Ever tried to erect a tent on sand with standard metal stakes? Well, let’s just say it ain’t going to work!
At A Glance: Our Top 3 Tent Stakes For Sand
With the best tent stakes for sand, you’ll have your tent pitched and secure within minutes instead of macgyver-ing a solution.
There is always one thing on my mind when heading out camping, and it’s where am I going to pitch my tent? My mind wanders to the perfect spot with an overhanging branch for shade and stunning views across the mountains or into the sea. But I always forget to think about my tent stakes and the ground they’re going into.
I’ve been caught out numerous times when the ground is too soft and I spend hours trying to anchor my tent because I don’t have tent stakes for sand with me. When camping on sand, you need the ideal tent stakes for it, the ones that come with your tent won’t get the job done.
The list below are some of the best on the market and should solve your problem in no time!
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![]() | Best For Soft Sand
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Best On A Budget
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The first choice for the best tent stakes for sand is the MSR Blizzard Stake Kit.
The stake kit comes with 4 stakes/pegs and weighs a total of 2.96 oz making them pretty portable as they won’t add much weight to your pack.
The stakes are made from extremely durable and light 7075-series aluminum, so you can rest assured they aren’t going to break or rust when you use them at the beach.
Their design features a broad profile with 6 holes down the length of each stake. The broad profile ensures that the stake holds well in both sand and snow, while the holes allow pieces of sand to move into the gap to anchor them further.
It’s these design features that truly make them one of the best tent stakes for sand you can find. They are so effective that you can even use them as a deadman anchor.
These tent stakes for sand are quite expensive and you’ll probably need two packs to pitch your tent properly, but they are top quality and should last you a lifetime.
The Big Agnes Blowdown Tent Anchor is a little different from the other best tent stakes for sand featured in the article. It’s not really a stake as much but more of a sandbag/tent anchor design.
The anchor comes with a bag connected to a rope and carabiner. To use it, just fill the bag with sand/stones/snow, tighten it up and clip it to your tent’s pegging points.
This design makes them one of the best tent stakes for sand, snow, and rocky surfaces. Any kind of ground where a tent peg won’t hold, or can’t penetrate, these anchors come into their own.
The bag is made from a super durable nylon taffeta with a non-PVC nylon tarpaulin bottom. The base is covered with a no-skid layer so the anchor holds and is very abrasion-resistant so that it lasts.
While the design is fantastic, each anchor is quite expensive and you’ll need at least 4-6 of them to hold your tent securely. Plus they each weigh 6 oz. and are a little bulky so they lose marks for portability too.
The Azarxis Aluminum Snow & Sand Tent Stakes are probably the best tent stakes for sand if you’re shopping on a budget.
Their design is exactly the same as the MSR Blizzard stakes feature above with a board surface area and holes for the sand or snow to slip into, to give you a solid anchor.
These best tent stakes for sand are also made of aluminum so you can use them at the beach without worry as they will not rust. Being made from aluminum, they are also light and a set of 6 weights just 11 oz, and won’t weigh your pack down much a all.
Something to bear in mind is that these tent stakes are not made for use on grass or any hard ground and will bend or possibly break. That being said, they do come with a 20-month seller guarantee that should have you covered if any breakage should happen.
Overall, these tent stakes get the job done when camping on sand or snow and are ideal if you’re on a budget.
Another different approach to the best tent stakes for sand is the Orange Screws: The Ultimate Ground Anchors. Instead of being stakes, or a sandbag, these are big old screws that hold well in soft ground.
Each screw is made from 100% recycled materials and comes with a lifetime breakage guarantee, so you’re getting some of the best tent stakes for sand, for life with these.
They work in sand and soft ground thanks to their large burley threads that all sand to sit on top of each park of the stake/screw, ensuring that it holds well.
They are great for all soft grounds, but not the best on loose sand, and will pull out quite easily. This means you may have to dig to find harder/wet sand for them to hold properly.
You get 4 orange screws in one pack, so you’ll probably need to buy two sets to have you’re tent rigged properly. They are super light and portable though, so carrying 8 of them around will barely affect your pack weight.
The next best tent stakes for sand are the IFECCO Camping Tent Stakes.
These stakes use a screw design that allows sand to sit on top of the thread to create a steady anchor, far more so than a traditional stake.
You can use these tent stakes on soft soil and snow too, making them quite a good all-rounder but the thread on the screws is a little small, meaning they will only work on the wet sand and not so well on loose dry sand.
You can 12 stakes in one pack, and for a very affordable price. They are made from plastic nylon for durability and will survive unless driven into the hard ground where they tend to snap.
From a portability perspective, these are one of the best stakes for sand around weighing just 8.88 oz for a pack of 12. You’ll barely notice them in your pack when hiking around the wilderness.
The Azarxis Tent Sand Stakes combine the screw design of some of the other best tent stakes for sand with aluminum as the material instead of plastic.
These don’t quite have the same screw design and are more like normal stakes with a spiral which made for use in all ground types from sand to soil.
The issue with trying to do it all is that this stake is a master of none. Despite being light, portable, and durable thanks to being made of high-quality 7001 aeronautical aluminum alloy, the stakes can bend or break going into hard ground and don’t have a large enough thread to work well on loose soft sand.
But this does make them great for everything between wet sand and mud to soft grassy soil.
Overall, these are some of the best stakes for sand if you’re not camping at the beach and want one set of stakes that will work in most ground types.
There are three different design types featured in the best tent stakes for sand above including; screws, bags, and holed stakes. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages and picking the right type is key to having a set of stakes you can use as often as possible.
Bag anchors are pretty much like a sandbag that you can fill with either sand, snow, or rocks and clip to your tent to ensure it’s anchored properly. These are the best when camping on rock or super soft and loose sand or snow, where stakes won’t work that well. The downside is they are expensive and bulky, plus you’ll need at least 4-6 of them.
Screw stakes work in the sand because each thread of the screw lets sand sit on top of it ensuring a solid anchor. But, for this to work, the thread needs to be wide enough. When buying this kind of stake, make sure the thread is as wide as possible or they won’t work well when the sand is soft.
Holed stakes have a broad surface area and multiple holes down the shaft to let sand sit amongst the stake and anchor is properly. These are very effective and work well but will struggle to hold down a tent is loose and soft sand, so make sure to dig down to place them.
So how do you know which type is right for you? You may have noticed that all the stakes featured in the article are not just made for sand but all loose grounds including snow, and even rock in the bag’s case.
Think about where you’re planning on camping and what the terrain is like. Are you going to be on a beach on loose sand? On a riverbank with semi-solid wet sand? Do you camp equal amounts on snow, rock, grass, and loose sand? Or spend most of your time on hard soil and occasionally on sand?
Once you have answered the questions above in your head, you’ll be able to decide on the right type of stakes. If you’re on loose sand, snow, and rock, the bag is best. If you’re on wet solid sand, and grass the most, then either the holed or screw stakes will work best for you.
Tent stakes live a tough life. They are driven into the ground and left out in the elements the entire time your tent is pitched. In order to survive these rigors, they need to be made of some quality materials.
When it comes to the best tent stakes for sand you want them to be corrosion resistant as there is a high chance you’ll be camping near the sea or a lake/river.
All the stakes featured in the review are either made from aluminum, plastic, or nylon fabric. All of these materials are impervious to corrosion and will survive fine when in contact with salt water, just be sure to give them a rinse afterward.
A material you should avoid is coated steel as the coating will wear off and corrosion will set in. Plus it’s a super heavy material to carry around.
The type of stake you choose and the material it’s made out of is going to affect how portable it is. The last thing you need is to ann unnecessary extra weight to your backpack, especially if you’re going on a week-long camping hike changing pitches every few days.
When shopping for the best stakes for sand, make sure you check the weight of the pack and double it if you’ll need two packs of stakes to anchor your tent properly.
All the stakes featured in the review are light and portable, weight a maximum of 11 oz for a full stake kit, except for the anchor bag. The bag design is a little bulky and heavy so be aware of that when you click add to cart.
The best tent stakes for sand in the review are the MSR Blizzard Stake Kit. These tent stakes are light, portable, durable, and their broad and holed design ensures that they hold your tent down securely in both sand and snow.
The best tent stakes for sand, if you’re camping on super soft sand, is the Big Agnes Blowdown Tent Anchor. Their bag design means that no matter how loose the sand is, you can still anchor your tent securely by filling up the bag with sand. They are also work great when camping on rock or snow too.
The best tent stakes for sand, if you’re on a budget, are the Azarxis Aluminum Snow & Sand Tent Stakes. These have a broad and holed design that anchors well in the sand, are made from aluminum for durability and are light enough not to weigh your pack down on the trail.