Vargo Titanium Ascent Tent Stake Review

Most campers put little thought into the stakes that they use. With newer tents, you almost don’t need to because they often come with v-shaped stakes. It wasn’t always that way. Just a mere 10 years ago, most tents were shipped with flimsy aluminum pegs that bent the second that they even saw the ground. Not so today — at least with the tents that I’ve bought recently. So, any aftermarket stake that you buy has to be something special. For me that means a lighter and stronger stake beats out the stakes included with a tent any day. With that in mind, I had a chance to test out and review a set of Vargo Titanium Ascent Tent Stakes.

Vargo designed the Vargo Titanium Ascent Tent Stakes as an all-around, ultralight, v-shaped stake designed to be used in sandy soil or snow. The stake itself is lightened by using titanium and then using cutouts to make it even lighter. Vargo includes a reflective cord on the top which increases visibility and makes for easy removal. I typically use guy lines made from MSR’s Reflective Guy Lines or Kelty’s Triptease to avoid tripping at night, so I appreciate the inclusion of reflective cord on the stakes. Vargo claims that the stakes are 6.2 inches long and that they weight 0.3 ounces each. My scaled weighed them at 0.5 ounces with the cord.

I primarily used the stakes in soft soil or gravel in front country tent pads with my Kelty TrailLogic TN2 Tent and had no problems with them. They seems to go in easily, pull out just fine and held up under two weeks of camping. Before writing this review, I looked at other reviews on the internet and found SoCalHiker’s review. His stakes bent when used in harder ground. When pounding them in with a rock into a frozen beach, I also bent the stake. If you buy these, I recommend only using even pressure from your foot to sink them.

Vargo’s Titanium Ascent Tent Stakes are nice stakes, they’re lightweight and good for what they’re designed for. If you camp on extremely hard soil or in areas with lots of rocks, be careful that you don’t bend them while getting them into the ground.

• Price: $3.95 each
• Learn more: Vargo’s website.
• Buy from Amazon.com: Vargo Titanium Ascent Tent Stakes

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the Vargo Titanium Ascent Tent Stakes for free from Vargo as coordinated by Deep Creek Public Relations in consideration for review publication.