Oh, in a serious note <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> you can place tent pegs as you would a golf tee and pushing it gently into the ground with your palm. If you meet resistance, rock, ledge, etc; then remove and try a few inches in another direction. Now if you're trying to place stakes in known hardpack then carry one of the large Ti stakes that look like a nail and make the hole with that then use your tent stake. I was in a hardware store the other day and saw some HUGE nail spikes on the order of 60D <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> like 10" long and 1/4" diameter! All the way down to 16 penny nails which in my youth I thought were for Paul Bunyan's cabin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

When using a rock or tool to load stakes be careful to be out of the line of strike so as not to recieve the 'blow back' if the tool richocets <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> and or chips <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> a rock chip in the eye can be serious <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> and a hatchet blade in the forehead is, well, a hillbilly libodomy <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />