Camco 42572 Spiral Ground Anchor, Pet Tie Out Stake

If you camp or travel with a dog, you already know the drill. You pull into a site, set up the RV, and the first thing the dog wants to do is wander. The Camco 42572 spiral ground anchor gives you a simple, secure place to clip a tie-out so your dog can stretch out and relax without taking off after the neighbor's cooler. It's a twist-in steel stake with a swivel ring on top, and it does one job well.

The design is about as straightforward as it gets. The anchor is a single steel spiral, roughly 12 inches long, that you screw straight down into the ground by hand. No hammer, no tools. You just line it up, push down, and turn. The spiral shape is the whole trick here. Instead of a straight spike that a determined dog can pop right out of the dirt, the corkscrew threads bite into the soil and hold against a sideways pull. The deeper it goes, the more it grips.

Up top you get a swivel ring, and that little detail saves you a lot of headaches. Clip your tie-out cable or chain to the ring and it spins freely as the dog circles the stake. No more walking out to the site to find the line wound up tight and your dog stuck three feet from where it started. The ring turns with the dog, so the cable stays out to its full length no matter which way your dog decides to go.

Steel construction is what you want in a ground anchor. It takes the repeated in-and-out of setup and teardown at different campsites, and it stands up to a dog that leans into the line. This is a single anchor, sold on its own, which is handy if you already have a tie-out cable you like or you just need a replacement stake for a setup that's seen a few too many seasons.

One of the nicer things about a spiral anchor is how it handles different ground. Camco built this one to work in all kinds of soil, and it's especially good in sand. Beach camping, lakeside sites, sandy state-park loops, those are exactly the spots where a straight stake fails you. The threads give the anchor something to grab even when the ground is loose, so you get a hold you can actually trust. Firm dirt and grass lawns are no problem either.

Setup takes about ten seconds. Pick a clear spot a good distance from the picnic table, the fire ring, and anything your dog could wrap a line around. Press the point into the ground and turn the anchor clockwise until it's most of the way down and the swivel ring sits close to the surface. Give it a tug to check the hold. Clip on your tie-out. Done. When you break camp, turn it the other way and it backs right out, knocks the dirt off, and stores flat in a bin or a bay.

A word on what this is and isn't. This is the ground anchor, the stake itself. A tie-out cable or chain isn't part of this item, so pair it with whatever length and weight rating suits your dog. Match the cable to your dog's size, keep the run clear of obstacles, and always keep an eye on a dog that's tied out. A ground anchor keeps the line planted, but it's not a substitute for supervision, and it isn't meant for a dog left alone for long stretches.

For RVers, tailgaters, and weekend campers, this is one of those cheap little pieces of gear that quietly makes the trip easier. Toss it in the outdoor bin with the leveling blocks and the water hose. It weighs next to nothing, takes up almost no room, and it's there the moment you need to give the dog a home base at the next site. Camco's been making practical outdoor and RV gear like this since 1966, and the 42572 is a good example of the kind of no-nonsense product that just works.