I’ve been pretty content with hammering in my shitty, factory tent stakes with rocks over the last twenty or so years. Often times the ground was just too tough, and I’d have to make due with just making sure there was weight in the tent.
I received a plethora of Amazon gift cards from my admins and students over the last month, and decided to splurge. With camping gear, I don’t cheap out. I don’t buy unnecessarily expensive or complicated gear, but I have trusted brands that I don’t mind shelling out for. For example, I don’t ever buy the REI branded stuff, it’s just too cheaply made in my experience. MSR has been a brand that has won me over. I bought one of their camping stoves and a pot about sixteen years ago when I first got into backpacking, and it has been one of my most solid pieces of kit. Stupid simple design, good materials, and durable. I still use them my go-to camping kitchen.
Anyways, I picked up their Grounhod tent stakes along with a stake hammer. Bery high quality all around. The handle of the hammer is hollow aluminum and the head is skeletonized fir more weight saving. Won’t get to test it out on desert soil for a few months, but will start breaking them in our northern forests tomorrow.
