FeatherSticks · Tools
Carving Tent Pegs, Toggles & Camp Gadgets: Wooden Stakes That Hold
Lost a tent peg? Ten minutes and a stick make a better one.
Quick facts
- Time
- 10–20 min per peg, 10–15 min per toggle
- Difficulty
- Easy; one stop cut and one ramp per notch
- Best for
- Lost or forgotten stakes, tarp guylines, sand and snow
- You need
- Fixed-blade knife, folding saw, baton, first aid kit
What you need
- Fixed-blade or sloyd knife with a strop
- Small folding saw for blanks and stop cuts
- Wooden baton or carved mallet
- Pocket-knife awl or reamer for tensioner holes
- Guyline or paracord for toggles and tests
- Cut-resistant glove for the holding hand
- First aid kit with pressure bandage
Step by step
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1 Pick sound wood, legally
Use sound deadfall or green hardwood you are allowed to take. Rotten, crumbly wood breaks. Never cut a living tree without permission.
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2 Clear your blood circle
Sit down, check that nobody is within arm plus blade length, and brace your work on a stump beside the knee.
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3 Saw blanks to length
Saw thumb-thick rods into 20–25 cm blanks and saw each stop cut a third of the diameter deep.
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4 Carve notch, point and chamfer
Slope thin cuts into the stop cut, carve a 5–6 cm point with three or four facets and chamfer the head all round.
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5 Add toggles and a tensioner
A grooved toggle gives a quick release, a flat two-hole runner tensions a guyline without knots.
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6 Drive at 45° and test
Drive the peg with a baton, head leaning away from the pull, line under the shoulder of the notch. Pull hard before you trust it.
Common mistakes
- Carving towards the thigh or with the stick in your lap.
- Cutting the notch deeper than a third of the diameter, so the head breaks off.
- Carving a long needle point that snaps in stony ground.
- Skipping the chamfer and striking the peg with an axe or a stone.
- Putting the notch on the side facing the shelter.
- Using rotten deadfall or cutting living trees without permission.
- Loading a snow deadman before it has set.