High Visability Titanium Stakes

I bought a set of six Tibetan ti' stakes from Ultralight Outdoor Gear for a bargain £6.99.

After fiddling with my home made tarp (more on that soon!) it became apparent that it would take me about 5 minutes to lose them all in a 'real' situation!

I tried a bright orange enamel paint but that just peeled off when it was dry. Paint does not stick to ti.

I came across this thread on backpackinglight.com and a chap called Kenneth Thompson suggested heat shrink tubing (used by electricians I think). My father in law (thanks Viv!) had a foot of bright yellow 3mm tubing in his garage and it works a treat!

It's cheap, you can get it on Ebay and even if it's all wrinkled when you slide it on, a quick blast with a hair dryer shrinks it onto the stake and all wrinkles disappear. It has the appearance of being dipped.