The Camping Forum

[in-a-tent]

Delta Rocks Review: Another Excellent product from Delta Ground Anchors
*****
I have always been a huge fan of the original Delta Peg and have often though how great it would be to have a product like this for harder ground. Well Robb Orr the person behind the Delta Peg has answered that call with Delta Rocks!
Read the full Delta Rocks review

[Former Scout]

I rate the nylon Delta Ground Anchors very highly and they are, in my opinion, essential items for a camp.

However, they are vulnerable to damage when camping on rocky ground. Well, Rob Orr, who designed, patented and manufactures Deltas, has introduced a new item in the range: Delta Rocks.

Let's get the shock out of the way: these little beauties cost £9 for two. Yes, that's £4.50 each; and, what's more, if you look at the photo, you only actually get the steel plate not the actual peg. So why purchase something so expensive?

Most of us know that the pegs that tend to come with your new tent are pretty feeble thin bits of wire. The only job they are of any use for is pegging out where the tent walls meet the groundsheet. For the guys many of us may have used metal V-shaped pegs or some of the new thicker yellow plastic pegs, both of which offer a greater surface area thus more resistance to being pulled. But the weakness of regular pegs is that all the force is acting at the end of the peg that sticks out of the ground, which creates great leverage; this means that the peg may either be pulled through soft ground (I’ve seen big, 12 inch wooded pegs pulled though soft ground) or be bent. Alternatively, as they get pushed back and forward in a strong wind they can work loose. Either way they will no longer do their job.

Deltas, however, have the line of force applying to the centre of the peg below the ground level and so the force is equally applied along the whole length of the peg, therefore no leverage as the tension along the guy is directed to a point deeper under the ground where the soil is compact.

(Here’s the A’Level physics!) What you have to remember - and this is not intuitive - is that the "line of force" can be "invisible"; i.e. it doesn't have to apply through the guy or the peg. In the case of the Delta it passes down the guy, to the point of contact with the Delta and, in a straight line, to the centre of the part of the peg that is buried in the ground. This gives them much better load bearing in windy weather.

The Delta Rocks, I assure you, are a serious piece of metal and, if you buy them, you can start writing them into your will to hand them down as they will last your lifetime, your children's lifetime and your children's children's lifetime (with apologies to the Palestinian People's Front). They are easy to use (easier, in fact, than the original Deltas): you simply hook the guy rope through the metal ring on the plate, put the plate in position, insert the rock peg through the hole and hammer. They are also easier to pull out - you simply insert your tent peg puller through the hole near the apex.

Incidentally, another advantage over the original Deltas is that they are not nearly as bulky and are very compact for packing away.

I got away with using the regular Deltas for about eight camps before I camped at a site that had very stoney ground. However, I quicly damaged a nylon Delta on the stoney ground and, as I used a rock peg to test the area where I could hammer my next nylon Delta I wish I had bought the Delta Rocks as well. As has already been said, in normal or sof ground the nylon Deltas are better, but in hard and stoney ground the Delta Rocks come into their own and are much better than rock pegs on their own.

As with the original Deltas you only need sufficient for the guys that give the tent its shape.

On more than one occasion I have read of campers on Shell Island being hit by winds and many tents damaged or destroyed as well as camping holidays cut short for fear of damage. No tent is indestructable but when pitched and pegged correctly a tent will survive far worse weather than when it is not. Delta Pegs and Delta Rocks ensure a better night's sleep with less worry about what may happen if the wind picks up over night.

Strongly recommended.

[theonemanyuri]

I've bought some on the back of this, I hope they're worth the cost!

[Former Scout]

I've bought some on the back of this, I hope they're worth the cost!

Well I hope they are, too. The problem is, a bit like insurance, until you actually need them you may wonder why you bothered. The only time you can be even 99% certain is if you are caught in bad winds and you see other tents blown down, damaged, etc. and yours is fine!

However, unlike plastic and nylon pegs the Delta Rock plates will last an age so at least you won't have to keep replacing them.

I used mine for the first time this week. We did have some wind but they weren't really tested. What I do know from their design is that they will be more effective than rock pegs on their own.

[rexgrant]

Delta Rocks Review: Another Excellent product from Delta Ground Anchors
*****
I have always been a huge fan of the original Delta Peg and have often though how great it would be to have a product like this for harder ground. Well Robb Orr the person behind the Delta Peg has answered that call with Delta Rocks!
Read the full Delta Rocks review

Yes I will agree 100% on the delta rocks,they work on any type of ground but come into their own on all weather pitches,I tested Robs prototypes for a year before he brought them out http://.........../apps/photos/al ... id=8178039 As FS says if you use the correct pegs then your tent will have a better chance in the wind.
Good post in-a-tent
Rex.