How Do You Drive Tent Stakes When Backpacking?

By Anna Duncan

Backpacking trips often involve a lot of camping, which requires some basic knowledge of how to use tent stakes. After all, if your tent isn’t properly secured, you won’t have the protection from the elements that you need.

Fortunately, driving tent stakes into the ground is a relatively simple task.

The first step in driving tent stakes is to select the right kind of stake for the job. Metal stakes are usually best for hard-packed soil and dirt, while plastic or fiberglass stakes are usually recommended when camping in soft soil or sand. Once you’ve selected your stakes, it’s time to drive them into the ground.

The Right Tools

The most important tool for driving tent stakes is a hammer or mallet. A sledgehammer can be used if necessary, but it’s not necessary.

For metal or plastic stakes, a regular hammer should do the trick. For fiberglass stakes, a rubber mallet is recommended as it won’t damage the stake.

Positioning and Driving

When positioning your stake in the ground, make sure that it is angled slightly outward from your tent so that it provides maximum stability and doesn’t interfere with your tent’s door or other features. Once it’s in position, use short strikes with your hammer or mallet to drive it into the ground about 6 inches (15 cm). If you hit it too hard and drive it in too far, don’t worry – just use a pair of pliers to pull it back out.

Anchoring

Once all of your stakes have been driven in correctly and securely, you can further anchor them by tying ropes around them and securing them to your tent. This will provide additional stability against windy conditions and will keep everything firmly in place even if there are strong gusts of wind.

Conclusion

Driving tent stakes when backpacking may seem intimidating at first, but with the right tools and technique it’s easy enough for anyone to do. With metal or plastic stakes use a regular hammer and for fiberglass ones go with a rubber mallet. Make sure to position each stake slightly outward from your tent before driving them into the ground about 6 inches (15 cm), then secure them further by tying ropes around them and attaching them to your tent for maximum stability.