Selecting the ideal risks for guy lines can make or break your tent's security in tough surface. We look for risks that hold well and are lightweight for backpackers counting every ounce. We also think about resilience metrics like whether the stake can be wacked with a club without breaking or flexing.
1. Material
For those that are attempting to save every last ounce in their packs, the product used for the stakes can be an important factor to consider. Aluminum and titanium risks use excellent toughness at an affordable weight, while carbon fiber stakes are ultralight yet can be a lot more prone to breaking or breaking under tension.
The Toaks Titanium V-shaped risks are lightweight and pack to an impressively tiny dimension. They're simple to drive into rough soil and have a plastic top that protects the metal from rocks and origins. Though they do not included a pull cord, there is an opening to include one and a hole for permanently affixing man lines. The only downside is their frailty. The candid ends aren't as durable to blows from a club as a few other stakes, and they might break under way too much pressure in an extreme storm. In spite of this, they remain our pick for a light backpacking risk.
2. Size
This metric is important virtually exclusively for backpackers, because every ounce counts when you're hoofing it with the wild on a ten- to twenty-mile walking day in day out. We search for risks that load down small and that are very easy to install with a mallet and by hand, while supplying adequate sturdiness for the problems you will come across on the trail.
Needles (or fixes) are cylinder-shaped risks with sharp ends and a head or notch on one end for guy-line accessory. They are simplest to pound into the ground, yet are prone to bending. Guard's hook stakes, which have a comparable shape to needle risks but a directly only one end, are much more long lasting than needle risks, but need an added action in configuration to safeguard the line. V-stakes, which have a v-shaped body that provides higher surface and are much more immune to bending, are likewise a choice. Some featured backpacking a paracord loophole, that makes it simpler to get rid of the risk when you require to relocate camp.
3. Tip
The stake idea's capacity to resist flexing and turn is a vital statistics for those using man lines on rough surface where the line might rub against the rocks. The stakes with a spherical factor, like needle risks or shepherd's hook stakes, often tend to flex and transform more quickly than those with a level or V-shaped pointer. They can also cause the line to battle royal as it rubs against the rock. Lastly, for the ounce counters around, we gauged each stake's weight and how small it loads down right into its stuff sack. The best stakes pack to an extremely tiny dimension.
