Hello everyone,
We are new to camping and we are doing a 13 days camping trip in Grand Teton, Yellowstone and glacier national parks in mid July. We have North face wawona 4 tent, rei bed camp 3.5, North face one bag 700 down and camp chef Everest 2x stove.
My questions:
1. Chatgpt says that these campgrounds can be quite windy and wawona 4 is tall so it will catch winds. In order to be safe, I need to get:
* Msr ground hog
* Coghland steel 12 inches
* Coghlans 10 inches
Do I really need these for a 1 time 13 days camping trip, these are expensive, heavy and will collect dust after it's couple uses.
- Is Everest 2x an overkill for some basic pressure cooking cooking for 2 people? It's expensiveness is worrying me a bit.
Appreciate your guidance.
by OkReplacement2834
43 Comments
No groundhogs do just fine in my opinion. Also be careful using the ones with plastic on the top I had the plastic break when trying to remove from hard ground and come very close to my eye while in the middle of no where.
What’s wrong with the pegs or came with? I’ve never had a problem with the pegs they come with. I don’t like those 2 on the right in my experience
I like the yellow plastic screw in kind where I am.
Your tent should come with extra stakes, see if walmart has a similar all metal design, and grab enough to have a cord at every tie down point, and maybe some extra if you feel you need it. The Everest 2x is a top tier stove, you can’t go wrong with it’s fine flame adjustments. If the price is too much, the coleman classic is $100 on their website.
If you don’t camp often, I say go cheap and rugged. Get the steel pegs. Your gear is heavy, don’t get ultralight tent stakes…
I’m happy with the classic coleman 2 burner stove, but I’ve heard that people who camp and cook a lot really appreciate the upgrade.
This may come as a surprise, but chatGPT is often wrong.
You don’t need all these different stakes. Use the groundhog stakes. The others aren’t as good.
Also, HOW you stake them makes a big difference. Make sure you put them in at the correct angle so they don’t pull out.
I like the groundhogs and they work great where i camp, but haven’t camped in any severe winds so no opinion on that part
If you are car camping I would use the Coghland spikes as my primary stakes and maybe also have 1 package of the wider coghland stakes in case the ground is soft. The msr are expensive and meant for backpacking and I found generally dont work as well as the spikes in high wind.
I have a couple of sets of the red ones, can’t remember brand or details but they have worked great for me, used a old school mallet to pound them into rocky ground and they didn’t bend a bit, held in the ground perfectly.
I like the groundhog steaks but be careful about anchoring them too deep breaking the pull tab and not being able to retrieve them. I also like the ones with the orange tops. Just depends on where I’m at I’ll even use the ones the tent came with just to switch it up
At this point AI should only be used to summarize things you already know about. Because then you can sanity check it. Like, if I know a ton about dog training and want to quickly create an article on house breaking, I can tell it to draw up a plan, then review it and edit it. But if I don’t know anything about camping stakes I can’t ask it b ‘cause I don’t know if it’s telling me absolute bullshit.
I may not like them, but the nail type works great in Kansas wind, and don’t bend like the other metal ones. I modified a prybar so pulling them is easy, The groundhog type is in the grab and go bag.
I prefer the solid steel ones for car camping, the 10″ ones specifically. They’re cheaper, you can pound them in with a hammer no worries and if you’re not carrying them in a backpack, who cares about the weight.
As for the stove, I’d buy a coleman 2 burner or try and find a used one.
Make sure your tent comes with enough stakes, including all of the guy lines, or keep the MSR groundhog stakes if not. Your tent should be fine is virtually all weather that Yellowstone can throw at you that time of year – it’s a good tent.
I’m in Colorado and camp here and in Utah (with some New Mexico and Wyoming thrown in). I have multiple sets of the MSRs for all my tents. I’ve camped in some pretty strong winds and they hold. Plus they’re really good for rockier ground.
I have three sets of solid titanium spikes. There is a reason I have three. They are the best in hard or rocky soil. Bad in sand. They are, in my opinion, the best general option.
You can find some 8-10 metal stakes with metal hammer sets in a carry pouch from Amazon around $35. I’ve had my set for over 5 yrs now and it’s heavy duty.
I got these on a half off sale and had loved them. Bougie, yes, but at the half off price, they’re comparable to a good heavy duty stake, light weight and durable. Also look dope.
https://dodoutdoors.com/products/shakeen-peg-set?_pos=2&_psq=Peg&_ss=e&_v=1.0
#1 but buy the Wally World knockoff. Like 1 buck a stake and better than the rest
For car camping, I just use 6 or 8 inch nails from the hardware store.
If you ever plan on hiking, go groundhogs. If you will only ever camp within walking distance of your car, go with the cheapest alternative.
Definitely not the plastic top stakes. Once you break the top, they’re pretty useless. Get two sets! They will bend if struck wrong or driven into a rock.
ChatGPT hasn’t spent single night out in a tent. How would it know?
I don’t like stakes that have the plastic part up top. I’ve had problems with those breaking. The other two stakes are both fine. The MSR will be lighter and thus good if you are carrying the tent in. Given your loadout, I do not think that is a concern.
I would honestly evaluate the stakes that came with the tent, they are probably fine.
The big thing is if you are expecting soft, loamy soil or sand, auger tent stakes can come in handy because they hold better. I haven’t been to those campgrounds, hopefully someone else will mention.
That stove is a bit of overkill, but it is a good stove that will last you for decades and serve you well. Basically, any Coleman suitcase stove will do nicely, but if you have the money… literally your grandkids could be cooking with that stove. Buy the one you want because they just won’t break. But a Coleman Classic will do the same for less than half price.
Remember you do not need to buy camping everything. There is a lot of useless stuff in the Camping aisle.
I do recommend NOT using nonstick pans on any camp stove. They all have temp control and uneven burner issues which makes it far too likely that you will burn a pan and flake the nonstick coating. Cast iron, stainless steel, carbon steel, titanium, aluminum, anodized aluminum or titanium, all are good options: just no nonstick. Fancy folding pans are nice. Cast iron is nice and inexpensive. Old used pans from the thrift shop. The ones from your kitchen would work fine but I wouldn’t do it because they could get lost or damaged. (If that happens, there will be an angry spouse. Y’all can figure out who the mad one will be.)
The nail one will work fine for really any non back packing camping. They’ll hold up well too and you can angle them in deeper to hold up better in wind.
Walmart has a version of the msr groundhog ones that are pretty good! Less price, perfectly fine for most outings. I always just have a spare or two in case
You just want to make sure you stake in at about 45 degree angle with the points going towards the tent. Pull the floor straps taught and you’ll be alright.
The stakes that come with the tent are often garbage and bend after a few uses from hammering. Especially on the tent pads that are gravel and you can’t get a sold hold. I opt for the steel stakes from REI. Like $2 each. You definitely don’t need all of these for that. Especially if you use guylines if it really is that windy. You’ll be alright
After I purchased the Sykes that you can drill into the ground I never went back to pounding ones.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha
ChatGPT???
I camp where it gets very windy. So windy that last time one of our tents broke with my stakes securely in the ground. My unpopular opinion is I like the ones with the plastic on the top. As long as you are careful and use the hammer on the metal and not the plastic they work really well. Good stakes are important when it’s windy. You might also buy a tent repair kit from Amazon. Get it delivered a couple of days before you leave and then hopefully return it when you get back.
The best stakes available has to be the auger type.
You’re going to be setting up and breaking down camp at least 3 times over the course of this trip.
Sounds like you have a good setup, you will learn your preferences as you go, my advice is to be overprepared/redundant in power/heat/fuel sources and have a solid first aid and hygiene kit.
For backpacking the aluminium ones, for drive-in campgrounds the 10” coghlans. [Woods makes a set with an extractor tool which makes pulling them put much easier.](https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/woods-assorted-hard-surface-tent-peg-stake-kit-w-puller-extractor-remover-tool-case-23-pc-0766094p.html?utm_content=shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1534569081&gbraid=0AAAAADojZphKavFmhT6HirVnph7m0v9St&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-YvMBhDtARIsAHZuUzJpjUBhN1o91Bmt77c7hs3R5BteTquBSwLZsPpEFf_LR5NpsA3JsUQaAkiOEALw_wcB#store=368)
I mostly camp in areas with very hard compacted gravel ground so the heavy duty stakes are necessary.
The Ground hog stakes. Ths other two packs of stakes suck. Just use more stakes and more lines if you’re worried
The ground where I live is hellishly dry and hard so I use impact stakes and ngl theyre my favorite. Any excuse to use an impact XD
Go to Home Depot and buy some 8-10” galvanized spikes. Cost about a $1-$1.50 each. These work great and are cheap.
MSR groundhogs should be all you need.
I really like the ones on the right
We have tried all kinds of tent stakes. The groundhogs work better and last longer than all other options. OTOH, if the tent comes with enough stakes, just use those. Depending on where you camp in Glacier, it can be VERY windy — or not.
ChatGPT will give you horrible advice for camping. Over rely on it and I promise you’ll wish you double checked with Reddit instead.
If there is anything else you were asking CGPT about please have us confirm that advice now. Don’t wait until you’re in the middle of nowhere where we can’t help you.
Im not trying to have a conversation about AI politics today. Im bringing this up for your wellbeing.
We like the nail type with the plastic tops. The groundhogs will hold better in soft ground, but the nail type is much easier to use on stony ground, gravel, etc. Especially because you can use a hammer without fear of bending the stake.
Never get information from an LLM. They are not factual.
Sounds like you’re car camping. Just go to Home Depot and buy the 8,9, or 10” nails in the hardware aisle. Last time I bought some, they were about $0.80 each. Buy a couple extra for tie-downs. Use a claw hammer to put ‘em in and the claw to pull ‘em out. I’ve been doing this way for over 30 years and wouldn’t do it any other way.