Pegs, Pegs, Pegs!

It's common sense to have a few different types of pegs for camping to cope with different soil conditions and to cope with the stress put on the peg by stormy weather. In most cases the tent is actually standing upright only because of pegs. I cannot stress how important they can be especially in bad weather conditions, where they could potentially save you from injury or worse! (Edit: what could be worse? Well your tent could blow away, and for me that would be a fate worse than death)

A tunnel tent for example, is not a self supporting structure. A dome tent is, but a Tepee or Bell Tent only has one pole, and the pegging points give them their shape. So pegs and guy ropes are essential. 

My advice is to have a selection of wire pegs, yellow plastic pegs, V pegs and Rock pegs at the very least. Add in a couple of Delta Ground Anchors and you are ready for anything. You also need a rubber or wooden mallet, and a claw hammer. 

Here are a few different types and their uses:

Wire Pegs

Wire pegs are flimsy and bend easily. They come with your tent when you purchase it and although they vary in quality they are mostly good for spare pegs, or lending out pegs. They are not suitable for guy ropes unless used in mild weather wth no wind but you can use them to peg down the main tent, although best to use something a bit heavier like a V peg for the corners of the tent. You can sometimes get away without using a mallet, as you push them in with your hand or drive it home with the sole of your shoe (needs must!). You can buy replacement packs for a few pounds, and discount shops like B&M Bargains will do a pack of 10 for 99p.

Rock Peg

Rock pegs are like very long nails and you need a claw hammer to bang these in to the ground. They are designed to go through stony or hard ground and come in a variety of colours, most commonly green but also a glow in the dark yellow. They are very good in stormy conditions and are a must have in my opinion. They are a bugger to get out though, so keep that claw hammer ready as the back of the hammer is great for levering these things out. A pack of 6 will come in around a fiver. In Halfords they are called 'Ground Hogs'. There is also a screw in version which you can insert in to the ground with a drill and Blue Diamond and Kampa both make screw in versions. 

Plastic Pegs

These pegs nearly always come in yellow, and they are made from a rigid plastic. Because they are thicker they have a lot of  grip on the ground and are ideal for soft muddy ground. They are also the peg to use on sand or sandy ground so if you are pitching a windbreak on a beach and need to add guy ropes to the windbreak, these are the ones you'll need. In soil you will need a mallet but in sand you can probably push them in. They are cheap at about £3 for a pack of 6. 

Steel V Pegs

I use Steel V Pegs in the corners of my tent, and also on guy ropes. They are wide, which increases the surface area that is in contact with the soil. They will power, with a good amount of whack, through stony soil and hard ground. Some tents will come with a few of these as part of the pack. They also come in Titanium for weight conscious backpackers. You will need a mallet to insert these into the ground, and either a peg puller or the back of a claw hammer, to get them out again. A pack of 5 if currently £4 on Amazon Uk. 

Delta Ground Anchors

These are the life saver pegs. These Delta pegs come in to their own in windy conditions. In soggy soil, they are wide enough to provide some grip. They are designed in such a way that the more pressure that is put on them from the guy rope, the further they embed in to the soil. There are metal versions of this peg as well. A few deltas, particularly on the windward side, could seriously save your tent. An additional bonus is that they sit flush with the ground so they are much less of a trip hazard, and the bright yellow means they are still visible in the grass. They are sold individually from Camping World at £2.49 each. I got a pack of 10 direct from Delta Ground Anchors. You will need something strong like a peg puller or the back of a claw hammer to extract them from the ground. 

Wooden Pegs

These are the pegs that Bell Tents often come with, and they are stronger and sturdier than most pegs. They appeal to bushcrafters and with a little bit of effort, you can make them on the go out of found wood as long as there is a notch to hold the guy rope in place. Great for windy conditions, they are also good for very churned up 'pea soup' ground as they are driven in to the ground further than most pegs. Free from any forest or about £10 for a pack of 6. 

In extreme circumstances, you may want a marquee peg. These are the pegs used to hold down Marquees (funnily enough) but also used by the bouncy castle industry. When would you use these? Well, possibly when you are trying to hold down an awning with a storm strap (wide webbing strap), or when you have extremely poor soil or extremely bad weather. In which case I'd have to question your sanity of camping in the first place. I saw a pack of 4 (38cm length) on Ebay uk for £14. 

Mushroom Peg 

Groundsheet Peg 

Both these pegs are designed to be flush with the ground, and are ideal for holding down the footprint or builders tarp underneath your tent. They are designed so that you do not trip over them. They are supposed to pushed directly down into the soil, and not at an angle as all the other pegs I have featured are. The Mushroom Peg usually comes in grey. I picked some Mushroom pegs up for 99p in a discount store. 

Pegging Methods:

You need to insert your peg in to the ground at roughly a 45 degree angle from the ground to ensure it does not get pulled out by the guy rope as the tent flexes in the breeze. 

Cross pegging is a method to increase the strength of your pegs in windy weather. Put the peg slightly sideways on and hammer in. Then insert another peg through the same loop, and in to the same ground surface but turn sideways in the other direction before hammering in. It is incredibly difficult to remove both pegs at the same time as the base of the pegs are spread far apart underground. 

The Wild Atlantic Campsite and the Wild Wind

Camping at the Wild Atlantic Campsite in a storm.

The Wild Atlantic Campsite is in North Donegal right in the village of Creeslough. It is a hilly terrain and the campsite is downhill from a main street which has shops, dwellings and a fuel station along it. The effect is that when you are on the campsite the road and buildings are above you. The campsite has an all-weather sports pitch, an extensive childrens playground, and a bike hire facility. At the bottom of the site is a mini golf course. This area was waterlogged and was not being used as a golf course at the moment. Creeslough itself is about 6 miles from Dunfanaghy, which is a popular holiday home area and has a bit of an arty buzz to it (and a strong smell of money) from the newly retireds, who wander down the street with matching pale blue sweaters over their shoulders in true sloan style, in search of a latte. This is not deepest Ireland as you'd see it in the postcards, it's not a place with 17 pubs down one side of the street and 12 down the other. There's not a shamrock in sight, even the 'trad' music is cool acoustic jazz. Apparently there's even a Jazz festival in September.

On the Friday evening I ended up in Dunfanaghy. This was mainly because I needed a bank machine to get Euros as I had not time to sort that out while I was still in the 'North' (paradoxically, I was geographically more 'North' than my own home town but people from Northern Ireland and Ireland will know well that 'The North' means Northern Ireland which has sterling instead of Euros and Donegal, despite being geographically north, is considered 'The South' as it is a county of good old Eire. I include this for my English relatives who are all a bit confused by the distinction.) Anyway I knew for a fact that there was a bank machine in Dunfanaghy but not sure about the whereabouts of bank machines in Creeslough. On a practical note, it turns out the bank machine in the Centra Shop, in Dunfanaghy, is in fact the only bank machine around for miles. Welcome to Ireland.

The second reason for going to Dunfanaghy is that I knew I could get a really fancy, very tasty gourmet pizza in a pub with music (soft acoustic) and I knew because I'd been once last year. The pub is called Patsy Dans and it has this really cool beer garden with lots of glowing lights and vintage furniture. It was too cold to sit outside and so I ended up sharing a table indoors with two other women who chatted away and made me feel a little less lonely, as sitting on your own is never that much fun.

My podding friends weren't turning up until the next day. I spent a bit of time glamping my new Bell Tent up and really enjoyed having the luxury of a double bed this time. I took a 'readybed' and layered it underneath with mats for insulation and on top with blankets. I was going for a blue theme as I have a blue 'Beanstalk camping kitchen which is a collectable retro item now. The wind was quite bad and I didn't sleep that well due to the noise and worry about the fact I'd pitched under a tree, and I was concerned the wind would knock a branch down. Little was I to know that the storm was only going to get worse.

The following day the tent didn't seem to be coping all that well with the now incessant rain. A few places on the polycotton developed white patches which seemed to have drops of rain coming through the fabric (although it did not actually drip) and the wind was getting stronger and the tent was bowing in on one side. I got my peg bag out of the car and replaced all the windward side pegs with deltas.

It felt quite restrictive being in a Bell Tent in the rain, but the two windows came in to their own for the first time in the use of the tent so far. Honestly the walls would have been closing in if it wasn't for the fact that I could see out. So glad I have those windows and worth going polycotton for that feature alone.

I went off for a drive to check out another nearby campsite, but the storm was so bad I could barely get out of the car. When I got back to the campsite I parked the car on the windward side of the tent to take some pressure from the guyropes, which looked like they would snap.

As the day became night (and my friends and I went for a takeaway to a place conveniently beside the campsite) the storm gusted to approximately 35 miles per hour, according to accuweather - and when I went to bed that night I felt genuinely scared, and that I was really stupid for being in a canvas bag, under a pine tree, in what amounted to a Force 7 gale. The Accuweather proclaimed a weather warning for wind and for flooding was in place. I did sleep fitfully, but the wind would whoosh so loudly overhead and then hit the tent a second or two later, that I did think I could be in real danger.

Somehow, the tent and I survived until morning. The wind subsided and the sun even tried to come out. I went to the onsite coffee shop with my friends and it was decided that we'd go to the beach. Honestly, if you'd seen us you'd have thought it was December. I was in a heavy winter coat, my friends where in coats, hats and gloves and their kids were in wellies, hats, waterproof jackets and scarves. We enjoyed the beach anyway. We found mussels - I brought some home. Soaked them, ate them, they were nearly restaurant size. They were lovely.

I arrived back on site about 1pm and found a couple in a campervan were waiting for me to leave. It was my own fault, I should have packed in the morning. It being a Sunday I'd assumed I'd not have to rush off site. I even considered staying another night (as the weather was to vastly improve) but it was not to be. I actually don't think this couple had to take my pitch, as there were others available. But it was clear that they fancied my pitch and so it was that I had to pack up sharpish. They went for a walk so at least I was able to get on with it without an audience. However the heavens opened again and I was like a drowned rat, and now I'm home with a hideous wet tent.

The Bell Tent

Pros

It kept standing even in a Force 7 Gale even though it didn't look like it would.
It was nice to glamp it up a bit
It has windows

Cons

It's too heavy, it's a beast. I can barely handle it. I'm not exactly fit though.
The PVC floor is so substantial that it doesn't fold up easily when one person is having to do it by themselves.
It doesn't dry that quickly.
It's quite big so you take too much stuff to put inside it.