Thin steel skewers that go into ground other pegs bounce off.

A skewer peg has a small cross-section, so it displaces very little soil going in. That is what lets it penetrate rocky or root-filled ground where a thicker stake simply stops. The trade-off is holding power in soft ground — a skewer in sand will pull straight out.

Match the peg to the dirt and you will not think about stakes again. Skewers for hard and rocky, plastic or nail pegs for normal soil, 18-inch steel for sand and wind.

Six per pack. Cheap enough to keep a set in every vehicle.