Backpacker here but same deal.
I don't usually pound my stakes at all. I kneel down and push them into the ground with my hands using a stick as a brace. Pounding with a rock makes it much easier to bend or break a stake, so I use that as a last resort and really try to avoid it. Sometimes I even just set a stake down and weigh it down with a rock.
When I'm car camping I use significantly larger and tougher stakes that can survive being repeatedly whacked into a packed camping pad with a mallet, the downside being that the whole set weighs over a pound where my set of backpacking stakes weighs 3oz including the bag.
I started carrying this on tours and love it. [https://www.msrgear.com/tents/tent-accessories/stake-hammer/03074.html](https://www.msrgear.com/tents/tent-accessories/stake-hammer/03074.html)
I have a plastic cap from an Aldi's pepper grinder. It's concave and allows me to push the stake in without bruising my hand. Easy to step on as well to get the last couple of inches.
I have this slick, little aluminum disc with a little indent in the middle, about the size of my palm. Use that to push down stakes with my hands or feet and never have to worry about using a random rock or putting a hole in my shoe
Just use a rock. But if your only criterion for a tool that has only one use and that only one maybe one out of every hundred nights (if that) is that it weighs less than an entire freaking pound, we might be on a different wavelength when it comes to packing. I’d be very curious to see what your loaded bike looks like.
This is exactly why I have a Campagnolo Gran Turismo rear derailleur.
I've never failed using a rock and I've got over 1000 nights on trail.
Backpacker here but same deal. I don't usually pound my stakes at all. I kneel down and push them into the ground with my hands using a stick as a brace. Pounding with a rock makes it much easier to bend or break a stake, so I use that as a last resort and really try to avoid it. Sometimes I even just set a stake down and weigh it down with a rock. When I'm car camping I use significantly larger and tougher stakes that can survive being repeatedly whacked into a packed camping pad with a mallet, the downside being that the whole set weighs over a pound where my set of backpacking stakes weighs 3oz including the bag.
Worse case scenario a shoe or water bottle. ? I've never not been able to find a rock or stick.
PVC t-joint, fits palm of hand perfectly. Tie a loop of guy line thru it that can be used to pull the (stubborn) peg back out later.
A rock, generally. But when there's no rock I use my U Lock.
This.
I don't pound tent pegs I step on them. This has the added benefits of never breaking or bending a peg and not requiring a tool other than a shoe.
My foot
Chunk of wood or rock.
I saw someone suggest a water bottle lid so you don't have the peg dig into your hand and I find it works quite well!
I started carrying this on tours and love it. [https://www.msrgear.com/tents/tent-accessories/stake-hammer/03074.html](https://www.msrgear.com/tents/tent-accessories/stake-hammer/03074.html)
not sure why the downvote I answered the question, which was what do I use. It’s well under a pound, as requested. Damn, Reddit, you suck sometimes
My pegs are right angled aluminium so I use one of them as a handle to push them into the dirt, as well as pulling them out.
I have a plastic cap from an Aldi's pepper grinder. It's concave and allows me to push the stake in without bruising my hand. Easy to step on as well to get the last couple of inches.
I have this slick, little aluminum disc with a little indent in the middle, about the size of my palm. Use that to push down stakes with my hands or feet and never have to worry about using a random rock or putting a hole in my shoe
SPD cleats work in a pinch.
Different response is: use a self supporting tent that doesn't need pegging out. Saves time and potentially weight too.
This is why you get a free standing tent
That only works until it is windy. Then even a freestanding tent needs pegs. Or it blows away as soon as you get out of your tent.
Oh the time at Ride the Rockies when I saw a two man tent about 500 feet in the air headed toward Telluride. Dude never recovered it.
Updoot for RTR. The San Juans are a beautiful place to ride.
Just use a rock. But if your only criterion for a tool that has only one use and that only one maybe one out of every hundred nights (if that) is that it weighs less than an entire freaking pound, we might be on a different wavelength when it comes to packing. I’d be very curious to see what your loaded bike looks like.
yep. that's me. Stupid MF!!
[https://imgur.com/a/5P1I8QY](https://imgur.com/a/5P1I8QY)
Honestly not as bad as I was expecting.
What an honor your critique.