Do Tents Come With Stakes?

Last Updated on 30/12/2021

Do Tents Come With Stakes

Do Tents Come With Stakes?

Do tents come with stakes? Almost every tent on the market comes with stakes included. The stakes that come with your tent may not be the best quality though and you might want to consider replacing them anyway.

Tent stakes are integral to keeping your tent in shape, as well as stopping it from blowing around in the wind. When you buy a new piece of equipment, it’s helpful to know whether it will come with everything you need, or whether you will need to buy anything more.

Almost every tent comes with stakes, but these vary in quality. This article is going to look at the stakes that come with your tent and whether they are worth keeping.

How Many Stakes Does a Tent Come With?

It makes sense that tents come with enough stakes to pitch them. There are usually extras, either as spares or to use with guy lines, or in case you lose or bend a stake.

Some tents do not come with enough stakes for you to use extra lines and this is just one of the many reasons to test-pitch your tent before heading out.

Tent SizeNumber of Stakes
1 Person4 - 10 Stakes
2 People6 - 15 Stakes
3 People7 - 15 Stakes
4 People9 - 18 Stakes
5 People9 - 20 Stakes
6 People10 - 30 Stakes
8+ People16 - 40 Stakes

Are the Stakes Included with Tents any Good?

MSR Groundhog Tent Stake Kit, 6-Pack, Regular - 7.5-Inch , Red

Whether you consider the stakes to be any good depends on the quality of your stakes, but also on your chosen camping spot.

Budget tent stakes are often steel and are prone to bending or rusting. More expensive tents often come with similarly higher quality stakes, which are lighter weight and more sturdy.

Different styles of tent stakes work in different environments, as we’re about to explore. What is considered to be good in one type of ground, or wind might be useless in another.

different tent stakes

Different Types of Tent Stakes

As we said, different styles of stakes suit different environments. Without getting into really technical detail about shape and specific uses, here is a brief rundown of tent stakes.

Sand/Snow

Tent stakes for snow and sand are vastly different from any other style. The first of these styles are just bags, which fill with the sand, or snow, and weigh down where the stakes would usually be placed.

Alternatively, there are anchors. These broad pieces of metal sit deep into the snow or sand and anchor themselves like a boat anchor on a sea bed. These are sturdier than bags and quicker to put in place.

Hard Ground

If you’re camping on hard ground, you need stakes that can be forced in without bending out of shape. Heavy-duty stakes are usually made from steel and far thicker than lightweight options. This makes them less desirable to carry long distances and often requires some kind of camping hammer or rack to drive them in deep.

Lightweight

Lightweight tent stakes are usually made from some alloy material. Because they are made to be as light and portable as possible, you have to be careful with some styles of lightweight stakes. These bend easily and can be broken if you try to bend them back into shape.

To reinforce lightweight stakes, or to make them more suitable for varying conditions, some come in different shapes. V-shaped, or cross-shaped stakes, don’t bend as easily and grip the floor better than straight pegs.

Tent Stake Materials

Different materials will affect how strong, light and expensive your tent stakes are.

Steel

Ram-Pro 10-Piece Tent Garden Stakes Heavy Duty, Galvanized Steel Pegs Rust-Free Garden Edging Fence Hook, Landscape Pins | for Outdoor Camping, Soil Patio Gardening, & Canopies (9")

Steel tent stakes are the strongest and most common style on the market. Most budget and intermediate tents will come with steel stakes. While these are strong, they do rust easily and can be bent out of shape if you aren’t careful with them.

Alloy

iBasingo 12pcs/lot Titanium Alloy Pegs Outdoor Camping Tent Stakes Portable Elbow Grass Tent Nail A-Ti4001P

Alloy tent stakes are more commonly used on more expensive tents. These won’t rust like a steel stake, but they can be bent out of shape and easily snapped if you try to repair them.

However, alloy tent stakes are light enough to carry long distances and sturdy enough to stand up to strong winds.

Fabric

ABCCANOPY Canopy Weights Gazebo Tent Sand Bags,4pcs-Pack (Black)

Fabric tent bags can be filled with rocks, sand, snow, or dirt and attached to the tent where you would usually put the pegs. These are useful in areas either where stakes won’t grip the ground, or where the ground is too tough to put stakes into.

How to Tell if a Tent Includes Tent Stakes?

It’s usually safe to assume that your tent will come with stakes, but it’s always worth checking. The specifications will usually identify whether the tent comes with pegs, but if that doesn’t work then reviews or FAQs might. If you’re still not sure, check out a range of websites until one of them answers for you, or get in touch with the manufacturer.

We hope this helps you figure out do tents come with stakes, thank you for stopping by.

Gear Assistant
Gear Assistant

This article has been written and/or edited by Andrew N. 20+ years of hiking, mountaineering, and camping experience, with access to all the latest outdoor gear.

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