Bushwalk Australia

My Vango tent comes with nice, light, grooved little pegs that seem fairly solid, but I'm wondering how they will go in a howling gale. What's the minimum length you reckon pegs should be?

Taurë-rana wrote:My Vango tent comes with nice, light, grooved little pegs that seem fairly solid, but I'm wondering how they will go in a howling gale. What's the minimum length you reckon pegs should be?

I hate unanswered posts...twice the distance from the middle to one end?
Seriously, I "made" some tent pegs using short pieces of broken sticks lying around the campsite at the north end of Lake Meston. Each one would have been roughly 4-6 inches long I guess. Used them to peg out the 2 tarp ponchos we had as a makeshift A frame shelter for cooking, drying wet gear etc. To my astonishment the structure was still intact after a night of blustery gale force winds and snow. Inside the tent I thought we'd be blown off the planet. I think that the strength of anchor points is probably affected as much by things such as firmness of the ground etc as peg length.

Taurë-rana wrote:My Vango tent comes with nice, light, grooved little pegs that seem fairly solid, but I'm wondering how they will go in a howling gale. What's the minimum length you reckon pegs should be?

The ones on my MSR Hubba HP look like short, square cross section, red ano, knitting needles. They're good for hard ground, but I carry half a dozen wider (1.5cms) and longer (10-12cms) aluminium pegs for softer ground and harsher conditions. I've also got some even wider snow pegs, 3-4 cms wide, for sand/snow etc.

The MSR pegs stay in "ok" but they have no surface area. Ah ha... these:
http://images.usoutdoorstore.com/usoutd ... -stake.jpg

BPL (Backpackinglight) did a full article on pegs. (you need a subscription to read it)
They rated the pegs according to the holding power on different soils.
One that did very well was the Y type (MSR Groundhog). Generally the longer ones (9"/23cm) worked much better.
Having a bit of a collection of pegs, I tend to agree with that.
Piling stones or a log/logs on top of them helps a lot.
I tend to do that so I don't step on them yet again. Replace stones after use...
Franco

As anyone used these pegs? http://www.helinox.com.au/pages/helinox-jstake-tent-pegs.asp

They sound like they are strong!

Tarptent now has Ti pegs similar to those.
About 12g, 16 cm long. They feel much stronger than all of the pegs in my pic above except for the Y types.
Hopefully I will get some feedback from TT customers in the coming weeks.

Franco

Greenie wrote:As anyone used these pegs? http://www.helinox.com.au/pages/helinox-jstake-tent-pegs.asp

They sound like they are strong!

Many new tents now come with these, such as the Golite shangrila series. They've held up pretty well for me, but I dont know about them being "It's time to start using the best tent pegs in the world!" as quoted on that website.

best is only a relative term since it depends on the ground you are using them in. I find myself taking lighter skewers more often than these DACs.

Franco:
TT pegs are an almost identical deseign to the standard Hilleberg pegs - just Ti instead of Al, and with the holes to make them lighter. They should work every bit as well - and the Hilleberg's are the best I've used yet: almost unbendable and very easy to use. Plus the bit of string on the end to help pulling them out.

north-north-west wrote:Franco:
TT pegs are an almost identical deseign to the standard Hilleberg pegs - just Ti instead of Al, and with the holes to make them lighter. They should work every bit as well - and the Hilleberg's are the best I've used yet: almost unbendable and very easy to use. Plus the bit of string on the end to help pulling them out.

I believe the holes in these pegs are not only to decrease weight but also to increase holding power in sand and snow
c

I've been only using the [product name removed by admin*] pegs for a while now. They're also known as DAC J stakes in the US. I've bought them before via REI in the US - price is OK but the shipping is a killer. They are easily the best tent pegs to use because they're super light and they just don't bend. I think you will agree with me if you try them. They last a long time unless you "lend" them. Everyone I've "lent" them to has ordered some. It would be good if they'd just give me back the pegs I lent them. I looked up that [product name removed by admin*] link - the trekking poles look pretty sharp too.

*[same product mentioned in 3 out of 4 first posts, one after a warning by private message]

Holes in the pegs are for snow to melt through and increase the holding power. Unfortunately it also helps the peg bend when bashing it into harder ground.

nolmos wrote:Holes in the pegs are for snow to melt through and increase the holding power. Unfortunately it also helps the peg bend when bashing it into harder ground.

Do not experience that bending with my Ti pegs However perhaps I have not encountered really hard ground.
corvus

I should move to your area - everywhere I want to put a peg in seems like rock. I've used (and bent) plenty of titanium pegs but not the DAC pegs. I looked at that [link removed by admin*] web site and the DAC pegs are titanium alloy too - just a harder and stronger material. Apparently titanium by itself isn't any stronger than steel, just much lighter. You just can't bend the Dac pegs. There's more on that site about tent pegs and how they work - thanks Greenie

[*same product mentioned in 3 out of 4 first posts, one after a warning by private message]

Greenie wrote:As anyone used these pegs? http://www.helinox.com.au/pages/helinox-jstake-tent-pegs.asp

They sound like they are strong!

Coincidentally I was looking at the Helinox trekking poles on Moontrail, my Macpac / Fairydown poles have packed it in so I was searching for something light and sturdy and I was also considering the Gossamar Gear LT4's. Helinox poles are selling locally and... (drumroll) are $139 here compared to $149 from Moontrail + postage !

http://www.helinox.com.au/pages/lb-seri ... -poles.asp

383g for the pair is pretty good.

It's always an exciting moment to find gear available locally and not more expensive than the US... Maybe all the online rants about pricing parity are paying off !

Dale wrote:

Greenie wrote:As anyone used these pegs? http://www.helinox.com.au/pages/helinox-jstake-tent-pegs.asp

They sound like they are strong!

Coincidentally I was looking at the Helinox trekking poles on Moontrail, my Macpac / Fairydown poles have packed it in so I was searching for something light and sturdy and I was also considering the Gossamar Gear LT4's. Helinox poles are selling locally and... (drumroll) are $139 here compared to $149 from Moontrail + postage !

http://www.helinox.com.au/pages/lb-seri ... -poles.asp

383g for the pair is pretty good.

It's always an exciting moment to find gear available locally and not more expensive than the US... Maybe all the online rants about pricing parity are paying off !

Those poles look really good....pity I recently bought myself a pair of BDs from the US...

Credit where credit's due - I recently imported a 3 person MSR tent, and, as with most manufacturers, got the minimum no. of pegs to pitch the tent. I have since added 3 guide lines per side and hence required 6 more pegs. The supplied pegs are DAC J stakes. Helinox, an Aust. website were offering these pegs albeit not in the same fancy red anodising, I ordered 4 packs on Monday (late am) and received 4 packs in the mid day mail on tuesday!! Thats right, the next day, QLD to Vic. Impressive service in my opinion.
Randal.

Has anyone got any recommendations for a good tent peg for sand? I was camping in sand on the weekend and my pegs did not hold up very well. I ended up improvising with some heavy logs, however I would like to invest in some light sand pegs for future sand adventures. I used to have an Exped tent that actually came with two sets of pegs, of which one set were wider and flatter for sand. I never used those sand pegs as the alternative V shaped ones were more than adequate, and now I have sold that tent. SO, I was wondering, has anyone used proper sand pegs, in sand, and if so, do you recommend them?

Franco wrote:Tarptent now has Ti pegs similar to those.
About 12g, 16 cm long. They feel much stronger than all of the pegs in my pic above except for the Y types.
Hopefully I will get some feedback from TT customers in the coming weeks.
Franco

Franco, that new Tarptent peg in your hand, have you or anyone you know tried that in soft sand? How does it compare to the round aluminium Tarptent pegs (both my tents are Tarptents)? I note how corvus mentions the holes in some of the pegs increase the holding power in sand or snow. I will be interested to know how these pegs perform in sand.
Cheers, Andrew

Andrew
Those new (to TT ) Ti pegs seem to be between the 6" and 8" Easton in holding power on soft soil, but closer to the 6".
For you I would recommend the 8" snow/sand aluminium pegs you see in my pics, the second from the left. (one of those is my poo peg..)
Have a look at this clip :
http://www.youtube.com/user/francodario ... STJMdjOql4
start at 4 min
( I must have been really bored that day...)
Franco

Thanks Franco, that peg and the way you tie the guy line close to the bottom end looks like it will do the trick. I will have a look around for them or something similar.
cheers, Andrew