UKH

Has anyone ever had made the your own snow stakes, if so how did they work and do you have any advice...

Snow stakes seem quite hard to come by and they seem expensive for what they are (basically some ally angle plate with holes in ).  

I have one MSR snow stake that I modified by cutting one end to a point to make banging it in vertically easier, and I also fitted a 120cm steel wire to one of the centre holes.

I also have a 1:1 copy I made from a piece of aluminium T-profile I found in a DIY store a few years ago.

I have never fallen on either, but given that the anchor being pulled out of the snow will be the mode of failure I would worry about most, I am not too fuzzed about which alloy it is precisely.

CB

Nice one, thanks for the info mate. Yeah I have looked at t-section ally too, so I might make a couple of each. I think I shall make a couple of shorter ones too they would make nice bomber tent pegs.

This is what I thought, the msr ones are advertised as being made out of (aircraft grade) ally which is a nice marketing point but it doesn't really matter. The main point is they're charging  35 pounds for something I could make for under a 5er...

I've made a couple and have a few MSR ones.  The end that you hit when you're using them in  top-clip mode gets pretty bashed after a while so I rivetted two small pieces of U-shaped steel over one end to protect the alloy.

A cable attached in the centre is really handy for vertical mid-clip placements but it does add a fair bit of weight and can be a nuisance when you're carrying the stake.  If you do fit a cable, I'd make the loop where it attaches to the stake slightly larger than the diameter of your ice axe shaft so you can push the axe through there for the Saxon cross placement.

The position of the holes on the MSR ones works well so I'd copy those closely.  For example if you carry the stake on your harness you can clip the second hole down from the end and the stake hangs at a handy angle away from your legs.

Apologies in advance if you already know this but the key to strong snow stake placements is matching the placement type to the snow conditions so getting familiar with the different techniques and using the right one at the right time is the important part.  As cb294 says, the snow is generally the weakest link.

Thanks for the advice mate, think I might purchase one msr one and then make a few. The bash plate sounds like a good idea and it doesn't sound like its too much fuss to sort.

Now worries mate, I'll always welcome advice! I've never actually used one since being showed how to use them by a guide a couple years back. I've only ever use a deadman/deadboy in snow... although I'm looking at trying sort a trip to the Peruvian Andes when travel resumes and have read up that they're useful out there, I'm also in need of a lockdown project at the minute..

The Peruvian Andes is the only place where I've felt the need for stakes! That said ive always viewed them as rather physiological gear....

Do they boost oxygen uptake?