Tent Stake Cover / Protector

Update: Made a V2. Gave it a bit more space around the stake so if you have a chunky knot, or if you have thicker paracord/lines going around the stake, it should be able to slip on more easily. Enjoy!

If you've ever had to suddenly drop everything and run over to take care of a kid who tripped over a tent line, kicked a stake out, or worse, kicked a stake with their bare foot, you'd know exactly why you'd need this. Also, no judgement if you've personally done these things as well: These may or may not have been inspired by my own life experience😛

So here we are: High visibility, easy to color in Prusa Slicer for MMU printing, crazy durable tent stake covers that lock in place on most major “traditional” steel or aluminum stakes. Big stakes? Small stakes? Scale as you need fit. In fact, the one in the photos is slightly upsized (as I wanted to see how well it scaled, and I also liked the checkered glow in the dark filament look). If used with a guy line, slip the guyline into the notch, slide the cover down over the stake, and slot the stake into the retaining tongs on the inside.

I worked hard to make the initial prototype pretty and cool looking, but it just was a pain to print. I wanted something I could throw on the printer and ignore, and thus, chunky angles and 45 degree overhangs. They're strong too (60mm versions have held 250lbs of static weight) even at basic 5 top layers, 5 bottom layers, three perimeters, and just 15% infill).

So, with anything that's outdoors, ASA is best, but ASA tends to be available in very limited, usually dark colors. On the other hand, for limited use like a few weekends a year, PLA and PETG would be quite sufficient. Which is great, cause of the sheer number of unique PLA filaments that would increase visibility, like high shine silk or (my kids' favorite) glow in the dark filament!

When printing with MMU, I'd recommend making several, with one of the stake covers printed with “Wipe into object”. It will make one crazy looking cover but this will significantly reduce waste. I've included a 3mf file with this setup