Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Even though we bought our TD to get away from tent camping, between the canopy, side tents, and potty tent, we're going to need some better tent stakes (except for the ones Cary included with the Camp Inn side tents - those seem like sturdy, wide plastic).

Our first trip will be to the Keys, so I'm guessing we'll be trying to anchor in sandy or shell-packed soil. I'd like some opinions on whether triangular ABS plastic or aluminum will hold up better. I've got a rubber mallet ready to pound them in...just want some pro's and con's on one material vs. another.

Talk amongst yourselves...
Cheers,
Tom

We camp on the beach alot. We haven't found a stake that holds in the sand.
Here is what we do. We have 12" sections of PVC pipe and tie a rope around the middle. Then we bury it 12" in the sand. We have loops on the end sticking out of the sand. we use bungee cords to tie the ezup or whatever to it. The bungee cords prevent the pipes from being pulled up by stretching with wind gusts.

You might also consider the cork-screw things used for dog leads. I like the bungie cord idea.

I camp on hard ground, no beach, and prefer to use long fencing nails. I find them in the farm supply stores and Lowe's. They can be 8 or 9 long.

Some are galvanized, but I don't think that is necessary.

The same nails are sold at some outdoor stores, renamed as tent stakes and priced accordingly.

dave

Each year a British farmer, Michael Eavis, holds the Glastonbury Festival - a sort of Woodstock-like music festival.

Metal tent pegs left behind by the many campers at previous years' festivals have caused problems to his dairy herd, so this year campers will be given a packet of bio-degradable tent pegs:



Apparently the pegs are made of potato starch used in the turf industry and start to disintegrate after a few weeks.


Andrew

Western States camping is usually on hard ground and often with rocks below the surface. The aluminum ones will bend with the first usage. The large plastic ones and large wooden ones are tough to get into the ground. So, the best is round steel pegs that you can drive into the ground like a nail. The small cross-section, twisted, square ones work good also.

Jim B / Utah

I use 1/2" EMT cut about 12" long. They're cheap, strong and easily replaced. You can drive them into hard ground as stakes or bury them "deadman" in sand and soft loam. I used to make my own stakes out of scrap red oak and if they broke they made good kindling, but the EMT works better.

Rap

This is sort of related. Sold the teardrop and travel in the standie. One problem often is getting the awning nailed down when the ground is loose or wet. I now have three pieces of small re-bar about two feet long. I pound those in the ground and slip my awning poles over them. Now the nails in the dirt help keep the them tight but the main stress is on the re-bar.

TENNJIM wrote:Western States camping is usually on hard ground and often with rocks below the surface. The aluminum ones will bend with the first usage. The large plastic ones and large wooden ones are tough to get into the ground. So, the best is round steel pegs that you can drive into the ground like a nail. The small cross-section, twisted, square ones work good also.

Jim B / Utah

I'm with Jim. Here out west the tent spikes work very well. I always hedge my bets though and carry a bunch of them (plus some of the hard plastic pegs left over from the original ones). You will want to get a good metal-handled claw hammer with a good wide set of claws to get them out of the ground. If I might brag a little, I made a bag out of the leg of an old pair of jeans that carries the pegs and hammer that gets left in the camping box
Hoss

Wallyworld sells one that is basically a 10-12" railroad tie spike with a plastic T molded to the top of it. They work real well in hard ground, just don't swat the plastic when pounding them in!

Tent stakes

I go to Kodiak salmon fishing and tent camp in the wilderness. The most durable tent stake we have found is in the link below. They are expensive but have kept our tents up in 40 to 50 mph continuous rain storms.
http://www.cbcproducts.com/search_resul ... earch.y=0&

Academy Sports has the best in-store pricing I have found for these stakes.
http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=c ... fromFOOTER

When we are at Bonneville it can be very hard getting stakes in the salt so we use long lag bolts and screw them in.

Every camper has had tent stakes that have broken, bent or just won't go into the ground that they're being hammered into. I purchase extra tent stakes at Wally World, Bass Pro or similiar outdoor outlets that look like this:



These spikes are heavy duty and can be pretty handy if your traditional tent stakes break, etc. We've all seen the yellow ones, the little thin tent stakes that pull up out of the ground easily, but these are always good to have extra in your camping supplies.