Lightweight backpacking mallet

I recently went on a camping trip with boy scouts and forgot my tent stakes, which meant my tent was blowing away when no one was in it. I asked my boys to find sticks to use as stakes. I learned that thin sticks broke easily but thick sticks were impossible to drive into the ground by hand or foot. A guy had a lightweight plastic mallet, which worked pretty good. Later, I thought it would be better to have an adjustable weight mallet that was lighter to carry but which you could load with rocks, sand and/or water to temporarily make it heavier. I have been tinkering in my garage and made one that weighed 1/3 less when empty and almost 2-1/2 times more when filled with rocks and water.

Anyone heard of such a thing? Would anyone like to test it out?

By the way, the plastic mallet the guy loaned me weighs 7.2 oz, just barely heavy enough to drive the sticks into the ground. I made a mallet that weighed only 5.1 oz when empty and weighed 16.5 oz when filled with rocks and water. I made larger and smaller ones. The lightest is 4.2 oz empty and goes up to 14 oz when filled. The heaviest weighs 1 lb 14 oz empty and goes up to 6 lbs 7 oz when filled (I call that the "sledge hammer").

100+ backpacking trips now, and I can't think of a single instance where a prefab mallet would have been necessary.

My mallet always strangely resembles either the heel of a boot or a small flat-sided rock. Neither of them weighed anything to carry.

That's funny, I think I have the same mallet, Lori!

That's great Lori. Thanks for your insight.

In the Scouts back in the 60's someone always carried a hatchet and an axe. Back then, there was a requirement to learn how to use them. I don't know if there still is.

Since then, I've never carried either. My mallets look like rocks, too.

I use a big rock. In the Smokies, I seem to always find one.

I almost always use my shoe to drive in tent stakes (even when car camping). If that doesn't work, I find something, like a rock, to hammer it in.

What you are describing may sound like a good idea to you, however I question the long term durability of the item. Hammers take a lot of beating. A hallowed out plastic hammer is just asking to crack.

Think I need to get my eyes checked, because I read this as "backpacking mullet," which lead to a whole different vision.

As far as mallets go, there can never be a "backpacking mallet." Car camping, sure, the flat face of a hatchet will probably suffice. But note, not too many stakes will withstand serious hammering into rock or hardpan. At some point one needs to switch to steel constuction spikes and bring out the short-handled sledge.

cheers,

There was a thread not too long ago regarding an axe/hammer combo that might meet your needs and have the advantage of dual use. I expect it would require a bit extra effort to use to make up for the lack of weight, but it should be durable.

Hopefully the link works:

http://www.backpacking.net/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=167665#Post167665

I've seen quite a few of those. accessorize with jeans, cotton socks, tennis shoes, holy t shirt and add similarly dressed buddies, and there's every boy from my high school. (.22 optional depending on parental approval.)

This is my take as well, short of reading "mullet".

If you are backpacking, and you can not push the stake in with your foot, then you need to move to a different spot. If you drive the stake in with a rock, you will bend it. If you are car camping and you need to drive the stake in (limited camp sites) then you use steel stakes. If I ever break those two rules, I break stakes. Especially when scouts do it.