Anchors for winter tenting

[EMM]

Hello:

I am looking for ideas regarding anchors for winter tenting as aluminum stakes (for summer use) do not work well in winter. I have used two solutions but have not been overly happy with them. First, I have used plastic bags filled with snow. They work reasonably well but don't last unless i use thick bags which can add quite a bit of weight. Second, I have used tin cans into which i have drilled holes. They work well but again they are heavy. I would be curious to hear any suggestions. Many thanks.

EMM

 

[Jasonst]

Try using a long stick from the woods, tie it in the middle and then bury it. This usually works for me. If above treeline try using a rock and bury that.

 

[Neil]

Hi Emm,
Before I got a free standing tent I used dead men. By that I mean sticks that I buried in the snow, looped some thin rope around tying a knot above ground that could be pulled free easily leaving the dead man stuck in the consolidated snow. (I have never staked down my free standing tent.) This advice is no no good of course if you put your tent up above tree line.

 

[Frodo]

I use these deadman's from Campmore. Same concept as your plastic bags, but much more durable. I have also used snow pickets and ice axes when I really needed bombproof anchors

 

[Gris]

I use these. They also work well with rocks when ground is hard.

 

[deadpoint]

treking poles, climbing axes, snow pickets and flukes. you can get big U-shaped tent stakes at most outdoors shops, drill 2 holes about 1 1/2 inches apart in the center and tie a loop thru the holes. you can then bury them sideways like a snow anchor and they're pretty bombproof.

 

[vegematic]

Like a few others who posted, I use sticks as deadmen. Then I can just untie and pull my guylines in the a.m. and not worry about retrieving or lugging my deadmen.
-vegematic

 

[spaddock]

i have snow stakes that i bought from MEC for about $1 a piece. most of the time my tent is just going up for the night and coming down in the morning so i find the 400 pounds anchors (myself and my tentmate) i put in it pretty good.

-Shayne

 

[Rick]

I have been using just plain snow stakes for a number of years now:
Snow Stakes
I keep a 12" length of colored rope on each stake. The rope has a loop on the end. I pull the rope through the tent staking loops, pull the stake through the loop on the end of the rope and bury the stakes. A couple of stomps on them and they set in pretty fast after 20 minutes.

By the way, I "learned" to paint them all Flourescent Red so I make sure I never forget a a couple.
the extra weight is a hassle to carry in the winter, but for the 12-14 oz for 6-8 of them, I also have no worries.

 

[HAMTERO]

more anchors

MSR snowshoes and the removable tails make good snow stakes plus you save the weight of regular stakes.

 

[erd]

Depends how many anchor points you need. My winter tent, unless there are high winds, needs just two. I use my snowshoes. I've also used poles and a shovel (mine is actually designed to be used as a picket). If you inded do carry a shovel (there are ones without handles that weigh a few ounces) you can dig a hole, tie off to a piece of wood, bury it in the hole and stamp it down. Crampons work too. The idea is to use stuff you are carrying anyway. I've heard of folks using socks stuffed with snow, but that seems like a waste of a dry sock.

Ted.

 

[bobmak]

I also have a free standing tent, but still stake out the front and rear vestibules as well as two guylines (one on each side of the fly). That's a total of 5 stakes, with an additonal 3 (2 front guys and one rear) if I am camped in an area exposed to high winds. As do others, I try to use whatever I alread have in my pack: trekking poles, ice axe, snow shoes, shovels etc. But I also have a coulple of those big yellow plastic stakes that are about 12" long. I drilled a hole in the middle. That gives me the option of burying it as a dead man (tie the guy line to the hole in the center) or as a regular stake in very firm deep snow. Either way, once the stake is set and you pack it down with your foot or snowshoe, it's pretty solid. Sometimes you have to dig it out rather than pull it out.

 

[Mr. X]

You said you have tried plastic bags. Have you tried the plastic shopping style ones? I've seen them used as flag pole anchors before in FOT48.

 

[spider solo]

The last time or two , when there was good snow cover, I brought a handfull of dowels that I cut to about 10 or 12 inches. Fiqured that way if things got tough they could double as kindling to get a fire going.

 

[jfb]

I use SMC snow stakes, but probably differently than they're designed. I make a loop of cord about a foot long and attach it to the tent guy loop, then with the stake's convex side facing the tent, put the other end of the loop through the stake's second big hole from the top and over the top. Before setting up the tent, I'll pack the snow in the area and let it refreeze about 20-30 minutes. I then can stick the stake in the snow and it holds well, like a vertical deadman. To remove after it's frozen solid, just step on the stake to loosen and pull out with the cord.

 

[Ken999]

S.S.T. pins...

Scroll down the page 1/2 way to the S.S.T. pins. Stamp out your tent area and let it sit for 30 minutes, then setup your tent and angle the pins back under the tent. The combination of the stiff snow and the leverage these have should hold your tent.

http://www.kifaru.net/tipiaccs.htm

 

[EMM]

Thank you

Hello folks:

thanks for the many ideas regarding anchors for winter tenting. This is very helpful and much appreciated.

EMM