Neighbor Dave swore by those cheap tent stakes from the dollar store

Neighbor Dave swore by those cheap tent stakes from the dollar store. He told me last summer that $1 plastic stakes were just as good as my MSR groundhogs for car camping, so I tried his advice on a three-night trip to Shenandoah. After a windy night and a thunderstorm, I woke up with my tent basically folded over me because three of those stakes snapped clean in half. Has anyone else had a well-meaning friend steer you wrong on gear that seemed like a good deal?

2 comments

2 Comments

miller.paul10d ago

Did you end up switching back or finding a middle ground? I went through the same thing with a buddy who swore by foam sleeping pads over inflatables, and after one rocky night on cold ground I dropped the cash on a Therm-a-Rest. Sometimes the cheap stuff is fine for a day trip but fails when the weather actually tests it.

finley_walker5710d ago

Had a buddy try to save a few bucks with a foam pad on a rainy trip in the Smokies... woke up shivering and ended up sleeping in the car the second night, @miller.paul. He still swears by his Therm-a-Rest now, though.