Tent peg mallet?

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Sooper8
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Joined: 20 Aug 2012, 7:53am

Tent peg mallet?

Post by Sooper8 »

Hi,

I have done a fair bit of camping over many years, and have done a fair bit of cycling- but the week after next I am touring on my bike and camping for the first time.

It has only just gone through my mind that I don't know what to do about a peg mallet.

I am never without one when I am camping but that's with the luxury of the space of a car or van boot to keep it in. It's hard rubber and very heavy and I am not sure I want to carry it on my bike...

Do cycle campers carry a mini light weight mallet or do you rough it out with a big rock? ( in all my time, I guess I've only forgotten the mallet maybe twice and had to resort to using a rock and I found it a thoroughly wretchedly unpleasant experience that I didn't want to repeat it ever again )

Can you share your experiences please?

Thanks in advance
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meic
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by meic »

There is this thread

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=35767&hilit=camping+mallet#wrapheader

and others that have discussed it.
Yma o Hyd
gordy
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by gordy »

Sooper8 wrote:Hi,

Can you share your experiences please?



A mallet? I've only ever used one with wooden pegs and huge tents. My Vango metal pegs always go in fine when stood on. I've pitched a hundred times, at least, and it has never, ever occurred to me that a mallet would make my life easier.
Sooper8
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by Sooper8 »

Cheers both - just read the previous posting about it.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by al_yrpal »

I carry a plastic one, it weighs almost nothing and has a peg extractor in it. Cost about three quid.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
nez
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by nez »

If it weighs almost nothing how does it bash?
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simonineaston
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by simonineaston »

Several pitching instruction videos specifically advise against treading on pegs to drive them home, the reason being that its too easy to apply the force at the wrong angle and so bend the peg. Instead, they say, use a rock or pebble. See 3.35 at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siZpFAPNWtc
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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foxyrider
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by foxyrider »

I use a cheap, it was £1 at York rally, wooden mallet, as light as the 'light' offerings but beefy enough to get the pegs in even pretty hard ground.
Convention? what's that then?
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andrew_s
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by andrew_s »

I use either my foot or a rock, depending on ground hardness and the availability of suitable rocks.
Yes, you can bend a peg with your foot if you are careless, but you can with a rock too, or even a pukka mallet.
andymiller
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by andymiller »

al_yrpal wrote:I carry a plastic one, it weighs almost nothing and has a peg extractor in it. Cost about three quid.

Al


Me too. Get pegs into hard ground without ruining my shoes or breaking the pegs. If I camped somewhere the ground was usually soft then I might not bother, but here in Italy it's usually very hard.
Italy Cycling Guide - a resource for cycle touring in Italy.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by al_yrpal »

The plastic mallet bashes really well. They are everywhere in camping shops. Trouble is everyone pinches it!


Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
What you taking a Marquee :?:
No mallet needed, you just push and twist as you go.
If its rocky under the grass, angle the peg and place rock on top to hold.
Its camping not boy scouts :lol:
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tatanab
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by tatanab »

If I cannot get pegs in then I just ask the campsite owner/warden or car campers if they have one I could borrow.
nez
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by nez »

They'll have the plastic one confiscated earlier from al yrpal. Elf and safety
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Mr. Viking
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Re: Tent peg mallet?

Post by Mr. Viking »

I always tread on the metal pegs. They do bend more often, but pegs are pretty cheap and disposable. Only found a need for a mallet when using wooden pegs for a Black's Icelandic when I was in the scouts. They could have been used to peg down a road bridge I reckon and we were constantly breaking wooden mallets on them
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