REI Co-op Snow Stake Review

Overview

The REI Co-op Snow Stake is a wide, concave aluminum stake designed for anchoring tents and tarps in snow or sand — conditions where a standard skinny stake just spins in place and pulls out. It’s built around the “deadman” anchoring concept: you bury it horizontally and let the snow or sand compact on top of it, rather than driving it in vertically like a normal stake. At $7.95 (often on sale for less) and under an ounce, it’s a logical add-on for anyone who camps above the snow line or on soft beach sand a few times a year, rather than a piece of gear you’d build a whole kit around.

Key Specs

Spec	Detail
Weight	28.0 g (~1 oz) per stake
Length	9.6 in (24 cm)
Material	Aluminum
Shape	Curved/concave, cutout holes
Use case	Snow and sand
Anchor method	Deadman burial or upright burial
Price	~$7.95 (sold individually)

Performance

The core idea behind this stake is simple: in loose or granular material like snow and sand, a thin metal shaft has almost nothing to grip onto and will pull straight out under load. The Snow Stake’s wide, curved profile solves this by maximizing surface area, so when you bury it flat (deadman-style) and let snow set up around it, the resistance comes from shear strength across that whole surface rather than friction along a thin shaft.

That distinction trips up a lot of first-time buyers. Looking at how people describe using it, the common thread among unhappy reviewers is trying to drive it into snow vertically like a normal stake, then complaining when it slips right out — reviewers focused on sand being the best use, and the few that said not so good for snow and slipped right out, missing the physics of surface area tension, since they’re not meant to stake into snow like typical earth mounts and instead need to be used as snow deadman anchors. Used correctly, the results are solid: one owner reported using it on a kayaking trip with wind steady at 20 mph, running all four guys and the corner loops on a 2-man tent, and the stakes didn’t budge.

Independent testing backs this up. 99Boulders put it head-to-head against the MSR Blizzard and MSR ToughStake and found all three of the “extreme” stakes they tested were in the same ballpark when it came to strength, with a small edge going to REI: the REI Snow Stake was the lightest and cheapest option and outperformed the MSR Blizzard just barely when buried as a “deadman” anchor. Their overall take was that it’s a fantastic stake in snow — just not great enough that they’d buy and carry a full set of them when there are cheaper and lighter snow stakes that work nearly as well. That’s a fair characterization of where this stake sits: it does its one job well, but it’s not a stake you build an 8-piece set around for general backpacking.

One user comparison worth noting: someone who’d used MSR Blizzard stakes previously switched over and found the REI stakes seemed of equal weight and quality to the MSR Blizzard stakes — orange instead of red, but otherwise seem the same, which lines up with what 99Boulders found in testing. For sand, the picture is a bit murkier — while the design theoretically works the same way, deep loose sand can still be a tougher case, and at least one buying guide notes that for deep loose sand, an Orange Screw-style ground anchor is a better choice if weight isn’t a concern.

Practically speaking, you don’t need a full set of these. Most experienced users seem to bring 2-4 for critical stake-out points and pair them with lighter standard stakes for the rest of the pitch — bringing a few for key stake-out points has held up through some pretty epic blizzards when paired with standard aluminum stakes. That matches my instinct: at 28 g each, four of these add roughly 4 oz to your kit, which is fine for a dedicated winter or coastal trip but wasted weight on a summer alpine trip where you’ll never see loose snow or sand.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Effective and inexpensive way to solve the “stakes pull out of snow/sand” problem
• Wide, concave design creates real holding power when buried correctly as a deadman
• Held firm in reported 20 mph wind conditions on a 2-person tent
• Lighter and cheaper than the MSR Blizzard while performing comparably in testing
• Cutout holes allow multiple tie-off points, including an upside-down configuration for extra versatility

Cons

• Only works if you understand and use the deadman/horizontal burial method — driven in vertically like a normal stake, it will fail
• Not meaningfully better than DIY solutions (a stick, a stuff sack full of snow) for occasional use
• Sold individually, so outfitting a full tent means buying several at $7.95 each
• Doesn’t fully solve the deep, loose sand problem as well as dedicated sand anchors
• Adds real weight (28 g each) if you bring a full set rather than just a few key ones

Who Should Buy This

This is a smart, low-cost pickup for anyone doing occasional winter camping, ski touring basecamp setups, or beach/dune camping where standard stakes are useless. Buy 2-4 to supplement your existing stake set for the anchor points that take the most load (corners, guy-outs), rather than replacing your whole kit. If you’re a three-season backpacker who rarely sees snow or sand, skip it — it’s dead weight on those trips.

Verdict

The REI Co-op Snow Stake does exactly what it promises, cheaply and reliably, as long as you bury it as a deadman rather than driving it in like a normal stake. It’s not a gear-closet essential, but as a handful of specialty stakes for winter or beach trips, it earns its spot. I’d rate it a 7.5/10 — effective and affordable, docked slightly for a learning curve that trips up first-time users and for being sold as a single-piece add-on rather than in a practical multi-pack.