Lost my tent stakes at Big Bend, now I have a new packing rule

Camped at the Chisos Basin site last month and pulled out my tent at dusk only to find three stakes missing from the bag. Had to weigh down the corners with rocks, and the wind came up around 2 AM, nearly flipped the whole thing. Anyone else check their stakes and guylines before every trip now or am I just paranoid?

3 comments

3 Comments

juliarodriguez11d ago

My buddy lost his rainfly stakes on the Colorado Trail last year and had to use his boots to hold the corner down. Ended up sleeping with one shoe on and one off all night, which is not a great look when you have to hike out at 6 AM. Now he triple checks his stake bag before every single trip and keeps a few extras in his cook kit just in case. Pretty sure that experience gave him a permanent twitch every time the wind picks up, lol.

the_rowan11d agoMost Upvoted

You've actually convinced me, never thought about spare stakes until now.

aaron_mitchell10d ago

Got a buddy who did the same thing at Joshua Tree last spring. He realized halfway through setting up his tent that his stake bag was completely empty. Ended up using his water bottles and a couple of climbing cams to hold the corners down. He told me the wind kicked up around 3 AM and one of the cams popped loose, sent his tent flapping like a sail. Woke up sleeping under the stars with his sleeping bag half full of sand. Now he keeps a spare set of stakes in his car and another in his day pack, plus checks his tent bag three times before he even leaves the house.