Alternative to Rebar?

Totoro · Post by **Totoro** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:21 pm

So I went to Home Despot and checked out the rebar. It comes in 10 foot lengths. When I asked the guy if they could cut it for me, he grunted in the negative. Although I understand "radical self-reliance" the idea of cutting 12 rebar stakes filled my arm with pain.

I could also buy some huge 1/2" by 12" nails in the hardware aisle. I figure I put a big washer on the end, so my tent flange doesn't slip off -- and to make it easier to pry out.

Won't that work fine for me, if I pound the nails in all the way?

Thanks burners for all the great advice! Can't wait to meet all of you! I promise to wear clothes, at first.

BitterDan · Post by **BitterDan** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:31 pm

Go to a different hardware store. I got mine at BLowes.

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:52 pm

Check a different store. I never cut mine, they came the length I ordered.

I'd hazard an opinion that 12-inch nails definitely won't be enough to hold your tent and/or shade down. I'd go with 18-inch rebar at a minimum. I've got 18 and 24 inch lengths myself. The ribbing in the rebar provides significant holding power that smooth-sided stakes don't. You need more than 12 inches to get down far enough for the stake to hold in the wind.

EDIT: you don't need all rebar. I use rebar at the corners of my tent and big stakes at the interstices, but I check them daily - some of them work loose if it's windy a lot.

Â¡Niers! · Post by **Â¡Niers!** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:18 pm

Home Depot certainly caries different lengths of rebar. Seen one homo depot, seen em all. Go look near the tarps and what not.

justfred · Post by **justfred** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:45 pm

"I could also buy some huge 1/2" by 12" nails in the hardware aisle. I figure I put a big washer on the end, so my tent flange doesn't slip off -- and to make it easier to pry out."

For a tent, you don't need rebar, the huge nails (carpenter nails) will do fine, will probably even work better. Unless it's a HUGE tent, as long as you've got stuff in it, should be no problem at all and a lot less sweat and shin injury than rebar. The Despot also sells 12" long orange plastic stakes, somewhere in the "hardware" section, these work quite well to.

Or you could find a surplus store and get some military surplus tent stakes - 12" long, v-shaped, hold a hell of a lot better than rebar or nails, but probably overkill. I've got a bunch of 8"ers I'll be giving away to folx with tiny tents and dumb-ass rebar.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:10 pm

http://sites.google.com/site/potatotrap/rebarfaq

Generic Anonymity · Post by **Generic Anonymity** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:39 pm

I'm not too sure... my boyfriend uses Coleman's Max Spiral Tent Stakes, but I've also seen on the forum that some people find them to be inadequate.

munney · Post by **munney** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:00 am

At Home Repo, I get the 10 footers and there's always a cutter there, so look around, it's a bitch, but it's Worth it. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Munney

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:18 am

Are you looking in the right section? Home depot sells em in short lengths..sometimes in the garden section. Ask an employee...that's where I've always bought mine. Never had to cut rebar

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:25 am

If your tent has some sort of protection from the wind - a shade structure, cars on either side of it, etc, those nails are all you need. They take up a lot less space and are much easier to work with.

I even used them to hold down a 20x30 shade structure a few years ago that was rock solid, but it was designed to use them so I wouldn't recommend them for everything.

Hoolie · Post by **Hoolie** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 6:05 am

Just an fyi, if you ever have to cut rebar, you need only cut halfway through, then the cut piece will break off without much trouble.

Totoro · Post by **Totoro** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:41 am

Thanks everyone!

Totoro · Post by **Totoro** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:45 am

Thanks everyone!

Boijoy · Post by **Boijoy** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:47 am

I have also had success with the military V shaped 8" stakes. I bring a few pieces 14" rebar, just in case. I'm not holding down anything major though. Just some silver mesh tarps. I did use them one year with an e-z up & it worked fine.

Timezone LaFontaine · Post by **Timezone LaFontaine** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:20 am

I've used 1/2" by 12" anchor bolts for an 8' x 10' tent. They have a threaded base which provides some grip, and they are curved into an L shape at the top which I turn inwards towards the tent and then pound all the way into the ground. They have a flat bottom so they are harder to pound into the ground than if they were sharpened, but still manageable. But I am going with rebar for my modified carport shade structure.