Plastic vs. Aluminum Stakes

“What do you prefer for a tent, a hammock or a tarp? Plastic or aluminum?”

“Platstik is easyer to chew.”

“Ha Ha! Ped you just put a big smile on my face, thanks! #&%!$ty day”

“How about for digging out cat-holes, so you don't have to carry a shovel?”

“Al, plastic seems to get brittle and snap within a fairly short time, under 1 year.

I do have a plastic cat hole digger 2oz

but one of them broke also. Al is not an alternative and the steel

seems heavier than the advertized 6oz.”

“If you can drive a plastic stake into the ground in the Ozarks, I will kiss your ass and give you thirty minutes to draw a crowd.”

“Heck Chili. It is not often that I get an aluminum stake back in servicable condition in the Ozarks. It is usually bent beyond use. Parachute cord, rocks, and small trees. Lite and I can always find them.”

“When I left Memphis, every tent stake I owned was mangled almost beyond recognition through use in the Ozarks.”

“I don't use either...I have Ti stakes”

“i hear ya sticks! titanium's the way to go!”

“Aluminum stakes from Wal-Mart. Plastic stakes in rocky soil are not an option.”

“Last time out, I set up in the afternoon temps in the 30's, overnight it got down to around 15 deg next morning the alum stakes were frozen into the ground. Took some kicking and extra effort to get em back out.”

“I'm with bacpac, the cheap round stakes from Walmart work fine. The grams you save with Ti can't justify the cost IMOP. My MH tent came with the triangular aluminum stakes which are very good but when I stake them out I have to put a rock or something over them. If you've ever stubbed a bare toe on one you understand.”

“aluminum gutter nails are what I use mostly”

“I like the Al stakes that came with my tarptent they look like big push pins.”

“HOI?????

Gutter nails??...reallY?????”

“Yeah I have used gutter nails as well. Super light, fairly rigid and cheap as dirt. Not for frozen ground though.”

“wow....ya'll are soooooooo good at coming up with decent ideas!!!!”

“Yeah...ped I guessed you would drag this crap up from that hike a while back....OKAyyyy...

I think we both know that I tried the Hammock...okay, I kept falling out...whooptie doo...hope you had a big laugh. Oh by the way...that "biner" did not keep "slipping" (LOL)

Me I like tarptent, and I really do enjoy the titanium stakes even though I know you say they make a hole that takes longer for the earth to "heal"”

“SH-- XL. We had a frickin deal. If you bring that shtuff up, I'll go into the crap you pulled trying to move in on miss A.

And I don't buy your BS about how titanium stakes vent heat from the planet and prevent global warming.”

“pedxing..Al is a lot better thermal conductor than Ti. AL = 220 Watts/(meters x Kelvin) and Ti = 5.8 Watts/(meters x Kelvin) Ti stakes are therefore not transfering heat from the Earth to the atmosphere therefore not increasing atmospheric heating.

As proven by the preceeding statements the low rate of inflation in Arkansas has held out Bullsh%^ prices low so we can spread it liberally.”

“On the tarptent, what about bugs?? And condensation if you get the single walled with bugmesh silnylon or tyvek tarptent?”

“Seriously though, I've heard mention of gutter nails but never tried them. I'll have to check them out.”

“Manuka, that is why I never went for one of the aluminum spades. I just bust one of the $1.25 orange spades every 12-18 mos. and then get a new one. I always laugh when people talk about digging a cat hole with a stake. When I gotta go in the woods, I gotta go and can;t be sitting there scratching at the ground. It's time! Get 'er done!”

“Oh will we bring MsA into this? Yeah I am settin there trying to be suave and you do NOTHING to help ...you set there licking your eyebrows. Thanks a pantload.

Come to think of it....you DID set me up to fail...

Hey guys if Ped tells you to stuff your shorts with a sweat sock...( he won't mention to put it in the FRONT)...

Oh Hillbilly its not the thermal conductivity but the three sided ti stakes (red ones) make a wierd hole. We all know how the triangular bayonet will make a hole that is tougher to heal...well the same goes for the stakes. Now it will vent alot easier. If you really want to be eco friendly use the screw in types becuase they are more or less self sealing.....

Okay going to get some gutter nails...sounds cool”

“XL I am with you now. Hell, I had been sitting here all morning trying to think of a reason to get out a heat transfer book and look up the thermal conductivity of Ti and Al anyway. So thanks

Gutter nails... so obvious...great idea”

“Well that is so, but you must also consider some of the other challenges.. The yellow plastic stakes are much more visible so less easy to lose.

Granted Ped really never caught on to this.

Now if I am using a tarp, Ped insists on the whole feng shui stuff. What was it...the angle you require for the tarp lines?”

“gutter nails in frozen ground are a bit of a problem - especially when it comes to getting them out - hammering them in is a little tough but when they freeze in place they are a real botch to get out”

“Well Hog that's why you make your hiking partner sleep on them...so they won't freeze”

“We all know how the triangular bayonet will make a hole that is tougher to heal...well the same goes for the stakes.

how do you know that a triangular stakes make a wound that is tougher to heal?”

“OH good lord Yogi...its simple to figure out..Now the whole TI vs AL vs plastic...you are comparing apples to oranges to kiwi fruit.

Pedex explained this quite succinctly in his aptly titled Tretise, "The functional and causational differences between titanium, aluminum and plastic tent stakes- Or how I hosed XL out of a great date on a backpacking trip."
this is ofcourse MUST read for anyone seriously into the whole tent stake, F- your buddy, backpacking information.
last edited: 3/07/08 5:11:40 AM”

“Nobendium tent stakes are about the best gear buy I've ever made.”

“OH great...NObendium stakes...YOU are so in for it now....

Ped be nice, remember happy place, happy place....”

“Nobendium stakes, I call them NoStraightenUm stakes. They bend real easy but are impossible in the field to straighten back into something useful. The first and only time I used them in some of PA’s finest soil, I bent the first two stakes into uselessness. I just use aluminum. I can easily straighten them back into something I can use.
last edited: 3/07/08 6:36:57 AM”

“LOL...waiting for Ped to weigh in...”

“I've had no problems with the early versions, don't much care for the new twisted variety.......I've replaced almost all of my old aluminum stakes with the Kelty's I HAVE bent one, but I had to work at it...

conk, I just move a little right or left if I hit a rock or root....probably a little easier here in the south than up in PA....

Then again, there are those times I've tried to pound them into the southern red clay...a real PITA.”

““What do you prefer for a tent, a hammock or a tarp? Plastic or aluminum?”

It really depends on the terrain you will encounter. I used these stakes on the entire AT last year and had only one of them bend.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/easton_tubular_al_stakes.html

If you are going to set up in really sandy soil, the plastic stakes would work just fine.

This is what I use for digging catholes. It's not much bigger than a tablespoon, but it is very strong and it works.

http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=104&p_id=1124258
last edited: 3/07/08 9:42:11 AM”

“Only an earth warming, ant-eater hugging, carbon flushing, libbie-loving, fart mongering, goose licking, granola eating, quiche baking, welfare cheating, sonnafa horse theif would use nobendum stakes.

Just a hint to the gals: if you ever go backpacking with XL, make sure you face him when you plant or pull up stakes. You wouldn't believe what he thinks is a suave move.”

“OH here we go mister..."So whats your name....was it good for you to?"

Yeah thats cute, now you have switched to being opposed to nonbendium stakes? OH CHRISTEEE are you going to freaking lecture us about the limited supply of nonbendium in the world?

Gals, this guy spent a weekend explaining the DANGERS of Naugahyde furniture. Like I told him there is no shortage of Baby Naugas..but would he listen.? NNOOOOOO

All he wanted to do was meet girls, buy them a house and leave...something about it being more efficient.

And you want to know how I knew he had SCORED? You hear his voice calmly (from the tent) "Stand back honey I really don't know how big this is going to get."

Turns out he was inflating his airmattress.”

“LOL!

XL has it all wrong, I was worried about the baby Noahs - and warning him against the evil Noahide hiker from the other side.

And ease up on the old(Hey XL - ease up on settling the old scores, or we could both be mighty embarassed).”

“Well I tried aluminum, TI, Plastic and Non bendium..this weekend.

the TI did hold up more...I really liked the stakes that came with my trekker tarp. They worked great i 40 mph wind.

Now I propose a test on one of the hikes. We tie off Marky Mark to a stake and then throw some HO-Hos across the campsite. (LOL)”

“I like the stakes that came with the Trekker tarp too.”

“MSR Groundhogs

best stakes ever made - no comparison. "almost" impossible to bend - unless you beat on it with an ice axe in frozen tundra.”

“TuckerJoe had d*ck-all on this thread.”

“Ped....speaking of old scores...saw.."Guess who" this weekend...still walking bowlegged..”

“I am switching to these...




That way I can constantly be reminded of the trolls while I am away from TT and actually on the trail.”

“Here's what I use for tent stakes ...

”

“Chili...I use the Flamingo tent stake covers..(LOL) They are a hoot.”

“I just went to REI and got two, 75 cent aluminum stakes for my hennessy, they are bloody brilliant.”