Needle Stakes - 10 Pack

Needle Stakes - 10 Pack

High Quality

I love these needle stakes. They strike me as high quality and tough. The advantage of needle stakes that I think gets overlooked is their surface friction function. They have more overall surface area--not flat area just surface area--than their closest weight class, shepherd stakes. The harder a stake is to pull *straight* out of the ground, the better the surface friction the stake has. Physics says staking at an angle close to vertical increases surface friction. At the universally recommended 35-45% the stakes rely much more on compression friction of the soil than on surface friction of the stake. But the top few inches of soil lack much compression friction and cave in easily, providing wiggle room to leverage the compression resistance deeper along the stake. In an oscillating breeze this creates a constant effect of worming outward with the guy line end of the stake gaining significant leverage on the deep end . A vertical stake reduces the worming effect and increases the surface friction dramatically. So, I think a better balance of surface friction and compression friction is found near vertical. Of course there few constants here. Weather, stakes, tent/tarp, ground water, soil or lack thereof, tripping on guy lines are all variables. And, yes, the surface friction of a greater than 1/2" wide stake designed for soil compression is greater than a stake with four 1/4"sides. But even more so if the 1/2" wide stake is closer to vertical. IMHO

As advertised

Lightweight stakes that take up minimal space in your pack. Good buy.