3D Printed Camping Gear: Tent Pegs, Clips, and Lantern Hooks

What's actually worth printing

Not everything. The 3D printing camping community has a tendency to print things that already exist in better form at the hardware store. A $3 aluminum carabiner from REI beats any printed one. I've stopped printing solutions to problems that don't exist.

What IS worth printing: things that are custom-sized, things you lose constantly and need cheap replacements for, and things where commercial options are overpriced for what they are. Guy line tensioners cost $1–2 each from tent manufacturers. I can print a set of 12 for the same price in filament. Replacement buckles for a specific pack? $8 from the manufacturer, three weeks shipping. Printed one in 40 minutes.

The best camping prints are small, functional, and not load-bearing. If your life depends on it holding, don't print it. For everything else, the functional print ideas collection has more projects in this category.

Material choice for outdoor gear

Outdoor camping gear faces UV, temperature swings, moisture, and mechanical stress. CNC Kitchen's mechanical testing quantified the differences between the three common filaments for this kind of use:

ASA is the clear winner for anything that stays outdoors. Three times PLA's impact resistance, holds shape up to 110°C, and resists UV for years. It needs a heated chamber to print properly, but that's a one-time setup issue.

PETG works well for gear that sees intermittent outdoor use. Weekend camping trips where gear goes back in a bag between uses won't cause significant UV degradation. Filamentive's UV resistance comparison ranks material longevity for extended outdoor exposure.

PLA? It's fine for prototyping a design before printing in ASA. And for single-trip items where you don't care if they survive the return journey. I've printed PLA tent pegs as emergency spares knowing they'd be garbage by next season. For a broader material comparison, the complete filament guide covers all the mechanical and thermal properties.

Tent pegs: the honest assessment

Printed tent pegs are the most popular camping print. They're also the one where expectations need the most calibration.

In soft to medium soil (forest floor, sandy loam, established campsites), printed pegs work. The Y-beam profile provides the best holding power because it resists pull from all directions. Textured surfaces along the stake shaft improve soil friction. I printed a batch of Y-beam pegs in ASA at 35% infill and they've held my tarp through moderate wind without issue.

In hard-packed clay or rocky ground, plastic pegs snap. Period. The Hammerless Tent Peg on Printables solves this by using a 10mm coach screw driven by a cordless drill. You're not hammering plastic into rock; you're screwing a steel fastener in and using the printed handle for extraction. It's a hybrid approach that actually works.

Weight savings? Honestly minimal. An MSR Mini Groundhog aluminum stake weighs about 10g. My printed ASA pegs weigh 8–15g depending on design and infill. The advantage isn't weight. It's that I can print 20 replacements for $3 in filament and not worry about losing them.

Small accessories that earn their weight

Guy line tensioners

These are the one camping print I recommend without reservation. The Paracord Tensioner pack on Thingiverse has six designs in two sizes. I printed them in glow-in-the-dark PLA so I stop tripping over guy lines at night. They weigh 3–5g each, take 15 minutes to print, and work exactly as well as the $2 commercial versions.

Replacement buckles

Buckle on your pack broke? Measure the webbing width, find a parametric buckle STL, print in PETG or ASA. I've replaced three buckles this way: one on a dry bag, one on a pack hip belt, one on a stuff sack. Total cost in filament: about $0.30. Total cost from the manufacturer: $24 plus shipping.

Lantern and gear hooks

S-hooks sized for paracord ridgelines, carabiner-style clips for hanging gear bags off a bear line, and lantern hooks that clip onto tent poles. Small, fast to print, and genuinely useful. I keep a set of six hooks in my camp kit.

Cord organizers

Wrap-around cleats for neatly storing guy lines and paracord lengths. Prevents the tangled mess that happens when you stuff loose cord into a bag. Print in PLA since these don't see mechanical stress or UV exposure while stored.

All3DP's camping accessories roundup has 30 more models covering everything from utensil sets to fuel can stabilizers. Also check the Cloudline ultralight gear list for weight-conscious backpackers.

Print settings for outdoor strength

Outdoor parts need to survive being dropped, stepped on, and left in weather. Making prints stronger starts with settings:

• 4–5 walls (2–3mm wall thickness). Walls matter more than infill for flexural strength.
• 35% infill minimum. Triangular for maximum strength, gyroid for best strength-to-weight ratio.
• 0.2–0.3mm layer height. Thick layers bond well for load-bearing parts.
• Print temperature at the upper end of the filament spec. Better inter-layer fusion.
• ASA: 250°C nozzle, 110°C bed, 55–65°C chamber. The Q2 handles this at $399.

Orientation matters. Tent pegs should print vertically so layer lines wrap around the shaft. If layers stack horizontally along the peg length, a bending force will peel them apart. For hooks and clips, orient so the load pulls parallel to layers, not perpendicular.

Safety notes

This needs saying clearly: 3D printed carabiners are not climbing equipment. They are not rated for fall arrest, belaying, rappelling, or any situation where a failure means someone falls. Real climbing carabiners are rated at 20–28 kN and tested to CE/UIAA standards. A printed carabiner has anisotropic layer bonds that can fail suddenly. Use printed carabiners for hanging gear bags, attaching a water bottle to a pack, or organizing camp kit. Nothing more.

General outdoor precautions: inspect printed parts for cracks before each trip. UV and temperature cycling cause invisible material fatigue. Carry backup aluminum stakes. Don't leave PLA parts in hot cars on the drive to the trailhead. And if you're printing gear for fishing lures or GoPro mounts, the same material durability principles apply.