How to Make a Multifunctional Tent/utility Stake

I bought a tent and lost the majority of the stakes on the first campout. Not only had that, but the remaining ones are all bent. Also, the bent ones now poke through the bag the tent came. Does this sound familiar? Of course it doesn't matter the bent stakes poke holes in the tent bag because the tent never fit back into the bag it was purchased in. Eventually everyone has to purchase a larger bag than your tent came in. It is recreational industry rule. Everything from sleeping bags to croquet sets never goes back into the bags/boxes they were originally purchased in. It is a marketing concept; "make sure the customer has to come back to purchase a larger bag/box." This keeps the customer coming back so industry can sell them other recreational products they will not be able to get back into contraptions they were purchased in. It is a vicious cycle. Okay, I will move along now. Here is a product that you may easily build that solves many problems concerning tent stakes or just staking that blanket at the beach.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• • 5 inches of schedule 40 polyvinyl chloride (pvc) pipe. • One ¼ inch carriage bolt, length = 6 inches. • One ¼ inch wing nut. • Two 5/6 inch washers. • PVC cutter (hack saw will work also). • Dr

1. Purchase pvc pipe. You probably will not be able to purchase a schedule 40 polyvinyl chloride (pvc) pipe in a small increment such as 5 inches. But, you should be able to purchase increments of five feet.

2. Measure/mark and cut a five inch pvc pipe

3. Clean off pvc burr debris with fine sandpaper from end of pvc pipes

4. Using measuring device and sharpie marker, make a mark on pvc pipe 2 ½ inches from end. This will be your center

5. With drill/drill press and 5/6 inch bit attached, drill hole perpendicular to the length of the pipe through both walls of pvc pipe

6. Place one 5/16 inch washer on 6 inch carriage bolt's end and run the bolt through the two holes drilled in step 5.

7. 
    

   Place one 5/16 inch washer on 6 inch carriage bolt followed by ¼ inch wing nut and fasten 6 inch carriage bolt to pvc pipe.

8. Stake down tent or beach blanket

9. When finished camping, pull stake out, clean off carriage bolt with wet rag.

10. Unscrew wing nut and pull bolt from pvc pipe.

11. Leave 5/16 inch washer on flange side of bolt and run bolt inside of pvc pipe.

12. 
     

    Place remaining 5/16 inch washer on bolt and secure with wing nut.

Tips & Warnings

• • I would recommend schedule 40 pvc pipe. It has thicker wall than pvc irrigation pipe. • There are several pvc cutters on the market. If you do not want to purchase one, a hacksaw should suffice. • Bring a rag and container of water with when camping. This you will need to clean off the carriage bolt threads to allow the wing nut to unscrew easily. • Bring a little motor oil with to oil your bolt and wing nut periodically. Cooking oil may be substitute. • One does not have to use a wing nut. I just use so I can take it apart and re-secure the bolt inside of the pvc pipe for storage purposes. • There are many variations you can do with this concept. For example; I put a small rope through the pvc pipe and tied it the two ends together forming a loop. This makes it easier to pull the stake out of the ground.