The best tent pegs for every type of ground
· Updated
The pegs bundled with almost every tent are thin round wire skewers, and they hold in soft summer grass and very little else. The right peg depends entirely on the ground you are pitching on, so the campers who never get caught out carry two or three types: a set for firm ground, something wide for soft or sandy pitches, and something hard for stone.
Get this wrong and you learn it the hard way. A skewer bends the moment it hits a buried stone, pulls straight out of dry sand, and skates off dense hill ground without biting. Carry the right peg for the surface and your tent stays put in wind that flattens the pitch next door.
This guide is part of the complete UK camping gear guide from Camping Sites in Britain, where you can find and compare campsites, caravan parks and glamping across the country.
Why the pegs that come with your tent let you down
Standard supplied pegs are thin galvanised wire skewers, usually 3mm to 4mm thick and 18cm to 23cm long, chosen by manufacturers because they are cheap and light, not because they are the best tool for your pitch. They work on a soft, well grazed field in dry summer conditions. Push them into anything firmer and they bend; push them into sand and they slide out under the first gust.
You do not need to bin them. Keep the supplied set for easy grass and add a handful of specialist pegs for the ground you actually camp on. A dozen spare pegs weighs almost nothing and costs a few pounds, which is cheap insurance against a collapsed tent at 2am.
Match the peg to the ground
The simplest rule is to pick your peg by the surface, not by the tent. This table covers the ground you will meet on a British pitch, from a manicured club site to a Highland hillside.
| Ground type | Best peg | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Soft, well grazed grass (easy) | Standard wire skewer | Pushes in by hand, the curved head holds a guy line |
| Firm ground and dry summer fields | Y-section or V-section (groundhog) peg | Rigid, high grip, resists bending, the best all-rounder |
| Soft soil and mud | Wide plastic or heavy steel peg | Large surface area grips ground that a thin peg cuts through |
| Sand and dunes | Wide, screw or purpose-made sand peg | Broad blade or thread holds where a skewer slides straight out |
| Hard, stony and rocky ground | Rock peg or steel nail peg | Thick hardened steel drives through dense ground without bending |
| Snow and frozen ground | Snow stake or buried anchor | Broad blade or a deadman anchor holds in ground with no firmness |
Standard wire skewer pegs: easy grass
Wire skewers are the right peg for soft, well grazed grass and nothing more demanding. They are light, they push in by hand, and the curved or hooked head both holds a guy line and gives you something to pull against when you pack down. Carry them as your default on a maintained club or holiday site in summer.
Their weakness is stiffness. At 3mm to 4mm they warp as soon as they strike a stone or hit firm ground, so pack a few spares and switch to something stronger the moment the skewer starts to bend rather than bite.
Y-section and V-section pegs: firm ground and the best all-rounder
Extruded aluminium Y-section and V-section pegs are the best all-round choice for firm British ground, and they are what to reach for when the supplied skewers stop working. The angled cross-section gives them far more grip and far more rigidity than a round wire peg of the same weight, so they drive into dry summer fields and packed soil without folding over.
These are the pegs experienced campers standardise on. The MSR Groundhog and similar Y-pegs are a common upgrade, typically 18cm to 19cm of aluminium with a pull cord at the head, and a longer 23cm to 25cm version handles softer or looser ground. Buy a full set of these and you have covered most pitches in the UK. They are also light enough for a rucksack, which matters if you are cutting weight on your lightweight camping gear.
Plastic and steel pegs: soft ground and mud
Wide pegs win in soft ground and mud because grip comes from surface area, not from driving deeper. A thin skewer simply slices through wet, loose soil and pulls out, whereas a broad plastic peg or a chunky ribbed steel peg spreads the load and holds. Plastic pegs are light and cheap and shrug off mud, but they crack if they hit a stone and go brittle after long sun exposure, so check them before every trip and replace any that have gone chalky.
For a big, heavy family tent on soft ground, heavy-duty steel pegs with a ribbed or twisted shaft are worth the extra weight. They bite hard, resist bending and stay put under the strain of guy ropes that everyone trips over.
Wide, screw and sand pegs: sand and dunes
Sand and loose dune ground need a peg that grips sideways, because nothing bites downward in it. Purpose-made sand pegs use a wide blade or a screw thread, often 20cm to 30cm long, to lock into loose material that spits a standard peg straight back out. Plastic sand pegs and alloy blades both work.
The reliable trick when the ground gives you nothing is a deadman anchor: tie your guy line around the middle of a peg, a stick or a stuff sack filled with sand, lay it flat in a hole 20cm to 30cm down, and bury it. Buried sideways, it holds far harder than anything you can push in vertically. The same method rescues a pitch on a beach or a bone-dry field.
Rock pegs and steel nail pegs: hard and stony ground
Hard, stony and rocky ground calls for a thick hardened-steel peg you can hammer without it folding. Rock pegs and pin pegs are typically 6mm to 9mm solid steel with a sharp point, often with a hole or ring at the head so you can lever them back out. Steel nail pegs, which have a short flat head and a stout body, do the same job on dense hard-packed soil.
Quality varies, so buy a known brand if you camp on hill or mountain ground, where a cheap peg will mushroom at the head or bend on the first strike. You will meet this ground on the stonier pitches around the Lake District and the Scottish hills, so it is worth having half a dozen rock pegs in the bag before you go.
Snow stakes: snow and very soft ground
Snow and frozen or waterlogged ground offer no firmness, so you anchor rather than peg. Snow stakes are broad aluminium blades or fabric flukes designed to be buried horizontally and packed over, exactly like a deadman anchor. In deep snow, a stuff sack packed with snow and buried on your guy line will hold a tent through a night that would rip out any conventional peg.
How to peg out properly
The peg is only half the job. How you drive it in decides whether it holds, and the same three habits work on every surface.
Angle the peg at 45 degrees away from the tent
Drive each peg at roughly 45 degrees to the ground, leaning away from the tent so the head tilts back from the direction of pull. Angled this way, the full length of the peg works against the guy line or pegging point and it resists lifting far better than a peg hammered straight down, which levers loose under load. Line the peg up with the seam or guy it secures so the pull runs straight down the line.
Use a mallet, not your boot
Carry a mallet and use it. Stamping pegs in with your boot bends thin pegs, drives them at the wrong angle and does not get a rock peg anywhere near deep enough. A rubber or camping mallet seats a peg cleanly, and many have a hook or claw on the head for levering pegs out at the end, which saves your fingers on a cold morning. Leave 2cm to 3cm of the head proud so you can pull each peg without digging.
Guy out for wind
Peg out every guy line before the weather turns, not after. The main pegs hold the tent to the ground, but the guy lines are what stop it flexing and lifting in wind, so run them out from every attachment point, peg them at 45 degrees along the line of the guy, and tension them evenly. Choosing a sheltered pitch does half the work for you, which is covered in our guide to choosing the best location for your tent. Getting the flysheet taut also keeps water running off it, part of keeping a tent dry alongside good tent waterproofing.
Frequently asked questions
Are the pegs that come with a tent any good?
Only on soft, well grazed grass. Supplied pegs are thin wire skewers that bend on firm ground and pull out of sand or mud. Keep them for easy pitches and add stronger pegs for everything else.
What are the best tent pegs for hard ground?
Rock pegs or steel nail pegs. These are thick hardened-steel pins, usually 6mm to 9mm, that you hammer in with a mallet. They drive through dense, stony ground without bending, which a wire skewer cannot do.
What tent pegs work best in sand?
Wide or screw-type sand pegs, 20cm to 30cm long, which grip loose ground a skewer slides out of. When sand gives no hold at all, bury a peg or a sand-filled bag sideways as a deadman anchor.
Which way should a tent peg angle?
At about 45 degrees, leaning away from the tent so the head tilts back from the pull. This uses the full peg against the load and resists lifting far better than a peg driven straight down.
What size tent pegs do I need?
For firm ground, 18cm to 19cm Y-section pegs suit most tents. Go to 23cm to 30cm for soft, sandy or loose ground where you need more length to grip, and thicker steel for stone.
Are aluminium or steel tent pegs better?
Aluminium Y-pegs are lighter and the best all-rounder for firm ground. Steel is heavier but far stronger, so choose steel rock pegs for stony ground and heavy-duty steel pegs for big family tents in soft soil.
The short version
The pegs in the box are for easy grass. Carry a set of Y-section pegs for firm ground, something wide for soft and sandy pitches, and rock pegs for stone, then drive each one at 45 degrees with a mallet and guy the tent out. Sorted like that, find your pitch on Camping Sites in Britain and pitch up with confidence.
