[leadin]I have never really paid much attention to, or money for, tent stakes. Then I found the Vargo Titanium Nail Pegs.[/leadin]
The stakes that came with my tents and the random, often bent, trail finds always seemed to do the job.
However, I knew our rag tag assortment of stakes wouldn’t hold up to a full winter spent pounding them into rocky, frozen ground at each campsite.
After 4 months of abuse our Vargo Titanium Nail Pegs have given me a new appreciation for bombproof tent stakes. I am done with the frustration of bending tent stakes when I press them into rocky soil with my foot or trying to pound one into a boulder hidden under a thin layer dirt.
Using our axe as a hammer, we pound a dozen Vargo Titanium Nail Pegs into frozen or rocky soil with ease at each new campsite.
When we are ready to pack up camp, we tap the head of each stake to break it loose from the frozen ground, grab the loop and pull out the stake. We have added larger loops so that it is easier to grab with a gloved hand and easier to see if we drop one in the snow.
We did manage to accidentally bend one stake. When we were first trying to figure out how to pull them out after a -20 F night we hit the side of the stake with the axe rather than pounding down on the head.
The stake still works, but has a slight bend. Lesson learned, pound down, not to the side when the stake is frozen into the ground. Even if you hit bedrock, the stake just stops, it doesn’t bend.
At $4.50 each, these are a pricey investment, but considering they are basically indestructible, they could easily be the last set of tent stakes that you buy.
Vargo
- Weight: .6 oz (14 grams)
- Length: 6 in (152 mm)
- Diameter: .2 in (5 mm)
— Amy Freeman and her husband Dave are spending a year in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in an effort to protect the Boundary Waters from a series of sulfide-ore copper mines that are proposed along the edge of our nation’s most popular Wilderness. Throughout their year in the Wilderness they are sharing regular reviews on GearJunkie.com. Amy and Dave were named National Geographic Adventurers of the Year in 2014.
