Mallet?

[GrahamG]

Does anyone take a mallet with them? I didn't bother for my first trip out and knackered a few tent pegs in the process (there were no suitable rocks/stones about!).
Ingenious tent peg bashing techniques/tips most welcome!

 

[Landslide]

I tend to use one of my shoes, either with or without my foot in it.

 

[belairman]

This is one of many things I have been thinking about for my trip

Having once camped solo without a mallet (and provided much amusement for other campers as I struggled to get the damn pegs in the ground) I never, ever, go without one now.

But they are big and heavy (no!) and I have never before combined cycling with camping so ... I was intending to:

1. borrow one from someone else on site or

2. find a rock or

3. possibly get a cheap one from Poundland and cut the handle off - just use the head in your hand like a rock? Still heavy though.

Tim

 

[Comatosed]

Yep, see pic! But yea probably not worth taking really...best to use a rock or something.

 

[Comatosed]

Also, if you invest in some good square profile aluminium pegs then you'll be able to bash them in with rocks with no chance of them bending.

 

[CycleTourer]

Never found I really needed a mallet as a gentle push with the foot usually gets them in. If it is really hard with rocks underneath then it probably means there are rocks around on the surface so I use the nearest available.

I'm sure if there wasn't anything someone car camping will have one you could borrow. It seems quite a weight to lug around for the odd time when you might need one.

Mind you it depends on where you are, a friend was cycling across Iran and the ground was so hard normal pegs wouldn't go in. He ended up buying some six inch nails in the nearest Bazar and carrying a small rock to knock them in with .

 

[Brains]

I've done a vast amount of camping, car, bike, walking. NEVER taken a mallett !

But I do use decent quality pegs. if the ground is really hard then you use a foot to push them in

Also always make sure you get the angle right. Pegs do not go straigth in they go at 45 degrees

 

[Amanda P]

Often, if the ground is really hard, it's easier to get the pegs in at an angle more nearly parallel to the surface of the ground. Sure, the peg is in shallower, but if the ground is all that hard, it don't matter.

Good quality L-section alloy pegs are easier to get in than those wiggly steel ones. Wire ones are useless. You can also get titanium pegs - weigh nothing, are indestructible, cost a fortune.

 

[numbnuts]

I have one like this

 

[hubbike]

possibly get a cheap one from Poundland and cut the handle off - just use the head in your hand like a rock? Still heavy though.

This made me laugh because its daft!! The handle is actually a more important part of the mallet than the head.

Interesting bit of physics going on here if anyone is interested.

The handle of a mallet (although it generally weighs less than the head) helps the head travel with greater velocity than if it was in your hand. The Energy transmitted to the peg is the kinetic energy of the hammer head (determined by half the mass by the square of the velocity). Bear in mind that the velocity of the head is proportional to the length of the handle.

So if you halve the weight of the head you get half as much energy transmitted to the peg.
If you halve the length of the handle you only get a quarter of the energy.

 

[belairman]

This made me laugh because its daft!! The handle is actually a more important part of the mallet than the head.

Very clever.

So I take it you are suggesting it is easier to knock a tent peg in with a wooden mallet handle, than with a mallet head?

And you are saying I'm daft?

I was merely suggesting that a mallet head is better than scratching about looking for stones.

 

[hubbike]

So I take it you are suggesting it is easier to knock a tent peg in with a wooden mallet handle, than with a mallet head?

No

Just that a light hammer with a handle is better than a hammer head alone of the same weight. So buying a hammer and chopping off the handle is not a great idea.

I'm sorry about saying 'daft', I'm sure your not, it just made me giggle thats all. Actually its an interesting suggestion: leftfield!

In my experience using a stone just mangles the top of the peg and hurts your hand, a bit of force with your foot is possible but a bit akward. Maybe there is something hard, heavy and flat that you are already carrying, a pan, book etc...

 

[belairman]

No, fair enough. I agree about rocks etc, and I don't like using my feet for stuff like this ... just my luck to turn an ankle.

How about a folding hammer? Or an inflatable one ... now there's a challenge for Wiggle!

 

[Riverman]

Mallet? bleurgh

 

[asterix]

I never take a mallet. If the ground is hard it's probably because it's stony so there must be stones to bash the pegs with. If no stones available then the ground must be soft.

For campsites that fly in the face of nature, it's likely the proprietor will lend you a hammer.