Carbon-Core Stake Kit

Comments about Carbon-Core Stake Kit:

Very lightweight & quite sturdy for size.

I'm very consious of minimizing my pack weight, so
I got this to top off my stake collection. Definitely need several stake options depending on weather and where I'll be pitching my tent / tarp.

This is my dry / packed soil option - which is over half of my trips.

For softer soil, I'll typically do a combination of Y or V stakes with a few Ti skewers.

If you are sensitive about pack weight - this is a must buy~!!

Comments about Carbon-Core Stake Kit:

Let's address the obvious first... These stakes are sold at a premium. Even more so than titanium stakes. You've got to have a pretty serious commitment to UL camping for the initial investment in these to start to make sense.

That being said, they are great stakes! For one, they're actually lighter than most of the ti wire style stakes on the market. Secondly, they have better holding power than ti wires given their increased surface area. They're also stronger in the sense that they won't bend or warp under pressure when trying to get them into tough ground. Not to mention, they're also backed by the great warranty offered on MSR products should you bust one under normal circumstances.

Now, yes, these stakes are less durable than something like a MSR Groundhog, so you can't indiscriminately bang away on them with a boulder but you can, with care, use a rock to hammer them into the ground without any problems.

To protect your investment, decrease the likelihood of losing one and to improve their utility, I'd recommend you add some bright day glo cord to them (the heads of the stakes have a pre-drilled hole for this) so that you can more easily spot them around camp. The cord doubles as an easy way to pull them out of the ground when breaking down camp too.

I've used these stakes on multiple trips over the last few months and I'm a believer. They are now my go-to stakes for most situations.

Comments about Carbon-Core Stake Kit:

I took advantage of a recent discount to try out the MSR Carbon Core stakes with my Cuben Fiber flat tarp for a truly UL shelter set-up.

The first things I noticed was how ridiculously lightweight the stakes are. My second observation was that the stakes were a bit smaller and thinner gauge than I had envisioned them.

Notwithstanding their small size and even smaller weight, the stakes are working well so far. I've tried them on a handful of occasions and found them to hold better than the slightly heavier typical ti-shepherd hook stakes. It's nice to both save weight and get better performance!

The red plastic caps at the head of the stake seem to be on secure and help to make the stakes more visible. I still added some bright contrasting cord loops to the heads (they have a hole to accept cordage) to improve visibility and help with pulling the stakes out of the ground.

The aluminum tips at the other end of the stakes are holding up well but the red paint just comes right off (not that it really matters).

I haven't really banged on the stakes but I've used firm hand pressure or even my foot to drive them into the ground and they've held up to the task very well. The thin ti wire stakes just bend and warp with too much pressure.

All in all, I'm pleased with the peformance and light weight, although I have to admit the price is a bit much to swallow for some tent stakes.