I invented a tie-down for OSH this year that worked incredibly well
and cost less than $50. Got thru the storm on Monday night, so I
guess it'll hold thru most stuff.

1) go to a marine shop (if one's around) and buy the 3/8 in rope that's
recommended by Av Consumer. Total cost - about $25 (I've got a low-wing)

2) Over to Home Depot. Pick up 13 of the 12 in. long 3/8 stakes/nails/
whatever (only need 12, but always have a spare) Total cost - $13
As an option, pickup the big 2 in. washers.

3) Still at Home Depot, go over to the chain section and buy 3 sets of
4 links of the heaviest stuff you can find. Total cost - about $5.

4) Get one of those light-weight but incredibly sturdy hammers - Cost - $3

For the tie-down process:

Put a stake into one of the links. If you want, add a washer between the
link and the stake. Since the stake head is about 1/4 in. larger than the
stake body (and the washer hole is 3/8 in also) this works well.
Now that one stake is in the ground, put another stake in each of the
other 2 links, remember to put them in different directions. Now there's
one link left. (4-link set, remember?) Run the rope from that link
to the tie-downs of the airplane.

Repeat for as many tie-downs as you want.

I remember seeing this on the web someplace, can't remember where.

Note: I would have liked a longer stake, but 12 in. was the longest
I could find. The more costly tie-down sets have stakes from 12-18 in.

I put everything into a nylon sack that was in the basement, gathering
dust.

Weighs about 9 pounds.

For additional safety (if you're near campers), I have a roll of the
safety tape used for construction. It's neon during the day and has
light-reflecting strips for at night. Cost - $2 I think.

But since I wasn't parked near the campers, I didn't worry. Also, the
advantage of the low-wing is that even spreading the rope out many
feet from the tie-down point on the wing, the anchor wasn't much
of an accident waiting to happen. The tail tie-down, however, was a
good 4 feet behind the aircraft.

If you prefer the rachet-type straps, those'll work with the links too.