A guy in Yosemite told me my tent stakes were too short for windy sites and switched to 12 inch shepherds hooks.

After fighting with my fly all night I replaced them and now my tent stays planted even in gusty Sierra storms, has anyone else seen a big difference with longer stakes?

2 comments

2 Comments

grace_white19d ago

The thing about longer stakes is they really only matter if you're getting them deep enough into the ground to actually hold. I switched to 8 inch ones a few years back after a trip where my fly kept ripping out in granite sand. But I've also seen people with 12 inch stakes who just hammer them in at a bad angle and they still pull out in soft dirt. The trick is to use a rock or boot to get them at a 45 degree angle pointing away from the tent, then they actually grab the ground. Shepherds hooks are fine for that, just make sure the hook part is facing up so you can loop the guy line through it right.

mark36119d ago

Wait, 8 inch stakes? That's crazy to me. I've been using 6 inch ones for years and never had a problem unless I'm in straight up sand. I gotta ask @grace_white, are you backpacking with those or car camping? Because carrying 8 inch stakes seems like a lot of weight if you're hiking miles. I get the logic though, especially in that loose granite sand. I've had a fly pull out on me in the Sierra before and it's a nightmare trying to set up again with the wind whipping.