Best tent stakes for sand and loose ground

Thin pegs do not hold in loose sand. The best tent stakes for sand are long and wide, so they have more surface to grip.

What to do

1. Push the stake in at a slant, leaning away from the tent.
2. Use long or wide stakes, such as the V-shaped or sand-style ones.
3. If the ground is dry and loose, bury an anchor. Fill a stuff sack or bag with sand, bury it deep and tie the guy line to it.
4. Use every guy line, not just the corners.
5. Tie a line to something heavy, like a full water container, as a backup.

What goes wrong first. The stake that sits in the top few centimeters of dry sand. It pulls out in the first strong gust. Fix: go deeper, or use a buried anchor.

The exception

Hard, rocky ground. Here, stakes bend or will not go in. Tie the lines to rocks or use rock piles as weights. Do not hit stakes into rock, because you can snap them.

Why it matters

Wind decides the night in an open place. A tent that loses its stakes at 2 am can collapse or blow away. The desert camping gear for hot-weather nights guide covers the wider setup. For picking the tent itself, read how to choose a camping tent. Check the maker's notes on your tent for its wind limits, and take the tent down if the wind is stronger than it can handle.