Tents – screw in pegs

Following on from the bargain Wiggle tents thread…..

I know it’s the wrong season but does anyone have experience with screw in as opposed to traditional hammer in style tent pegs???

Reason being that we are planning a Scandinavian roadtrip. I’m wanting to pitch a tent quickly for a single night then move on again the next day. I’m thinking screw in pegs will speed up the process.
I have a Makita ‘camping’ work light and a drill so am already sorted for ‘equipment’

So any Stw’ers screwing rather than bashing?

Sorry, no experience of screw in pegs but pushing a normal peg in takes about a second, how much time are you trying so save?

Sorry, no experience of screw in pegs but pushing a normal peg in takes about a second, how much time are you trying so save?

I usually end up hammering them in, and then having a tussle pulling them out again. Having to take a drill means I don’t need the rubber mallet and peg puller so is volume/space neutral

Yeah, err, wot Simon says.

Screwing them in may take longer. We used ours in September to try and rescue someone elses tent that was collapsing in the wind. Helped for a while till the tent went flat.

Not had any experience, but I use the massive thick pegs with separate heads and they work well as there’s no chance of bending them

I use them on our awning. Reality is they are just long nut headed screws. You can buy the little plastic bits to hold the guyline.

Only use then on hard standing. Don’t work so well in grass I find.

I’ve never used them but the thought of a screw in peg in anything other than perfect stone free ground seems like a recipe for frustration.

Second hard standing, got a set that came with the socket that has a hex head to fit in a drill chuck, so just pack a cheap cordless drill in with my car camping gear. Otherwise for grass find I can most times just push them in a fair bit with my foot and reserve the mallet for the awkward buggers.

We’ve got some Aldi ones for the caravan awning. They are a god-send on really hard, dry (eg southern French) ground in summer, but generally more hassle than they are worth at home.

The ones we have are kind-of hook shaped at the top, which is a bit of a PITA when screwing them in as they invariably catch on the eyelet.

Okay – I might have been overthinking it but it’s based on pegs like these

GroundGrabba Pro Packs

Wot Simon says.

 I’m thinking screw in pegs will speed up the process.I have a Makita ‘camping’ work light and a drill so am already sorted for ‘equipment’

What you need is a set of nail-type pegs and the might MSR Stake Hammer, which handily doubles as an excellent bottle opener…

https://www.msrgear.com/ie/tents/tent-accessories/stake-hammer/03074.html

Never used screw in pegs but I can imagine them being quite good on hard standings until your drill battery goes flat.

Never had my hammer batteries go flat 😉

Never used screw in pegs but I can imagine them being quite good on hard standings until your drill battery goes flat.

Never had my hammer batteries go flat 😉

It’s a roadtrip in our overlander-lite XC90 I’m building. A drill and charger is fine weight wise and I can use the same battery in the work/camping light

I just remembered where I’d first seen screw in pegs used – Fish13 on YouTube, don’t know what the guy does for a living but he certainly likes his camping gear

https://www.youtube.com/@FISH13

Chuffing heck. Not at that price. I use the cheap Aldi ones and a mallet. They are chunkier and seem to hold better than normal pegs. Used mainly on an awning that can get like a sail in the wind

only had an issue with push in pegs camping in Utah and Spain. Most of Scandinavia is rainy enough that push in pegs are the best option, I’d have thought?

I’ve got a couple of sets of hard-ground pegs, just a long 5/6mm nail with a plastic top to allow the rope to hold and be pulled out with.

The gadget freak in me is already starting to check out the MSR hammer/bottleopener!

I’ve got one of those MSR hammers. It’s ace. Total overkill, but wallops pegs in, and pulls them out easily. And looks cool opening beer. Like an ice axe, but actually useful for a goon that’s never going ice climbing. Mine is hanging on a hook in the garage from the cord loop, I use it as a hammer-hammer, not just a tent peg hammer, and general bodging tool. It’s got a hollow handle so can act as an extension/brace for stuff.

In answer to your actual question, I’ve got some plastic screw in pegs I first used with a 90’s Lichfield hiking tent. Still have them, no harm in  a selection for different ground, especially if they’re in a car. Not quicker than normal pegs though.

Back to replies that have nothing to do with your question, my brother in law has a fan that connects to a drill battery. Very useful in their camper for extra cooling, and amazing for starting fires and BBQ.

I just use long steel hex head coach screws for our awning.  Best of both worlds  – bang em in with a lump hammer and screw them out with a drill.

This kind of thing:

peg puller

I had no idea such a thing existed! I just pull up one peg and then use that one to pull up the others 🤷‍♂️

Some pitches in Scotland are a bloody nightmare to get pegs into. Closely packed small stones that over the millennia a light smattering of soil has covered. Pegs go in 3″ then stop and no amount of jiggling about is going to entice them to go in any further.

.

I imagine Scandinavia is going to be similar geology to Scotland due to glaciers/volcanic landscapes etc, and just below the surface it is densely packed rocks.

Lucky old Simon eh 😆 He must be pitching on perfectly manicured lawns 😆

I’m wanting to pitch a tent quickly for a single night then move on again the next day.

We’ve all been there.

He must be pitching on perfectly manicured lawns 😆

I try to where possible!

Want that MSR kludger. Up there with the combined Wera ratchet hammer. But this is STW, where is the artisanal Gransfors hand whittled palladium Thor hammer with elk antler shaft and walrus scrotum leather handle? 

I’ve a small Mel for the 30cm bent rebar pegs on our bell tent. It sends them in with a satisfyingly “resistance is useless“ vogon-esque THUNK!

I imagine Scandinavia is going to be similar geology to Scotland due to glaciers/volcanic landscapes etc, and just below the surface it is densely packed rocks.

Lucky old Simon eh 😆 He must be pitching on perfectly manicured lawns 😆

My Spanish soils a bit mad, I’ve got the screw in pegs as the grounds like concrete.

Was playing with my bike tarp an realized that it’s going to be looking for big stones whilst out in the fields or stuff to tie too.

Can you truly call yourself an overlander (lite or otherwise) if you don’t have rooftent and a second one over your galley trailer?

actual experience:

They are good when they are good.

In baked hard clay, just the ticket.

In gravelly stony ground, just as crap as everything else, and a screwing motion doesnt deflect pebbles and rocks to the side like hammering can. I bought 40 to put our big tent up with, but abandoned them because the pitch has been graded and was hardcore below 20mm.

I bought these of Amazon, but they are actually cheaper in Go Outdoors in the end.

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15904939/hi-gear-screw-tent-pegs-hexagonal-head-15904939

i did look at buying some long screws and washers from screwfix, but by the time you get up to a decnt length, theyre actually quie expensive and dont come with the neat nylon retainer hook., or the driver bit.

i think it can reccomend them, but im not sure i would reccomend them if they are your only option.

Good to have in the van, with the other pegs.

@RustyNissanPrairie have you looked in the Nordisk tent bag yet – the tent pegs are quality.

Can you truly call yourself an overlander (lite or otherwise) if you don’t have rooftent and a second one over your galley trailer?

We don’t have an Instagram account either😳

fossy
Full Member

@RustyNissanPrairie have you looked in the Nordisk tent bag yet – the tent pegs are quality

No not looked yet!

The reason I’m asking about screw in pegs and speeding things up is that we used to have an overlanding 110 with a rooftent. It was quick to deploy and pack away.
We then had a LWB van and a large 6man tent – that was obviously slower.

We now have an XC90 but more crucially a dog that we never had on previous travels (the main reason we are going to Finland) so a rooftent won’t work.

I was looking at Oztents and Dometic inflatable boot awnings but was going to do the NEC camping show before deciding. The Nordisk kinda fell into our lap but it’s ‘old school’s tent pegging so was just wanting to speed things up to Oztent speeds or reduce faffage to Dometic inflatable levels.

Mate has as Dometic Rally Air Pro. Yes its massively spacious, but by god its a faff to put up in anything but a still calm day. It also packs down to something the size of a dishwasher. I’d hardly call it convenient or quick.

Can get copies of the MSR Stake Hammer on ebay for £15 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304930588780?

And it say SunDick!!!! 🤪

If we’re talking about massively overkill hammers, might I suggest the one I use too? https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Anchors/BONGO

I could have just bought another cheap lump hammer from screwfix but I really wanted it

Another tent peg I love is the MSR Cyclone, holds really well in soft stuff like deep forest loam (I bought 4 of the MSR ones for my tarp and then found exactly the same thing in bags of 20 on aliexpress for a fraction of the cost) and the twist should help them hammer into hard stuff without bending

https://www.msrgear.com/ie/tents/tent-accessories/cyclone-tent-stakes/05806.html

Most of the time you’ll be pitching in very soft soil, or stuff with rocks, and with neither of those screw in pegs are the answer.  I haven’t used the cyclones, but stakes make the former work a lot better.

If you want to get pitched quickly get a self standing tent , or one that only needs 4 or 6 points to keep it up, and only put the rest in when it’s windy.

Signed, man who does a fair bit of camping in Scandinavia. 🙂

Get a tent that doesn’t need pegs.

EG: wild country quasar

Quasar will stand with no pegs, but the porch doors at either end will be a flappy useless nuisance. Also I’m insane enough to car camp with a quasar, on my own for 2 nights. I doubt anyone else would be and with 2 people & a hound it’s basically a survival pod.

Get a tent that doesn’t need pegs.

EG: wild country quasar

We snagged one of the massively reduced Nordisk tents from Wiggle. The £1k+ savings are going in the fuel/longer off work pot.

Will also have this guy besides us snoring away so I think the voluminous Nordisk will work well for us.

The pegs are in the middle of the flysheet. Carefully take the flysheet out its bag and just slightly unfold it. They are there. You’ll likely just be able to shove in with your feet or a hammer quickly enough. Don’t forget there arent many tent poles so will go up quick anyway.