I once climbed with a guy who found one of those freestanding mountaineering tents. He described traipsing along one day in the mountains, when what should he see but a brightly colored tent flying across the sky....so he chased it over hill and dale until it dropped to the ground, left it at the visitor center for a month (this was in Banff or Jasper, I forget which), and when no one claimed it he took possession.
Moral of the story: you always need stakes. The only thing freestanding tents are good for is moving them around campsites looking for the perfect spot after you've erected them. Aside from that, they're heavier and less functional. But of course there are many opposing points of view.
Mark
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