Very much appreciated!

Hi Will,

Based on your tests, would it be fair to say the Easton 9" has the highest all around holding power of all the stakes tested? It has a combined score in both soil types of 132 vs the next two closest at 127 and 118?

It scored the highest in Compacted Soil and had only only a 1 lb differerence from only one other stake in Moist Sod.

If you needed a tougher stake than a Ti Skewer or 5" V style- on a big pyramid shelter corners- would you choose the Easton 9" for the job?

-No sharp edges, packs smaller overall than a 7 or 7.5" V style stake and with more all around holding power at about same (or less than the MSR 7.5") weight than the longer V style.

Hi Ron

> would it be fair to say the Easton 9" has the highest all around holding power of all the stakes tested?

My experience has been that the holding power of a stake goes up significantly with the length. The lower levels of the soil seem to hold better than the top few inches.

I carry 6" Ti wires for the really hard ground, but I always try to sink them right in. Since these are for hard ground, greater length is not really justified. Anyhow, unless you make them yourself you can't get longer ones.

I carry 8" Easton tubes (made them myself), and would not bother carrying shorter ones. These are usually used for the principle high-load guy points. The weight savings from chopping an inch or two off are simply not worth it. And they go in to the hilt too (if I can).

Cheers

Wonderful article, informative and insightful!:) I have to agree with Petras though, that another big concern about stakes that need to be looked at besides holding power once properly placed, would be the structural integrity it has against all other forces it's subjected to. With all the whacking (when placing them), hitting (like striking rock below ground), and pulling (both when retrieving and when subjected to bending forces while not staked "properly") it receives, I'm actually surprised to hear that bent stakes aren't much of a problem for a lot of readers.

Random thoughts on this topic…

Has anyone had problems with Y-stakes cutting guylines or webbing in high winds? The notches on the top seem sharp enough to wear through in constant winds!

Tubular carbon fiber stakes should hold similar to the tubular Easton stakes. I would be interested in seeing them added to the test.

While I rarely backpack in sand, I often stake down my tent or tarp while rafting, and river winds can be pretty strong at times. Thus I would also like to see the test run in sand. I predict the results would be quite different, with even greater advantage to tubular or Y-stakes.

I'm a bit confused to why someone would buy a UL stake then dip it in heavy plastic coat?

I have used 6" & 9" easton (spikes) and these are great if you can get them into the ground, but the tip isn't the easiest to drive into solid soil.

Also…how and why would you pull your Y & V stakes out by hand and tear them up? A simple hole drilled in stake with a loop of triptease (like the MSR or Big Sky Y-Nots). OR just have a loop of trip tease in ur pack and loop around the top hook of Y or V and pull up from loop. I've done this many times and no concerns of tearing loop.

All this talk of painting when you can just purchase the colored stake you want. Heck I just ran a google image search and I found black, orange, purple, blue, green, yellow, silver, and if I look harder I could find more.
So why the work of painting. I guess I'm just lazy…lol

Alittle feedback on North Face V Stakes… they are terrible! They bend very easily under light stress.

Will, this is an excellent article. Have you tested any aluminum ( X ) stakes? Just curious.

The Mountain Hardwear X stakes really look durable and the lengths very from 6" , 8", and 10".

http://www.altrec.com/mountain-hardwear/x-stake-set-of-4?cm_mmc=Mercent-_-Smarter-_-Mountain%20Hardwear-_-36674-B&mr:referralID=54ac00f8-a90f-11dd-bfff-000423bb4e95

Kristin: my first reply got mangled. This technique's used, yes. I don't have any personal experience. See Ditch Your Stakes, and the comments. I think Mike Clelland also has a drawing about it in Allen and Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book (useful for non-skiers, too). So, in short, yes, but people here might opt for cheaper/lighter/multiuse, instead of manufactured. Oh, and not generally used for rocky/hard terrain.

Resurrecting this thread to ask – to supplement aluminum MSR Ground Hog Y Stakes used for main anchor points, which lighter weight stakes do you currently like:

1) Longer Ti Shepherd's Hook style with rounded (not sharp) tips and a hook that rolls inside itself enough to prevent lines coming off if stakes turn

2) shorter 5 in. Y Stakes

3) or other?

Which currently available ones would you recommend and where to get them?

For Ti shepherd's hook stakes, + if they already come with high-viz paint.

OK, thorough and repeatable test.

BUT you didn’t test the best holding stake, a 9 inch MSR twisted Y stake.

Referring to the friend who cut herself pulling out a Y stake, care is needed pounding them in with a rock too, because of the sharp edges on top. My finger slipped down onto the stake while pounding, and I almost needed stitches. I was in my yard at the time, if out camping it would not have been good.

Those things can pierce boot soles too, not to mention skin, soft tissues, and arteries.  Eastons for the win.

I’m curious as to why the update at the end of the article states: “2019 Update: The Best Stake for the Weight As of November 2019, it’s still the MSR Groundhog Mini.”
The test doesn’t  include the groundhog mini at all as far as I can see. It seems to be a generic Y-peg of a shorter length that is tested, so I don’t understand why a specific brand and model is mentioned? Shouldn’t the conclusion be that shorter Y-pegs in general has the best holding power to weight ratio?

Also, I think having this holding power to weight ratio is not that useful. I admit it’s a quite theoretical discussion, but what you really need to know to start with, is how much holding power you actually need. And after that you can choose the lightest stake that achieves that. I can compare that to a discussion I had with a guy that had made a table of backpacks, with volume to weight ratios. I don’t quite see the value of knowing that a particular backpack have a very very good ratio, when it’s way to large for my needs and weigh half a kilo more than a backpack in a suitable size. Or that a 20 liter  silnylon pack with strings for shoulder straps had an even higher score. It seems better to first knowing how large a sack you need, and then choose the lightest one in that size.

Personally, shorter stakes have been very problematic for me in certain conditions, and caused so much frustration and irritation I don’t even want to own any. The stakes I use now are Easton 20 cm (9″?), and HMG in a similar length.