Originally Posted by
staehpj1
I have never done a trip where I could rely on lean-tos every night (except for a few overnight or two night hikes). It must ne nice to just leave the fly home. I have taken another approach in lean-tos and under other shelters and used a hoopless bug bivy. That worked pretty well too and only weighs a few ounces. It is essentially just an envelope made of thin fabric on the bottom and netting on the top.
Out of hundreds of nights camping, I can think of only a handful where I didn’t use the rain fly and of that handful, I can think of only one night where I actually didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night to put on the fly. I’ve just given up on the whole idea of pitching a tent without the fly on. One memorable night on the inlet to Ruedi Reservoir, I went to bed when it was about 80°F and woke up at about 3 a.m. freezing. There was literally frost forming.
I hate putting a rain fly on in the middle of the night!