Over time you lost, bend or broke your tent stakes and it’s now time to replace them with the best tent stakes you kind find. Not all tent stakes or pegs are created equally or designed for the same purpose. We have done all the extensive testing and research and these are the top tent stakes you can buy:
MSR Groundhog | Vargo Titanium | Orange Screw | MSR Tough Stake | REI Snow Stake |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |
All Rounder | Hard Soil | Soft Soil Beach | Soft Soil Beach | Snow |
Aluminum | Titanium | Plastic | Aluminum | Aluminum |
$$ | $$ | $$$ | $$ | $ |
Best All-Rounder Tent Stake:
1
MSR Groundhog Tent Stake
If you do any research on tent stakes the MSR groundhog comes up time and time again. It is an great all-rounder tent stake and is good value for money. It’s got a 3-sided, Y-beam design and is made from 7000-series aluminum (strongest commercial aluminum alloy on the market). The stake has a notch at the top to tie you guide rope and has a reflective paracord to help pull out of the ground.
The Groundhog comes in 2 sizes the standard and the mini Groundhog. The standard weighs 0.46 ounces and is 7.5 inches long. The Mini comes in at 0.35 ounces and is 6 inches long. Both come with a limited 3-year warranty and normally come in a pack of 6. The MSR Groundhog is ideal for medium to hard soil.
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Best Tent Stake for Hard Ground:
Driving tent stakes into rocky, frozen or hard ground can be brutal. The best design for hard soil is the nail-style peg. It’s the easiest to drive into the ground, most resistance to bending when hammered and the least likely to hit a rock. When it comes to material, titanium is the number one choice. It is the strongest, it’s the lightest, but also the most expensive. Aluminum stakes come in second, its not as expensive and still very light if weight is a concern.
Our choice for the best tent peg for hard ground is the:
2
Vargo Titanium Nail Peg
These nail-type tent pegs are extremely strong, we have not had one bend in years of camping. Its flat head and straight shaft make it easy to hammer into the ground and it’s got a reflective cord at the end, which not only makes it easy to see but also helps pulling it out of the ground. Each peg weighs 0.6 ounces (14g) and are 6” long with a 0.2”diameter (152mmx5mm).
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Tips for driving tent stakes into hard soil:
- A light hammer works a thousand times better than a rock, if you go camping in a car, always take one.
- Pour a little water in the area where you are going to hammer the stake in, it will soften the soil and make your life so much easier.
As and honorable mention the Coleman 10” steel nail tent peg is a good value peg for rocky or hard soil. It’s fairly cheap, strong, but a bit heavier. Only real down side we found was that the plastic tips keeps breaking over time.
Best Tent Stake for Soft Soil:
Anchoring your tent in soft soil or sand can become a nightmare, as a normal tent peg just don’t work. There are 2 options for anchoring your tent, either use a ground anchor or a stake that is designed for soft soil.
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Orange Screw
The Orange Screw is made from recycled materials and comes in two sizes, small and large. It is a ground anchor and is ideal for beach camping or really soft soil. The small screw is 9.5” and the large 12.25” long. The small screw also has an open hook to slip ropes over. The screw holder can also be used to screw it into the ground, seeing that you cannot hammer it.
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4
MSR Tough Stake
The Tough stake has an ingenious design that makes ideal for soft, sandy soil. It will anchor your tent where almost no other tent stake will hold. The design got its idea from a dead man’s anchor and works fantastic. It’s strong, lightweight and made from aircraft grade aluminum. They come in a small and medium size and for most uses the small will be fine.
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Best Tent Stake For Snow:
5
REI Co-op Snow Stake
This REI Snow stake is made from aluminum and its design is with camping in snow in mind, but it will also work in soft or sandy soil. The stake is 9.6”long and weighs 1 ounce.
The holes help to maintain grip in snow and it also enables you to tie a guy-line through the middle and use it as a dead man’s anchor.
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Tent Stake Designs:
Shephard Hook Stake:
The most common and simplistic tent peg design. Most tent manufacturers include these types of stakes with the tent, mostly because it’s the cheaper to make. They provide limited grip in soft soil and are prone to bending.
V-Shape Stake:
As the name suggest, these stakes have a V-shape that makes it stronger and more resistant to bending. V-stakes also fit nicely into each other, so when space is an issue these types of stakes are great.
Y-Shape Stake:
Y-stakes are probably the best all-rounder tent stake. This design is similar to the V-shape, but is a upgrade. They are very strong and don’t bend, plus they do not spin when they are in the ground. If you not sure what conditions you are going to camp in, these stakes are the best option.
Snow/Soft Soil Stakes:
These types of stakes are very wide and have a rounded shape with holes all the way down the middle. The rounded shape and the holes ensure the maximum surface area for better grip. These types of stakes are normally made of an aluminum alloy.
Nail Stakes:
As the name suggest these stakes are long and slender and look like a nail. They are normally used for rocky or very hard soil and are normally made out of steel or titanium. They tend to spin in the ground.
Screw Stakes:
These stakes looks like a giant corkscrew. They are ideal for sand or very soft soil and are not suitable for rocky soils. They also provide maximum grip in windy conditions.
Tent Stake Material:
Tent stakes not only come in different sizes and shapes, but also in different materials.
The metal the stake is made of can dictate what it will be best used for.
Metal Alloy Pegs:
Most common material tent pegs are made out of, and most likely the type that came with the tent. They are cheap, but tend to bend easily.
Steel Pegs:
These are the upgraded version of the metal alloy. They are strong, heavy and durable. If you go car camping these are a good option.
Aluminum Pegs:
Aluminum stakes are very common, they are light, fairly cheap, and combined with the right design they are durable. These are good for hiking and backpack.
Titanium Pegs:
These types of stakes are ultra hard and durable. They don’t bend and are best for hard soil. These types of stakes are also the most expensive you can buy.
Carbon Fiber Pegs:
This is the lightest tent stake that you can buy. They are not very common and are expensive. Although they are strong, carbon fiber stakes are also brittle, so rocky ground can destroy your expensive peg.
Plastic Pegs:
Plastic tent stakes are light, but not very strong, there are better options than this.
Wooden Pegs:
Not very strong or durable and don’t see why you wood use these ones.
