MSR Carbon Core Tent Stakes

The joys of camping, finding that perfect level spot and staking down all corners of the tent without incident. The only problem is that this rarely occurs. Usually, you will get three stakes in entirely, and the 4th stake will go in halfway before hitting rocks and refusing to budge. Naturally, this always seems to happen when there are no suitable rocks around to use for hammering.

Anyhow, after hammering four cheap metal stakes into oblivion (two snapped, two bent) I decided rather than break another cheap metal stake it was time to test out these MSR stakes I've had in my pack for backup. Well the MSR stake worked like a charm on a corner where four stakes met an untimely death =) And since my friend was setting up her tent we used the three remaining stakes one her tent and it was so easy to get these into the ground!!!!

Bottom line these stakes are excellent but pricey! Would I buy more? probably. Those Ruta Locura Sorex stakes, however, look legit at 1/3 of the cost! I was thinking about buying some more MSR stakes, but Ruta Locura is have a sale $10 for a 4pk = 12 stakes for the price of 4 MSR stakes - WIN!!

I recently picked up some of these just to check them out. I gotta admit, the price of $30 for 4 tent stakes was a bit hard to swallow... and this is coming from someone that has spent a few hundred dollars just to shed a couple of oz from other items...



These stakes come 4 to a pack. They are basically made up of carbon fiber with aluminum tips. The stakes measure 6" long from top to tip. They are 1/4" in diameter and 7'8" in circumference. They do indeed weigh as little as 5 g per stake.



I have not actually used these yet though, so I cannot comment on how they stand up to pounding into rocky, rooted ground, however, I don't have a lot of worries.



I have been using a couple of carbon fiber stakes by Ruta Locura called Sorex stakes. They are essentially the same. These have aluminum tips and tops with a carbon fiber shaft. However, the Sorex stakes are 6.5" long, have a diameter of 5/16" and 1-1/8" diameter, plus, they only weigh 5 g each too! So, the Sorex stakes are actually bigger and lighter than the MSR Carbon Core stakes... plus, at only $13 for 4, they are about 2.5 times less expensive!



Now, which one to use will depend on the terrain. I would suspect that the smaller diameter MSR stakes will actually work better in soil that is infested with lots of roots and rocks. The smaller diameter will not need as much space. However, the Ruta Locura stakes will work a little better in a bit looser soil, or soil that is not infested with roots and rocks...



Either way, I will give these stakes a 4. They are definitely lightweight, and due to my experience with other carbon fiber stakes, I think that they will hold up well. However, the price is really too much. In my opinion, I would rather buy 8 of these from Ruta Locura and have some change left...