Ground Dogs
GROUND DOGS – SCREW IN TENT PEGS
& AWNING ANCHOR KITS
One thing we have struggled with over the years is finding a tent peg for all occasions. It doesn’t matter if you prefer a caravan, motorhome, tent or camper trailer, at one stage you will need to use a tent peg to pin something down. Whether it’s for the tarp or to stabilise the awning, chances are, you will probably have struggled with the right tent peg for the job. One that will cover all types of ground, from soft sand to ground as hard as concrete.
Many of ours have ended up bent from hammering, or slip out of the ground when you need them most, or end up rusting. And, that is just trying to get them in, often times, getting a tent peg out of the ground is just as much of a challenge.
That is why we were so happy to have come across the Ground Dogs. They are a simple and very effective screw-in tent peg that can be used to anchor anything almost anywhere. And they are just as easy to get out of the ground as it is to put them in. They also come with a complete tie down kit that will fit almost any caravan, motorhome or RV awning on the market.
Watch our Demo on how easy it is to set up your awning with the Ground Dogs Awning Kits
The idea
The Ground Dogs were developed by avid Aussie camper, Paul Pont. While helping a friend take down a caravan annex that had been in place for 3 months, Paul became frustrated by how long it took him to get the old rusted tent pegs out of the ground. It took him so long because they were rusted into the ground and then bent coming out to the point they could not be used again. Thinking there must be a better way, Paul searched for an alternative to hammer in pegs.
Having tried a range of other screw in pegs I realised that none of them were durable enough or suited to a wide enough range of ground types. They would either wear out, strip the thread, snap the heads off, not penetrate the ground or pulled out too easily. I started playing around with my own designs and realised the only way was to make a quality peg from quality materials
This is when he came up with Ground Dogs. A purpose built screw in peg for all occasions. It is a very simple design, and the concept is not new. Essentially it is a very large stainless steel screw that is just the right size, length, and shape that will drill in and out of almost any ground surface.
Features of the Ground Dogs
High-Grade Stainless Steel
The Ground Dogs are made from a high-quality marine grade stainless steel material ensuring they will not rust after a few uses in the ground. They are very strong and are easy to get in and out.
200mm Long
At 200mm long, the Ground Dogs are just the right length to suit all types of ground and means you don’t need different length pegs for different applications. = Less to Carry
Thread
Ground Dogs are tapered and have a special shape thread cut into the shaft, the fluting is wider and longer so they drill in and hold firmly in a wide range of soils. They will hold fast and not pull out during strong and constant winds.
Adjustable Locking Nut
On each Ground Dog is an adjustable locking nut that can be varied to suit the depth of the ground. This means if you can only get half the peg into the ground, simply winding down the locking nut will make it just as effective, and means you don’t have to have the peg all the way in.
Comparisons
Yep, there is always someone with a better idea or way of doing things, and during development of the Ground Dog, many of the alternatives were tried and tested.
Ground Dogs -vs- Tent Pegs
The traditional hammer-in tent pegs have been around forever and will work in quite a lot of cases, but let’s face it, it can be hard work to hammer them in, and in some cases even harder to get them back out. You also need a different size peg for different applications, meaning you need to carry around a whole lot more pegs. Many of us end up with a collection of bent pieces of steel. If the ground is extremely hard, you will be hard pressed to even get them in at all. Watch the video below to see Paul & Judd in the Tent Peg Challenge. Filmed at a recent Caravan show, the boys show how hard it is to hammer in a traditional tent peg in comparison to the Ground Dogs.
Ground Dog -vs- The Batten Screws
Batten Screws or even Coach Bolts are great, but they are designed for Wood. The shaft is smaller in diameter and not tapered. The threads are very narrow and although they come in varying lengths, they are just not quite long enough to get enough traction in the soil. Yes, they will work some of the time in some types of ground. Typical they are better in harder ground, but if the ground is too soft they will pull straight out.
Even if they held originally, after a bit of rain and the ground becoming softer they will more than likely loose their grip. Also after a few uses, the thread was found to start wearing and they started to rust over time, meaning they have to be replaced constantly.
Ground Dog -vs- Plastic Screws
The plastic pegs work similar to the Ground Dogs, but after a few uses, the head will start to wear the point where they became unusable. The thread is not as deeply cut, so this reduces their holding effect. Depending on the hardness of the ground, on many occasions, they would just snap.
Ready to get yours?
Click here to: Shop the Ground Dog range now