Pegs Pegs Pegs

I’m sure I am not the only one that has rather a lot of pegs, all different types, sizes and styles. But which do you prefer and, which do you find perform the best for you personally?

I generally carry 6 Easton Golds, 6 Ground Hogs and some smaller pins or nails for inners or additional guy points as needed. In winter I add four to six MSR Blizzards.

I do have some Titan Ground Anchors on order. These are apparently a pre order though which was not mentioned on the eBay listing and I look forward to giving them a try out and will update the post once I have done so.

Top Left – 3fUL Carbon Nails – Not used in anger yet. I received these in error after ordering the alloy version to compare with my Easton’s.
They weight 7g inc the cord and seem relatively robust and well made.
Place in my garden at 45 degrees and using some luggage scales these took around 15KG before they started to shift and pull out.

Top Right – Easton Golds – By far my favourite peg. These ones are some of my originals, around 3 years old and have been used in boggy ground, rocky ground, loose gravel and all sorts. Using the same method above they took 29KG before they started to move and pulled out of the ground around 36KG

These are available in black within the UK from Valley and Peak – https://valleyandpeak.co.uk/brands/easton/tents-and-shelters/backpacker-9-22-5cm-tent-peg/

Bottom Right – MSR Ground Hogs – Second favourite peg and along with the gold Easton’s, always in my pack. They hold very well but can become sharp fairly easily if bashed with a rock on top of pushed in to rocky ground.
They started to move at 28KG and pulled out with logs of my garden attached at 31KG

Bottom Left – MSR Blizzard – Snow/Wet Ground Anchor. Amazing holding power for around 33g peg peg. I only cary these in winter or when I know I am going to end up somewhere boggy or really wet.
I carry one all the time as my cat hole trowel and used this in the pull test. It started to move a little at 47KG but I could not pull out out of the ground although it did move about an inch.

Top Left – Wild Sky Gear Carbon sticks. A recent purchase and Only really to hold an inner in place . They pulled out at 4.6KG and although seem very strong have next to no use/holding power IMO.

Bottom Left – Titanium Hooks – I think these came with my GoLite SL3. They pulled out with relative ease and bent at 14KG.

Top Right – Easton Blue or 6” – a few of these came with a set I bought from another hiker and some other camera with Tarptents I owned. They are pretty good pegs but don’t have as much holding power as the Golds, starting to move at 13KG and pulled out at 15KG.

Bottom Right – Tera Nova Pin Hooks – This are laughable pegs TBH. They pulled out with no trouble at all and I only carry them to hold my stove windshield to the ground when its windy or other items under a tarp or tent. 

Top Left – V pegs that came with an Asta Gear Mid. Pretty strong but poor holding power, puling out at 8KG.

Middle Left – Toaks Titanium V Pegs – These are ok and hold fairly well but bend with ease IME. The pulled out at 16KG

Bottom Left – Alpkit Hooks – Heavy for what they are and seemingly soft but can be bent back easy enough. They pull out at around 10KG.

Top Right – Ali Express Y Peg (Orange) – Soft, poor quality, cheap, bend and snap with ease. 

Middle Right – Alpkit Nails – My first nail type peg and I use them in the garden often. They bend fairly easily but can be reshaped a few times before snapping. The tops screen on and after a while the threads flatten and wear. They hold very well moving at 24KG and pulling out at 30KG

Bottom Right – Alpkit Y Beam – Fairly soft and bendy but good pegs and can be bent back to shape. As with the Ground Hogs, smacking the tops can cause sharp edges. They moved at 22KG and pulled out at 27KG.

My lawn is fairly soft on top but quite rocky underneath and this was a very un-scientific test lockdown boredom test. 

Table of Results
Please keep in mind, these tests were carried out in my garden, during the winter in Scotland. It had not rained for a few days and the air temp was +6C

8 comments
  1. Interesting bit of ‘bro science’, cheers for posting. I also use the Eastons and supplement with 2g titanium shepherd hooks or for lighter trips I’ll take the Ruta Locura carbon nails. These hold as well as the Eastons do but can snap if you’re not being careful with them.

    1. Thanks Rob, I had some Ruta pegs and gave them away. These 3F ones look nearly identical if I am honest. I will give them a go and see what they are like in the real world.

  2. I also am waiting for titan pegs, over a month now!
    If you are on facebook, head here https://www.facebook.com/titangroundanchor they are on pre order basis.

    1. A friend point out the preorder bit a while back. I was notified of dispatch yesterday so any time now.

  3. Are those gold pegs sold in the UK?

    1. Valley and Peak sell them but they are black not gold – https://valleyandpeak.co.uk/brands/easton/tents-and-shelters/backpacker-9-22-5cm-tent-peg/
      I will add the link above in the main post.

  4. You won’t go wrong with Groundhogs in most situations. I carry Groundhogs with a few ti pins to secure things inside. I use the same pegs for everything even for my Hillebergs. I have broken a few of the Hilleberg pegs and they seem to get more fragile and smaller every year. I used to like the delta pegs but they failed me big time in Wales when I could only get an inch in the ground and I actually broke one.

  5. been using easton’s for 6 years or more with a few msr hogs and other than the caps coming off on a few never had an issue just glue the caps back on. i ordered the new anchors and they were crap in all but rock hard ground. the seller was crap too and too busy to message folk back!

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