Stakes - Tarps In The Wind

[Wise Old Owl]

You know its going to happen! High winds and a hammock tarp, well we had a bad wind or blow, when the storm blows over - little rain. The tarp becomes a wing pulling up the best of steaks and you end up loosing a few.

The purpose of this thread is to see if this is on the right track to avoid this in the future.

Glow or reflective tape on the top of the titanium stakes and a wrap on the peg and the whole thing sunk deep. The tape will help find the stakes in the night or day. I am looking for a better reflective tape to help find it if it came up in the night.


Yes they are pushed in at an angle and the reflective cords are long. What do you think?

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/peg.jpg

[bigcranky]

For tarp setups (hammock or ground) I stopped using the needle stakes in favor of Y-stakes like the Groundhog (http://www.rei.com/product/682543). They hold better in my experience.

That said, having the orange tape would help find the things once they go flying.

[Wise Old Owl]

Yea I have them, I was trying to keep it light and small. And the orange isn't great in the grass.

[Bulldawg]

The tape is a good idea, but one thing I do when I expect a big wind is cover each stake with a good sized rock from the nearby area. Works well so far for me and I have endured some 35-45mph winds at night.

[Wise Old Owl]

That's a good idea.

[Jim Adams]

I stopped using stakes a few years ago...too easy to be pulled out by the wind. I tie off to rocks, trees, roots, anything solid enough not to move. If I do absolutely have to use a stake, I usually carve a point on a 1" x 12" long stick and pound it into the ground with a rock...seems to hold well in some very big wnd.

The tape idea is great...I'll use that on my tent stakes, thanks!

geek

[Bootstrap]

I stopped using stakes a few years ago...too easy to be pulled out by the wind. I tie off to rocks, trees, roots, anything solid enough not to move.

I had switched to that method on your advice until I started bringing my dog along. The places I could find where it was easy to tie off a tarp were also places my dog could easily get all tangled up on her line.

If I ever get to where I can really trust my dog off leash, I'll go back to that ;->

Jonathan

[Wise Old Owl]

My wife Deanna mentioned that art supply stores carry a Glow in the Dark white tape used to mark stages for actors to see where to stand before the lights come up,

After switching to the above pictures one gust came though yesterday and still yanked one out. The difference was I didn't have to look for the stake, it was still on the line, so it's working better.

[JAK]

I don't hammock but I do tarp and I find small nails more useful than stakes in the woods. Usually I just tie to branches and roots, and you can improvise a few stakes also, but a small nail comes in handy how and then, like to hang a candle lantern in just the right place. Also if you had to build a real shelter or something like that. A dozen small nails might weigh less than a tent stake.

As far as not losing stakes it might be possible to make an eye on the end maybe.

[Pedaling Fool]

I also don't hammock, but we all have to deal with stakes when the wind is blowing. My problem is not with the stakes, it's with the ground, many times the ground will not allow the stake to be pushed way down for a good grip. However this is not much of a problem, I just throw stuff in my tent to anchor it down.

The biggest problem with wind is during the process of setting up/breaking down my tent.

[JAK]

I never gets that windy in the woods where I usually camp,
but up on a ridge I would imagine it can blow the dog off the chain.

[hammock engineer]

The tape is a good idea, but one thing I do when I expect a big wind is cover each stake with a good sized rock from the nearby area. Works well so far for me and I have endured some 35-45mph winds at night.

Good idea. I tried painting my stakes bright orange and blue, the paint didn't last long.

One thing I do is put a stick in the ground next to each stake to help find the stake. I used to always manage to unhook my tarp half my tarp and fold it over, only to be searching for my stake in the dark or after packing up.

[irrationalsolutions]

i like to use stakes i can tie to. that way if it ever happened i would still have it and wouldnt have to search. however, i have actually never had that problem, knock on wood. it may be a issue for me though since i am going to make a larger tarp for my hammock.

[shelterbuilder]

I stopped using stakes a few years ago...too easy to be pulled out by the wind. I tie off to rocks, trees, roots, anything solid enough not to move....geek

Yeah, what he said!

I was caught in an "after-dark" windstorm last year south of the
William Penn Shelter, and was tied off to trees and large rocks...I dropped the windward side of the tarp down to the ground, and the rocks held the tarp in place well enough for it to act as a deflector - the wind just shot up and over the tarp.

[Rambler]

Yes, I use reflective tape and just colored tape. I lost a hiking pole in the dark once, so now I have reflective tape on those, too. I have swithched to Easton stakes (the ones that look like darning needles available 9" or 6" L). http://sixmoondesigns.com/shop/shopdisplayproducts.asp?search=yes&bc=no
I also use homemade tensioners like those found at Jacks R Better.

http://www.jacksrbetter.com/STLs.htm

[DC2.2GSR]

Good idea. I tried painting my stakes bright orange and blue, the paint didn't last long.

i had a set of stakes powdercoated for a friend of mine. the local PC shop charged me $15 total for 10 stakes PC'ed bright neon green. some of the coating has worn off where the stakes go into the ground, but probbaly 75% of it is still on there after a year and a half.

or you could just use tape. lol.

[take-a-knee]

For tarp setups (hammock or ground) I stopped using the needle stakes in favor of Y-stakes like the Groundhog (http://www.rei.com/product/682543). They hold better in my experience.

That said, having the orange tape would help find the things once they go flying.

Those work great for me also.

[Cabin Fever]

First thing that came to mind when I read the thread title was a famous melody of a similar name. Sounds like a great song for Walkin' Jim.

[buzzamania]

One thing I did with my cheap little aluminum stakes is to take a pair of heavy wire cutters and clamp down on each steak a couple of dozen times. Obviously not hard enough to damage it but enough to cut little notches in it. This makes the stake kind of grippy. My biggest problem has been that here in Florida the soil is so soft and sandy. Especially in a good rain with wind. This notching process i think kept them in place a little better and only took about 5 minutes.

I like the nail idea As long as you're pullin em when you go. . . leave no trace.

[wisenber]

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/lazr_hi_vis_ultralight_titanium_tent_stakes.html

Backpackinglight.com has hi vis titanium stakes. I was having a hard time finding my stakes too, but I just throw a rock or a log over the line now. If the wind is strong enough to throw the rock off my line, it probably blew me and my hammock away as well.

[east_stingray]

While I have yet to use them myself, here's another (albeit second hand) plug for the groundhogs. One of the guys I camp with uses them and is always talking about how great they are. I've never seen them pull out on him, even when other people in our party were having trouble with stakes.

[Phoenixdadeadhead]

If you are still hunting for a good reflective tape, Walmart has red and white reflective tape in the automotive section. It is used for marking trailers and such. It is kinda stiff so I don't know if it would work for you, but I thought I would throw it out there. If it is just a matter of losing stakes though, I used to JB weld aluminum caribiners to my stakes and then just clip my line to the stakes when in use. The line would have to break for you to loose a stake but it does add a few ounces

[east_stingray]

Good tip on the JBWeld! I don't exactly want to carry around extra carabiners, but it gives me some ideas of other ways I can modify my stakes.

[Wise Old Owl]

well I was trying to save weight - but it is back to the ground hogs.... Might sharpen one into a survival tool.... Hmm.

[mkmangold]

I never gets that windy in the woods where I usually camp,
but up on a ridge I would imagine it can blow the dog off the chain.

I find that putting orange, reflective tape on their tails makes them easier to find afterwards.

[east_stingray]

I just got some stakes from www.goinggear.com which are, to my eye, replicas of the groundhogs but about half the price. He also charges REASONABLE shipping ($3 or so, IIRC). I haven't had a chance to use them for real yet, but I went and played in the front yard with them and they seem fine.

[Wise Old Owl]

I just got some stakes from www.goinggear.com (http://www.goinggear.com) which are, to my eye, replicas of the groundhogs but about half the price. He also charges REASONABLE shipping ($3 or so, IIRC). I haven't had a chance to use them for real yet, but I went and played in the front yard with them and they seem fine.

East Stingray, I have never seen Goinggear before and it is a gem of a website.... thankyou for finding it and bringing it to our attention.

[MedicineMan]

no time to read the whole thread...but about the tape on the stake...has anyone used the dip plastic coat stuff? seems like you could mix in some glow in the dark paint into it before dipping? might be a project for this off week.