Tent stakes - What's best for my tent?

[FIGJAM]

The lag bolt I use are about $1 apiece.

[MacGlenver]

I used Figgy's lag bolt idea last year, along with a piece of chain. It was flawless. I put in 16 lag bolts to secure my tent in about 3 minutes and didnt break a sweat. My camp ended up making me take some of the bolts out of my tent loops and use them to secure other structures cause they're so slick and easy. I bought 40 last year and used every one. We'll probably be buying 40+ more this year.

The only minor concern I have is that I'm reliant on my impact driver (type of drill). If it fails, then I'm back to hammering, but I think that's a low probability.

Also, I felt a little guilty for getting the 70 year old guy from Ace hardware to cut every other link of chain with their little hand press . I offered to help, but he refused!

[Elorrum]

Also, I felt a little guilty for getting the 70 year old guy from Ace hardware to cut every other link of chain with their little hand press . I offered to help, but he refused!

oh, poor guy. I hope you paid for the foot or so you had to cut up.

[MacGlenver]

Also, I felt a little guilty for getting the 70 year old guy from Ace hardware to cut every other link of chain with their little hand press . I offered to help, but he refused!

oh, poor guy. I hope you paid for the foot or so you had to cut up.

Haha, yeah, he measured the whole length of chain before we cut every other link, so I paid for the whole thing. He was happy to do it, but man it took a while. It was a little hydraulic thing that you had to pump with a lever about 15 times to make a cut. I looked around quite a bit to find someone selling individual chain links. It seems that no one does. You can buy the "quick links" that have the little section that screws open, but those are a LOT more expensive than just cutting up some chain.

[FIGJAM]

I use a 4" grinder to cut my links.

Bring a socket set in case you run out of power.

Pound till they bite, then use the wrench.

[Canoe]

Peyote, when you pound them completely flush there's slightly less of a tripping hazard (except for guy lines, which you should still mark or illuminate)...

Peyote,
It's not just the tripping hazard, but the severity of injuries.

• Cuts & wounds from rebar/tent-pegs tend to be one of, if not the highest, cause of injuries at BRC.
  (And it certainly seems that every time I've been near medical, there's someone else being brought in with a torn foot. I shudder just remembering the looks on their faces.)
• Those who trip and land on raised parts can get rather horrific tearing and/or puncture injuries, including to the face.
• Things like tennis balls over protruding parts doesn't do much for reducing tripping (some might notice them in time), but it does greatly reduce the severity of injuries to those body parts hitting or landing on them.

  The goal is bruises and scrapes - instead of tearing and puncture wounds.

• When rebar, stakes & tent pegs are flush to the ground (not even an inch sticking up, like the rebar-candycane and others),
  • the likelihood of a puncture or tearing injury goes way down.
  • The chance of a brain case puncture is reduced to near zero. This is NOT the case with a piece of rebar or metal stake sticking above the ground.

So you can see that Figjam's lagbolts are flush except for a low-profile hex-head, and two smooth/round links of chain.
Best balance I've seen yet for safety, strength, resistance to wind/vibration loosening, easy of install and ease of removal.
Only problem is they're too cheap to bother trying to patent.

[Canoe]

survival guide-rebar-stakes.png

survival-guide-injuries.png

[Dr. Pyro]

I have learned that heads torn off of Barbies make particularly good rebar top covers. And decorative too!

[Canoe]

survival guide - rebar-stakes-2.png

[^Rhino!]

For flying in, the aluminum military ones look good, or hit a hardware store before you head to the playa. I get a few more 10 or 12" galvanized nails ea. year, with galvanized washers to give the heads more grabbing range (less than a dollar.) I use a mix of these and 1/2" 2ft. rebar pieces. I don't bend the rebar. My first year, I thought I should bend them, and put one end in a vice and got a very subtle arc, and the fun of bouncing a 3lb hammer all around in what I ended up declaring too dangerous and useless for a last minute project... poor results, let's say. There are lots of links on how to "candy cane" or make staples out of rebar, but I've never figured how they hammer that rounded end easily. I do like my rebar pounding aid for straight pieces. A piece of threaded black iron pipe, with a black iron pipe cap. Last year, I could only find this before or after I needed to use it. It's going to get spray painted bright yellow and put in a yellow bag with the hammer this year.

The twelve inch galvanized nails with a washer are my choice. I hammer them down flush, and pull them out with a normal carpenter's hammer.

I've seen rebar that had to be pulled with a modified car jack that grabs the rebar; that seems to work real well but it just isn't worth the trouble for me. I carry a pipe wrench to help somefolks that may need it, and a shovel just in case.

[peyote2004]

Thanks for some great advice folks.

I'm hoping to have a night in Reno to do a little shopping, and pick up stuff I couldn't fly out. I won't know if that's a possibility until I book Burner Express and my flights. So, I'm trying to make sure I have the basics covered, if I don't get the extra time in Reno.

[andy]

[quote="tatonka"][quote="FIGJAM"]I like lag bolts and chain!



taking Figjams advise this is what I did also , got them online for 1.00 a piece and bought a length of chain and cut them down ( i own a bolt cutter )[/quote]

I did lag bolts with a giant washer but I think this idea is even better. You can hammer or use an impact driver. For removal, though, you want to have a big-ass socket wrench.

[unjonharley]

Have to tie down a car port to day.. Will be using lag bolts into blacktop on one side.. Then longer lag bolts on the gravel side.. Tested one in the black top.. It's there to stay until I unscrew it...

[burn_shady]

I do like my rebar pounding aid for straight pieces. A piece of threaded black iron pipe, with a black iron pipe cap. Last year, I could only find this before or after I needed to use it. It's going to get spray painted bright yellow and put in a yellow bag with the hammer this year.

The twelve inch galvanized nails with a washer are my choice. I hammer them down flush, and pull them out with a normal carpenter's hammer.

I've seen rebar that had to be pulled with a modified car jack that grabs the rebar; that seems to work real well but it just isn't worth the trouble for me. I carry a pipe wrench to help somefolks that may need it, and a shovel just in case.

I had the same idea for a rebar pounding aid. The pipe and cap didn't hold up very well for me. However, I then tried a reducer with the small end large enough to easily clear the rebar (not too tight of a fit, the rebar tops deform and get a little bigger with enough hammering). and a plug on the larger end:

reducer.jpg

plug.jpg

So far this combination is holding up better.

As for the car jack... I also had that idea, but without any modifications. What I tried, with some luck, was to take a piece of thick metal with a hole in it only slightly large enough to go over the rebar, fit it over the rebar, slide it down to the car jack and then make sure the metal piece jams up against the rebar. The metal will make a slight angle and the car jack will want to slide out from underneath, so I also tie the top (and bottom if I have to) to the rebar itself while using the car jack to push the rebar up. It also helps to rotate the whole thing around the rebar because it is still pushing up at an angle and pushing from alternating sides seems to speed things along noticeably. Here's the setup before tying the top of the car jack to the rebar:

car_jack_removal.jpg