Free Range Camping Introduces Screw In Tent Pegs

Free Range Camping, based in Eumundi, Queensland, Australia, has introduced the Ground Dogs screw in tent pegs and awning anchor kits. The Ground Dogs were developed by Aussie camper, Paul Pont. He decided to develop his own screw in tent pegs because he was so frustrated with the old tent pegs, which took a really long time to get out of the ground not just because they have rusted but also because they got bent such that they could not be used again. This was his motivation to find a better alternative to hammer in pegs.

According to Paul Pont, “Having tried a range of other screw in pegs I realised that none of them were durable enough or suited to a wide enough range of ground types. They would either wear out, strip the thread, snap the heads off, not penetrate the ground or pulled out too easily. I started playing around with my own designs and realised the only way was to make a quality peg from quality materials.”

The Ground Dogs are purpose built awning anchor pegs. Basically, the Ground Dog is a very large stainless steel screw-in bolt of the right size, length, and shape that can drill in and out of almost any ground surface. The Ground Dogs are fabricated from high quality marine grade stainless steel to make sure that they will not rust after only a few uses in the ground. Also, they are strong enough not to bend, and they are easy to get in and out of the ground. They are 200mm long, which is just the right length for all kinds of ground, which means there is no need to carry bolts with different lengths.

The Ground Dogs tent peg has a 19mm head, which means a camper can use the same socket fitting to get them in and out. Most of the time, that is the same fitting needed for adjustable stabilisers on caravan legs. Furthermore, the Ground Dogs are tapered and they have a special shape thread cut into the shaft. The fluting is wider and longer so that they can drill in and can hold firmly in a broad range of soils. Also, they will hold fast and not get pulled out when there are strong and constant winds.

Meanwhile, on each Ground Dog is an adjustable locking nut that can be adjusted depending on the depth of the ground. What this means is that if the camper can only get half of the bolt into the ground, he can simply wind down the locking nut and that will make it just as effective. Also, it means there is no need to have the bolt all the way in.

When compared to the traditional tent pegs, the Ground Dogs win because campers will need a lot of hard work to hammer the conventional tent pegs in when the ground is hard. And it would be even be more difficult to get them back out. Furthermore, campers will need different lengths of the pegs for various applications, which means they would have to carry around with them a much larger number of pegs. The result is that campers end up having a collection of bent pieces of steel.

Meanwhile, the Batten Screws or Coach Screws work great but they are designed for use in wood. Their shafts are smaller in diameter and are not tapered. The threads are also very narrow, and while they are available in different lengths, they are not long enough to be able to get sufficient traction in the soil. They can work in hard ground but in soft ground, they will likely pull straight out.

Free Range Camping is one of the biggest and most comprehensive directories for camping/caravaning and RVing in Australia. It has thousands of listings online, so that chances are that people will find something they are interested in. Those who need more information about hex head tent pegs like Ground Dogs can visit their website or contact them by phone.