How to Make Sand Tent Anchors

One of the more difficult surfaces on which to secure a tent is sand. The sand is too loose to use conventional stakes. When you must use a sandy campsite, employ a little camping trick and turn the inconvenient surface to your advantage. The sand may be loose, but it is also a heavy material that when contained makes a great tent anchor. If you face such circumstances, use what you have in the camping kit to make the tent solid as a rock is the sand.

Things You'll Need

  • Hand trowel
  • Stuff sacks
  • Paracord or line
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Instructions

    • 1

      Set up the tent and ready it for stakes. Run the tent guy-lines (paracord) out from the dedicated tent guy-loops.

    • 2

      Assemble at least four stuff sacks. Inn a pinch, use sleeping bag sacks, ditty bags or kitchen pot stuff bags.

    • 3

      Fill the bags with the loose sand. Fill each bag at least three-fourths full. Cinch down the openings and coil the guy-line around the neck of the stuff sack, creating heavy stuff sack anchor stakes.

    • 4

      Tie the bags to the tent's guy lines. Extend them out as far as the line will go and dig a hole in the sand at least 12 inches down where the line's reach ends. Drop the sand-bag into the hole and fill back in with loose sand.

    • 5

      Go around the tent, burying the stuff sack anchor stakes. This secures the tent as solidly as tent stakes in hard ground.