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okay i am starting to stress out about tent stakes. we had our canopy staked sown with just four crappy stock stakes, and it was picked up in a freak wind and thrown into our car. i am done shopping, and i don't want to buy anything more. i am just trying to figure out how to best achieve a good result by working with what i've got.
i have a tent and a canopy, and they both came with crap stakes. i also have a tarp, that came with no stakes.
husband thinks they will be fine, because they are t shaped, i don't know if you can tll from the pic but they are flat on one side and then there's a ridge on the other. they're supposed to be goo for grip. we put one of each in the lawn and the plastic held better then the stock stakes, but i could pull it out easily with two hands. our yard is sandy soil though, which is apparently different from bonnaroo ground.
has anyone used these stakes? were they beefy enough? what about in the rain?
my plan is to use the dozen plastic stakes to swap out for some of the crap stakes and between the two fare pretty well. (what i really wanted was te auger types but nowhere here carries them and its too late for ordering, and too expensive.)
where would it be best to swap out? the tent takes 10 and an additional four for the guylines which hold the rainfly down. the canopy takes four and another four for guylines.
i was thinking of using the 12 for the canopy (all) and for the rainfly guylines (since it essentially holds the whole tent down)
I use 18 inch sections of rebar with tennis balls on top for the main all 4 corners of the ez up canopy, and all 4 corners of the tent. Everything else I use the long metal coleman ones. The plastic ones are ok IF you can get them all the way in the ground. They can bend and be a terrific PITA to get set properly, but they will secure stuff pretty well.
Post by Guiitar Man on Jun 3, 2009 17:41:40 GMT -5
I bought some from Dicks Sporting Goods today. They are some sturdy, round 10" metal stakes that are pretty sharp at the point and has a pretty heavy duty looking plastic piece at the other end. Made by Texsport. $1.19 a piece
^I usually use just those, I added the rebar this year with the possible thunderstorms. Here is a question though, my assumption is that on the ezup I should use the rebar for the canopy guy lines, as the canopy will take the most wind. Or should I figure out a way to use them on the base since that is the sturdiest part of the frame.
^^ i can't decide that either. think i'm doing my stronger (plastic?) stakes for EVERYTHING on the canopy out of paranoia. dont want it geting tossed again.
Post by fordgoose15 on Jun 3, 2009 19:26:27 GMT -5
Those yellow stakes will be very difficult to get pounded into the ground all the way, as wolfman said . I usually use the stakes that came with my canopy that are metal and have an eye at the top.
However, I am worried this year about wind and rain. Sooo.....I am bringing two (might end up with all four) small metal fence posts that I will drive in the ground with a sledge hammer. The fence posts will go at each canopy leg and I will then lash my canopy legs to the fence posts. This should keep it on the ground as well as make the legs stronger.
I am using the smaller, lighter duty version of this:
Those yellow stakes will be very difficult to get pounded into the ground all the way
Quack those yellow stakes. It took me forever to get them into / out of the ground. And now I have to take my tent out of the bag to check if they're still inside, which is also gonna be a pain. Uggh.
Post by kacymontana on Jun 4, 2009 11:42:48 GMT -5
I just have a crappy little backpacking tent because I'm flying in, I'm just banking on my good karma to get me through, and there's always sleeping in the movie tent.
I just have a crappy little backpacking tent because I'm flying in, I'm just banking on my good karma to get me through, and there's always sleeping in the movie tent.
Trust me -- as long as it's of decent quality, the smaller backpacking tents hold out a hell of a lot better than the big ones do in a thunderstorm. Knock on wood, of course, but the ones you generally see flying around and collapsed during severe weather, are the dome tents.
Well - I was just thinking - if I was brining cinder blocks to keep my tent from flying away - I might put them INSIDE the tent rather then ON the tent.
I just have a crappy little backpacking tent because I'm flying in, I'm just banking on my good karma to get me through, and there's always sleeping in the movie tent.
Trust me -- as long as it's of decent quality, the smaller backpacking tents hold out a hell of a lot better than the big ones do in a thunderstorm. Knock on wood, of course, but the ones you generally see flying around and collapsed during severe weather, are the dome tents.
ah, thank you! and do you think some one'll lend me a hammer there? i don't really want to fly with hammer, nor do i think i can.
On a related note, make sure you're pounding your stakes in with the ground tip at a 45 degree angle TOWARDS the tent and not away from the tent! I know it sounds simple, but if you haven't camped much, it might not cross your mind. That way, when the the wind blows upward on the base of your tent, the tension is going against the ground and not right OUT OF the ground!
^^ yeah, that's right. I've seen that. Saw it happen live too.
I'm thinking about parking my car on top of my tent now.
that might be a godo thing - it sure won't fly away then - I think if you do that - you would be good - unless we have the monsoon rains of 2004 - then your car and tent may float away
Post by questionablesanity on Jun 4, 2009 13:57:31 GMT -5
I stocked up on the long metal stakes with orange caps at walmart. They're around $3 for four. They're maybe 10"long and once they're in the ground, they are not coming out easily. I set up in my backyard and had to use a claw hammers to remove them. Like someone said above, hammer them in at a 45 degree angle and you're golden.
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one cooler in the tent. (55qt) one cooler on the ground at the center of the canopy (has cupholders so it will be there anyway as a 'table'). rope from cooler to top of canopy.
one cooler in the tent. (55qt) one cooler on the ground at the center of the canopy (has cupholders so it will be there anyway as a 'table'. rope from cooler to top of canopy.
anchors. yay.
If wind catches a canopy even a big full cooler is not gonna accomplish much IMO Unless it is one of those gigantic ones. If a 55 qt was full to the brim with water it would weigh 115 pounds. I figure about 80 the way most coolers end up. I weigh about 175, and I was picked up off the ground by an unsecured12x12 ezup in a windstorm.
