SectionHiker.com Backpacking Gear Reviews and FAQs 
Paria needle stakes are square aluminum stakes with a curved hook at the end. They’re quite durable, stand up to being pounded with a rock, and the square body has excellent holding power in firm soil and rocky ground. I like using them with lightweight one-person and two-person backpacking tents and tarps that have cord-based guylines, although they also work well with webbing-based guy-out points. The hook at the end captures the guyline and locks it down so it won’t come undone, even if the tent or tarp fabric relaxes at night.
Specs at a Glance
- Weight each: 0.34 oz / 9.6 g
- Material: 7000 series aluminum
- Price: 10 stakes for $19.99
MSR used to sell red needle stakes but stopped a few years ago, despite the protests of backpackers and campers in the know. The only way to get them today is to buy an MSR tent since you can’t buy them separately, that is until now.
Paria Outdoors sells blue-colored needle tent stakes in 10-packs, for only $19.99. They are identical to the red aluminum needle stakes that MSR used to sell and they are much much less expensive than MSR mini-groundhogs, which will run you $4.50 each! I really like the way that the blue color of the Paria Needle Stakes really stands out in natural terrain, making them easy to find if you drop one on the ground.
Highly Recommended!
Just this morning I was looking for the MSR Needle stakes, only to learn they were discontinued. Thanks for turning me on to these!
I’ve been using these with my tarp for a couple of years now. They are well-made and did held llines well during a recent thunderstorm with strong winds.
I have purchased and experimented with most stakes. Including pull testing them with a luggage scale in my back yard – ask my neighbours! I have settled on rock stakes and sand stakes. For sand I use bamboo stakes, available at a gardening store and and cut to 8″ length. They weigh about 0.15 oz each. For rock I use one stronger stake, which I remove once pounded and then replace with a home made bamboo stake. I also carry a small plastic container with about 8 cork board stick pins. These are excellent for walk in campgrounds with 2×6 platforms, for beaches where there are lots of logs and for tarps or higher tent wind anchors to use the adjacent trees.
Also – in a pinch – you can use a pair of them to crochet… something.
I do like my MSR Needle stakes and still have a complete set of 8. After I upgraded almost all my equipment over the last couple of year, the one thing I did not upgrade was my MSR Stakes. Good to know we can still get some needle stakes if needed.
How well do these hold in the ground compared to MSR mini Ground Hog stakes?
They hold as good as the groundhogs in my experience. But the real benefit, besides the fact that they don’t slice up your hands when you try to pull them out is that guy lines and webbing can never slip off the top because of the hook. I hate notched stakes, including groundhogs for that reason.
I used them once in hard soil the top edge tends to warp and even break
Did you try to push them in with your foot or pound them in with a rock? It really does matter. Almost any stake wii bend if you use your foot in hard soil.
They are easy to clean from mud, which is an additional advantage over ground hog type
Aliexpress
10 for $5