stake length for hammock users

[Big Dawg]

What size stakes do you hammockers use. Would 6" stakes be sufficient, or better to have 8" to 9" stakes? Or does it really matter?

[Just Jeff]

I'd use whatever works for tents in the area.

I use Walmart cheap-o stakes...I think they're 6". Worked in South Carolina, on the AT in NJ, and in Big Sur in CA. They won't work here in Monterey, though...about 3" under the soft topsoil it's like cement.

[Seeker]

i agree with JJ. whatever works for a tent in the area you camp in... i carry 4 x 6" cheapo aluminum walmart stakes. usually only use 2 or 3, with 1 or 2 lines (usually the tarp side tieouts) tied off to trees/bushes. the ground here is firm enough for the 6" pin type stakes to work, and i wouldn't want to use those thick plastic ones... when i go somewhere rocky, they are easier to get in between the rocks too. if i were to go somewhere really sandy, i'd use thicker, longer stakes... etc. all depends on the soil.

[titanium_hiker]

another vote for the cheapo "shepherds crook" stakes. I can't remember where (perhaps backpacker) but they reccomend carrying a mixed bag- mostly these, a couple of screw ones? a big one, plastic ones, um- a stuff sack stuffed with rocks also works does it not?

titanium

[jlb2012]

mostly I use aluminum gutter nails - about 7 inch iirc. Sometimes I forget to bring them and then I just put a point on a couple of sticks and use them or if the ground is very hard I have been known to just use rocks - roughly 30 pounders.

[neo]

i am going to use msr ground hogs.7.5 in long and .6 oz,the are very strong

and light neo

[Seeker]

another vote for the cheapo "shepherds crook" stakes. I can't remember where (perhaps backpacker) but they reccomend carrying a mixed bag- mostly these, a couple of screw ones? a big one, plastic ones, um- a stuff sack stuffed with rocks also works does it not?

titanium

it might work, but all my sacks are silnylon and would get holes in them... now that i think about it, i actually only have one that would work, my sleeping bag stuff sack, and i use that as a pillow... the hammock stuff sack has it's own use in my 'system' (holds a lot of loose stuff inside at night), my food bag gets hung up, and the small mesh 'possible sack' is too small to weigh much, even full of rocks...

i've heard of people carrying an assortment of stakes too.. if you camped in an area that had a variety of terrain, sure, the assortment might be a good idea... here in LA, it's all silt and sand, so i carry just the cheapy shepherd's crook ones...

i've used sticks as a replacement stake but prefer to tie off on brush whenever possible.

[Patrick]

i am going to use msr ground hogs.7.5 in long and .6 oz,the are very strong

and light neo

I use Groundhogs (or similar -- mine are old and silver, not red). Awesome stakes. Mine weigh in at 0.5 oz. and I use two for my hammock. What I like best about them is that you can pound the hell out of them with rocks or whatever and they never bend, unlike the thin hooked ones.