DIY Ultralight Carbon Tent Stakes for Backpacking

DIY carbon tent stakes made from recycled arrow shafts. 

I've been testing and tweaking these for a bit and this is the most durable and lightest I've come up with yet. The other designs I've tried on here that look more traditional tend to break easily at the head, especially if you trip on them. 

In this version I took advantage of carbons strength and set the top cap over it. Doing so solved the problems of the heads breaking off and so far I've had no other issues. The 6" stakes come in around 5-7g.

There are two files included. One is with a single set of parts to print and get the sizing right for your arrow shafts (each brand/model is a bit different). Use the scale option in your slicer to scale up/down by a few percent. 

The other is for a full set of eight stakes once you get the scale needed. The shafts I had were 6.1mm I.D. and 7.8mm O.D.

Printing/Cutting/Assembly:

I printed in PETG since they will be in the sun a lot. 2mm height, 100% infill

I've linked a jig I created below which helps speed up the cutting the arrow shafts, as well makes it safer. The far slot is all the way through to allow the fletching to be cut off. The middle slot is 8" and the closest slot is 6". I used a jig saw at full speed and it worked well.

Cutting Jig - https://www.printables.com/model/1196085-cutting-jig-for-ultralight-carbon-tent-stakes

I recommend wrapping the arrows with a small piece of masking tape where you plan to cut to help with splintering. Be sure to wear safety glasses and a mask, you don't want that stuff in your eyes/lungs. 

A drop of super glue on the part shafts before inserting them all the way will keep them put.