Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

[xmreg]

Assuming it doesn't rain (!) am I better off leaving the rain fly off my tent in cold weather, even if the roof is basically pure mesh?

I'm a fairly novice camper will be in a simple Coleman tent with three other family members. We're expecting night temperatures in the 30s. We have bags rated at about 20 degrees (also Coleman) and have basic pads.

My instinct is to cover up the tent as much as possible - but then I remembered how chilling and annoying condensation is. Would we be better off just leaving the rain fly off, even though the roof is really wide open?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[JohnJohn]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

How many seasons is your tent rated? That will tell us how much of a mesh ceiling you have.

Personally I would cover with a rain fly in 30deg temps. I'd rather have condensation on my rain fly then on my bag.

[Force10JC]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

I have the Coleman Red Canyon and the Sundome and if I had either in temperatures that low I would definitely use the rain fly. In fact, I always use the rain fly no matter the weather because the ventilation on them is good. I was recently educated on this forum about purchasing the right items for your "sleep system" to combat the cold and feel this is a bigger factor than the rain fly at least with my Coleman tents.

[a65hoosier]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

Use the fly. A good tent, properly guyed out, should ventilate properly thus minimizing condensation, even with 4 campers in it.

Remember that much of the time, the rain fly is attached via velcro to your tent poles and the rain fly guy out lines come off from those points to be staked down and tensioned. Attaching the rain fly and guying it out is an important part of the overall strength, stability, and structure of your tent. In the event of strong winds at night, this increased stability could mean the difference between sleeping through the night or having to get up to fix a tent pole bend or worse...a break because the pole has not been properly supported. Few tents have guy out points that can be directly tied to the poles.

Additionally, the unexpected/unforecasted 2:00am storm w rain (sleet? snow?) requires a wake-up to throw the fly on and get it tied and staked down. Even with my smaller 3-4 person tents, I don't want to mess with that in the dark and in middle of the night. I sleep more soundly not worrying about my tent and whether I am protected or not.

On every tent I own, and on every camp out, I use the rainfly 100% of the time regardless of weather or season. Fully guyed out. Been doing it that way for a long time.

[terasec]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

I would go with the rain fly, never know when a passing storm cloud will come,
usually middle of the night when you least expect it,
as for warmth, will do little to retain heat, air temp inside the tent will be similar to outside the tent minus the wind chill

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

X3 for using the rain fly!!!!.

[Irate Mormon]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

With most any double wall tent you should not need to worry about condensation. And then there are Coleman tents, so I dunno. Carpe Diem! - use the rainfly.

[Mike]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

If you can camp without a rain fly, you can camp without a tent.

[MacGyver]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

If you really want to go without the rain fly, I would consider putting a tarp over the tent and putting a bag liner in each sleeping bag to increase their temperature rating.

[Irate Mormon]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

If you can camp without a rain fly, you can camp without a tent.

Very true, except if you want some privacy.

[actad]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

I don't camp below freezing. I use a reflective tarp in cold temperatures - silver side in, and attached to the outer poles on my Coleman tent. That is one reason I purchased the single person Kamprite tent as I can use it inside the Coleman for even more warmth.

[Mike]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

I don't camp below freezing. I use a reflective tarp in cold temperatures - silver side in, and attached to the outer poles on my Coleman tent. That is one reason I purchased the single person Kamprite tent as I can use it inside the Coleman for even more warmth.

Do you put a tent inside of a tent? I have never heard of that before, but it does sound interesting!

Curious, why not use more sleeping bag/pad?

[campmore540]

Re: Staying dry and unfrozen - rain fly or no?

I camp in a Coleman tent and during early spring here in Va temps can still drop below freezing and my wife does not do well in the cold so I use a tent heater and have never had a problem with condensation with the rain fly on. We get very good ventalation with the guy ropes staked out like they are supposed to be. So my vote would be use the fly.