Tent Peg Hack
I have used regular tent pegs hundreds of times and have been extremely dissatisfied. A great, simple alternative I've been using the last five years is to wrap or tape up a handful of large screws (8-inch or so) available from any hardware shop. Wood, carriage and tapping screws are slightly heavier than tent pegs, but I've found they slide into the ground more easily, since they have sharper points. They are also cheaper and much easy to find in a pinch. Most importantly, the screws DO NOT BEND! No matter how hard you whack them.
If you are worried about the sharp end poking a hole in your pack, you can make a simple, light tent peg bag (pic above) by wrapping the pegs with an old scrap of towel and tying or using a rubber band to secure them (pic above)
Another point about the weight: the slight difference may be negated by the fact you don't need to carry and camp with a hammer or bulk mallet. You can pick up a rock and bash them, even carelessly, since they won't bend. As always: keep them at 45 degrees and tighten the guy ropes.
-- Adam Farrow-Palmer
A resource for screws: McMaster-Carr Online Catalog
Favorite (15)
KG2V
Aluminum gutter spikes work great, and are very light
Greg
But..... the screws aren't made of high tech titanium and don't cost $25.50 each.. They can't be very good.... };>
ealmasy
You say "wrap or tape up a handful of large screws" -- does that mean you're replacing each tent peg with several screws bound together? Or that you're wrapping up all of the screws together for packing but then unwrapping the bundle when you set up the tent and using a single screw to replace each peg?
In any event, an interesting idea!
Eric
@ ealmasy: I'm unclear on that as well. I'd also be afraid that the spirals of the screw(s) would rub against the lines pretty harshly (over time and repeated use) and maybe end up cutting one while securing it.
Eric
Oh wait a sec. I think he meant that each individual screw is wrapped up or taped up to cover up the spirals to prevent what I was talking about. You could then wrap them all up together in a towel to keep them together in your pack.
How about holding each screw by the pointy tip and then dipping them in some plastic dip, like this stuff:
http://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Dip-Intl-11604-6-Plasti-Dip/dp/B000HE9T6A
I think that would work out pretty swell. You could make a ton of tent stakes on the cheap that way.
Dave
Wow. You actually published that?
This used to be Cool Tools, not stories about how I
have replaced my camping stick matches with a Jeep
disposable lighter.
Fantastic read.
Dude
+1 on the cutter nails. Other large nails will also work.
Screws seam like a poor substitute. Nail are smooth and pound in easily.
Unless you have a cordless drill along to drive the screws into the ground. ;>}
ealmasy
@Eric: I thought about the possibility that he meant wrapping the screws to prevent line abrasion from the threads, but dismissed it because I assumed that part of the attraction of using screws was that the threads enhanced their holding power in the ground. Otherwise why not just use large nails?
Dipping just the top quarter of the screws in plastic would give you the hold without the abrasion, though, or another option would be to find large screws that already have an unthreaded section at the top.
Matt P.
The screws are a hardened steel alloy. They can break. When they break, it's catastrophic. This has been known to send iron splinters flying. This has been known to send iron splinters flying into eyeballs.
There is a reason nails are soft. It's so you don't hurt yourself pounding on them.
I would only recommend using screws if you actually screw them into the ground. I would not hammer them into the ground.
As they say, seems like you know just enough about this technology to be dangerous.
Julian
They don't bend??
THEY BEND-THEY BREAK
This is a poor solution.
There are better ones.
Stephen
The tops of most screws that I've used are smooth for a half inch or so, if you keep the line there it would not fray or be cut.
Screw them into the ground? Bend or break when you POUND them into the soil? Where do you guys camp? On rock? Parking lots? Except for the occasional buried rock, I've been able to push tent stakes in by hand wherever I've camped.
Stercutius
I'm sorry, this is worthless. What are "regular tent pegs?" Wood, metal, plastic? I've seen all sorts and some are better than others. WHY was the tipster "extremely dissatisfied" with his "regular tent pegs"; exactly what was the issue, and how does substituting big old over-sized screws solve it?
Barnaby
(Trying to comment a second time, not sure what happened last time.)
Hardware stores Have big 12" spike nails that are pretty cheap and work well for tent stakes if you don't care about weight, and don't need something bigger. I geeked-out on tent stake options last year while preparing for putting up big structures at Burning Man.
An important point I would correct--tent stakes should be driven nearly vertical, not at 45 degrees. They should not be loaded by guy lines any steeper than 45 degrees. Engineering studies have been done and published by the large rental tent industry that show overall stake penetration depth is the most important factor in pullout resistance (which is reduced by driving stakes at an angle). The resulting industry standard recommendation is to drive stakes no more than 15 degrees from vertical, which is also in agreement with the old Army Rigging manual. These studies primarily apply to large (3') stakes for big military tents, etc., but I would assume the engineering principles are the same for smaller scale stakes.
-B.
Freddy
The Easton aluminum tent stakes are light and cheap and durable. Use those or gutter nails.