That REI clerk in Boulder was right about the tent stakes

They're the ones who test gear in the field, so I should've listened. My buddy's tent with the same stakes held fine, but he'd pre-soaked the ground with water before hammering them in. That extra 15 minutes of prep would've saved me a sleepless night. Has anyone found a stake that actually holds in hard packed alpine dirt without a drill?

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wells.christopher21h ago

Ha! So the secret is just to turn the whole mountain into a swamp first. Good to know. I tried one of those fancy corkscrew stakes in granite-like dirt last summer and it bent worse than a politician's promise. Ended up using a rock to wedge a branch in sideways, which held okay until the wind hit. Honestly, the only thing that works in that packed alpine crap is a 12-inch piece of rebar and a sledgehammer. Or maybe just accept that your tent is a kite and enjoy the ride.