HROMIGRY
Lag bolts, 3/8 by 12 inches, 25 with washers
Twelve-inch hex-head lags. One at every foot, and they back out.
Buy this early
Often about $35
Opens in a new tab.Tent stakes for Burning Man wind
The short spikes in the tent bag walk out. Shade lags and rebar are a different piece of metal. They are not the same product.
6 min read
Sits beside Best shade structure for Burning Man/Shade for playa wind/Best tent for Burning Man/Shade anchors
Shop the shade anchors. Each piece is its own listing. We don't ship a kit as one box.
People shop "tent stakes" and "shade anchors" as one search, then buy the spikes in the tent box. The Survival Guide should-bring list says 12-inch stakes, rebar or lag bolts. The securing page says 75-mph winds are a common occurrence, and it describes lags on the order of 12 inches because the head can sit flush. Rebar is the older method on that page. This note is which piece of metal, for which job.
We are an independent outfitter. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Burning Man Project. The event name is used so you know which week this gear is for.
What it is
- Short tent spike
- The kinked stake in a tent or pop-up bag.
- 12-inch lag
- A hex-head screw, 3/8 by 12 inches in the pack we opened.
- Rebar
- A rod you drive, then pull.
On the playa
- Short tent spike
- Bends, walks out, fights you on the way home.
- 12-inch lag
- Screws in, holds, backs out with a socket.
- Rebar
- The point when there are a lot of anchors.
The catch
- Short tent spike
- We stopped using them for this week.
- 12-inch lag
- One at every foot, not just the corners.
- Rebar
- Cap the end, or bend a candy cane. An open rod finds a shin.
| What changes | Short tent spike | 12-inch lag | Rebar |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | The kinked stake in a tent or pop-up bag. | A hex-head screw, 3/8 by 12 inches in the pack we opened. | A rod you drive, then pull. |
| On the playa | Bends, walks out, fights you on the way home. | Screws in, holds, backs out with a socket. | The point when there are a lot of anchors. |
| The catch | We stopped using them for this week. | One at every foot, not just the corners. | Cap the end, or bend a candy cane. An open rod finds a shin. |
The tent
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Read the note
Guy-out every point the tent gives you. A full fly under shade is still the tent. The stake is what keeps the guy line honest when the wind picks up. If the only metal you brought is a six-inch spike, the fly becomes a flag. Angle the stake away from the load. Gloves on. Count them before you leave the hex.
The shade
A straight-leg frame wants a lag or a rebar stake at every foot. The 12-inch hex-head pack we opened includes washers. Twenty-five is more than one 10 by 10 if you place one at every foot and still keep spares. An impact driver is how the camp finishes before the day gets away. A socket on a ratchet will also drive a lag. It is slower. The short stakes that came with the canopy are not this. Ratchet straps still carry the load, including one across the middle so the cloth does not balloon.
Rebar stays until you pull it. Cap every exposed end with a mushroom cap, or bend it. The caps we link are sized for the rods camps actually drive. They come off when the stake comes out, and they go back in the bag. A cap in the dust is moop. A lag through a carport foot is a different job from a lag into open ground. If you are building an EMT camp structure, read the city's securing page before you copy a forum sketch.
The frame and the cloth are the shade structure. When to drop the walls is shade for wind. The fly those stakes are holding is the tent.
Fieaheily
Orange rebar caps
Mushroom caps so an exposed rebar end is visible, and not a bare point.
The 80-pack was $35.90 when we opened the listing.
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DEWALT
DeWalt 20V impact driver, tool only
The driver that puts lag bolts in, and takes them back out.
Buy this early
Often about $130, tool only.
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Camp
Leather work gloves
For rebar, ratchet straps, and the bin lid that fights back.
Often $12–25
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Keeper
Ratchet tie-downs, 1 inch by 12 feet, 4 pack
For the shade, the bins, and the thing that shifted on the drive.
Often $25–40
Opens in a new tab.Questions
- What tent stakes work at Burning Man?
- The Survival Guide's should-bring list says 12-inch tent stakes, rebar or lag bolts. The short kinked spikes that come with a tent or a pop-up walk out in the wind. A 12-inch lag screws in and backs out with a socket. Rebar is the other point when you are driving a lot of them. Cap every exposed end, or bend it into a candy cane.
- Are shade lags the same as tent stakes?
- They are the same family of anchor and a different job. A lag at every foot of a shade frame holds the structure. Guy-out points on a tent want a real stake too, not the six-inch spike in the bag. A lag through a carport foot is yet another job. Read the city's securing page for the structure you are actually building.
- Can I use the stakes that came with the canopy?
- Those are the ones that fail. The straight-leg frame we link still needs 12-inch lags or rebar. The short stakes in that kit stay in the bag. Pull every anchor when you leave. A piece left in the ground finds a tire.
Shop the kit
A kit is the shopping list for one job. Each piece is its own listing. We don't ship it as one box.
