The strongest stake in the world is no good if it pops out of the ground. I also broke the Easton stake that came with my TarpTent the second time I used it. I now use a mix of old stakes that came with several old tents (MSR and Mountain Hardwaree)that are now in tent heaven after many years of hard use. Bottom line is that I rely on rocks to back up the two critical end stakes. Be sure to have enough tent cord to use rocks if stakes do not work. And the rocks have to be fairly big to work so be sure the extra tent cord is long enough. Many times I have actually set up my tent on the top of a flat rock slab using nothing but rocks. I would spend the extra to get the florescent tent cord to avoid tripping.