What Is A Rain Fly? Is A Rain Fly Necessary?

Are you currently in the market for a new tent and wondering what a rain fly is?  Maybe you are trying to find out the best way to protect your tent from the rain and snow?  Well, a rain fly is pretty much what it sounds like.

A rain fly is essentially a cover over your tent that helps protect your tent from the elements.  Whether it be rain, snow, or wind a rain fly is there to help keep you dry during stormy weather.

What A Rain Fly Do?

Most tents are going to have mesh at the top of the tent to allow heat and moisture to rise out of the top of the tent.  Without that mesh, your tent would get very stuffy in the summer months. However, with mesh on the ceiling of your tent, you are going to leave your tent susceptible to rain getting in the tent.  A rain fly is designed to keep rainwater from getting through the mesh ceiling of your tent.

Rain flys go over the top of your tent and helps keep water out of the inside of your tent.  Your rain fly may fully cover your tent or it may only partially cover the walls of your tent.  If you want to have the best protection from rain you would want to go with a tent that has a full coverage rain fly as it will cover the complete surface of your tent.

A rain fly that only partially covers your tent will leave areas that rain can hit which will lead to water eventually getting through your tent walls.

Is A Rain Fly Necessary?

In the summer months, you really only need a rain fly if you are expecting it to rain soon.  Rain flys will keep in heat that would normally rise out of the top of your tent so it will be hotter inside of the tent in summer months with a rain fly off.  You take a risk of going to sleep without a rain fly if a sudden pop-up shower comes through.

I’ve seen my buddies scrambling around in a rainstorm trying to put their rain fly and trust me it didn’t look fun.  If you live in a very dry area that does not get much rain you can likely get by without a rain fly on your tent. Most tents will come with a rain fly from the factory.

What Is The Best Way To Protect My Tent From The Rain?

The best way to protect your tent from the rain is to have a full coverage rainfly as it will cover all of the surfaces of your tent.  If you are looking at buying a cabin tent or a pop-up tent you likely will not be able to find one that has a full coverage rain fly because of the shape of the tent.

Most tents that have a full-coverage rain fly will be a dome style tent which makes it easier to provide full coverage. With cabin style tents the walls of the tent are almost vertical which a rain fly would not be able to fit over as well.

You can also buy a tarp to put over the top of your rain fly to provide an extra layer to help keep rainwater out of your tent.  You can lay the tarp over your tent and secure it in the ground with stakes. Or you could also hang the tarp over your tent using nearby trees.  Both methods should help with keeping the inside of your tent dry.

If you like to keep your tent as dry as possible I would also recommend going with a tent that has a vestibule.  If you don’t know what a vestibule is it’s essentially an awning for your tent that extends off the front of the tent to provide extra protection from the rain on the front side of your tent.

You can also use a vestibule to store your camping gear if you don’t have room inside your tent. If you would like to learn more about vestibules you can read my article on vestibules by clicking this link.

What Is The Best Tent With A Full Coverage Rain Fly?

If you have decided to get a tent with a full-coverage rain fly you may be interested in exploring the different tents out there that have a full-coverage rain fly.

ALPS Mountaineering Taurus 4 person tent

 The ALPS Mountaineering person tent has an interior space of 7-feet  6-inches x 8-feet 6-inches and has a center height of 5-feet 2-inches.

It comes with two doors and two vestibules, one over each door, and obviously comes with a full-coverage rain fly.  It features a two-pole design to help with ease of setting up the tent.

It also comes with a partial mesh roof to help with venting the tent in the hot summer months. It also comes with two zippered mesh windows to help with ventilation.  It comes with a floor saver to put under your tent that fits the dimensions of this tent exactly. That way you don’t have to mess around with buying a tarp to put under your tent if you already don’t own one.

ALPS Mountaineering makes tents for camping enthusiasts in mind and features some of the latest tent technology to help keep you dry in the event of a rainstorm.

If you are interested in checking out this ALPS Mountaineering Taurus 4-person tent on Amazon click here.

NTK Cherokee GT 9 Person Family Dome Tent

 If you are looking for a larger family dome tent that also comes with a rain fly I would consider the NTK Cherokee GT 8 to 9 person tent.

It features internal dimensions of 10’ x’ 12’ and has a 6-foot center height which means that this tent is tall people friendly.

If you have a large family or just have a lot of camping gear that you bring along on your camping trips this tent will provide plenty of room inside for you, your family, and your stuff.  If you don’t plan on camping with 8 or 9 people you should be able to fit two queen inflatable beds which should fit 4 people comfortably.

With this tent, you get a double layer rain fly that is polyester that is laminated with polyurethane for extra protection from the elements.  NTK also say that the rain fly has a thermoplastic coating that also helps keep UV rays from entering the tent, effectively making the tent cooler.

The ceiling of the tent is made up of mesh that allows you to see out of the top of the tent and vent the tent while also keeps mosquitos and other bugs out. Because the walls of the tent are not made up of mesh you should be able to use this tent in all three seasons of the year excluding winter.

The NTK Cherokee GT also features a waterproof floor that is made of seamless polyethylene that is anti-fungal which helps resist mold and mildew buildup inside of the tent.  The floor has a tub design that extends the floor of the tent along the bottom of the tent walls to help keep water out of the tent.

It also has an inner silver coated layer to add an additional layer of protection between you and any groundwater that may build up around your tent.  If you want to check out the current prices on Amazon of this NTK Cherokee GT tent click here.

NTK Indy GT XL 6 Person Family Dome Tent

With the NTK Indy GT XL 6 person tent you get another tent with a full coverage double-layer rain fly that can sleep up to 6 people.

It has interior dimensions of 14’ x 8’ with a center height of 6 foot 2 inches, which means that this tent is tall people friendly.

The main feature of this tent is the full coverage double-layer rain fly that extends around the walls of the tent to provide complete protection from the rain and wind.

The double-layer rain fly has one layer made up of polyester that is then laminated with another layer of polyurethane. It then has another layer of thermoplastic coverage that provides UV protection.

Another nice feature of this NTK Indy GT XL is a vestibule that extends over the front of the tent entrance that also provides extra storage space for your camping gear.  This tent also comes equipped with a waterproof antifungal floor that extends up the walls of the tent to help protect the tent from any groundwater from entering through the floor of the tent.  It features a partial mesh ceiling that is suitable for camping in the spring, summer, and fall months.

The NTK Indy GT XL also comes with a built-in storage pocket for your smaller camping items like flashlight or camping fan.  This tent also comes with a secondary side door if you don’t want to make your way out through the front awning area.  If you wanted to check out the current prices of this NTK Indy GT XL tent on Amazon click here.

 If you are don’t need to fit 6 people in your tent but you like the design of the NTK GT XL you could also consider going with the NTK Indy GT which can fit 4 people comfortably.   It’s a bit smaller in dimensions than that NTK GT XL but is cheaper in price and features the same design.

If you are interested in looking at the current prices of the NTK INDY GT 4 to 5 person family dome tent on Amazon click here.

Coleman Hooligan Backpacking Tent

The Coleman Hooligan 2 person backpacking tent comes with a full-coverage rain fly that wraps around the entire tent totally protecting it from the elements.

It features a full mesh design which means it will be great for the warmer summer months but would not be suitable to be used in colder weather. Having a full mesh design also means that it will be a great tent if you plan on doing some stargazing.

This tent is a two-person tent so it’s going to be a bit on the smaller side. But it should be able to fit two people on sleeping pads and some camping gear. This Coleman Hooligan tent also comes with a vestibule that extends over the front door of the tent to help protect the entryway.

Having a vestibule also means that you can use the space under the vestibule as extra storage space for your camping gear that you could not fit inside of the tent. This tent comes with sealed seams to help keep water from entering through the seems of the tent and also comes with a water-resistant floor that extends up the sides of the tent walls to help keep water from getting into the tent.

It also comes with some extra storage pockets inside the tent where you could store small items like a camping fan or flashlight. This tent is one of the cheaper Coleman tents so that is a plus if you are buying a tent on a budget.   If you are interested in checking out the current prices on Amazon of this Coleman Hooligan backpacking tent click here.

How to waterproof a tent rain fly?

Rain flys are designed to be somewhat waterproof to help water bead off the surface of the rain fly.  However, if your rain fly is out in the rain long enough eventually water will begin to seep through the surface of the rain fly.  You can find waterproof sprays that make the surface of your tent and rain fly more hydrophobic which will help it repel water.

If you would like to check out one of the waterproofing sprays that I would recommend I will include a link to Amazon of one I would recommend.

Should you use a rain fly in the winter?  I would recommend using a rain fly in the winter months if you are camping as it will help keep the warm air from your body inside of the tent.  More importantly, if you plan on camping in the snow it will keep snow from being able to get into the top of your tent.

When should you not use a rain fly?  You may not want to use a rain fly in the hot summer months as it will keep the inside of your tent much hotter than if you had your rain fly off of your tent.  With the rain fly off your tent, it will allow the hot air inside of the tent to rise up through the mesh of your tent ceiling and out of your tent.

If you don’t like sleeping if you are hot or you like stargazing you may want to go to bed with your rain fly off.  Just be sure to check the weather to see if you have a chance of rain in your area overnight before you decide to do that.

Do you need a tarp under your tent?  Another way to help protect your tent from the rain is to put a tarp under your tent.  Putting a tarp under your tent will help keep water from seeping into the floor of your tent because it acts as another barrier between you and the ground.

Most tent manufacturers will say that their tent floors are waterproof but if they sit in water long enough some water will make its way through.