Rain Cover/Fly or Not?

Do you carry a Rain Cover/Fly as an essential item in your pack?


  • Total voters
    88
  • Poll closed .

Team Initial Ascent

FNG
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Nov 21, 2018
Messages
46
Location
Idaho
Hey Roksliders, as always, we appreciate any feedback you can give us as we develop and improve our products, so we have a question for you:

Is a Rain Cover/Fly an essential part of your pack system?


Please take the single question survey shown above (full-site mode only, Tapa-talk doesn't support polls) and feel free to comment on the thread with your thoughts.

Rain.jpg
 

HuntHarder

WKR
Classified Approved
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
1,946
Location
Phoenix, Az
Yes, I see no weight penalty in the ultralight versions. Getting caught in a long rain storm without one sucks! Mine stays in my pack in a chamber pouch.
 

WCB

WKR
Joined
Jun 12, 2019
Messages
3,249
Yes, can't say I've used my more than 7 or 8 times in the last 5 years or so but when I needed it it was a necessity. Mine when possibly needed is stuffed in the bottom corner of my pack
 

chadallan

FNG
Joined
Mar 11, 2020
Messages
9
I have never put a rain cover on my bag while I’m hiking yet.... I did just order one though. I’ve always had my gear inside my pack in water proof bags. Either big ziplocks or dry bags, when pulling stuff out of my pack when setting up camp my gear would get wet. I hate that. I used a heavy duty garbage bag to cover it for night.
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
7,390
Location
Chugiak, Alaska
I don't really dig the idea of carrying around a saturated pack, and if I'm solo and using a smaller shelter, I really don't like to clutter it up having my pack inside, so I'll leave it out in the elements covered. At only 1.5 oz. there's really no reason not to take a cover.
 

realunlucky

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
12,624
Location
Eastern Utah
Poll results are interesting I figured they would lean the other direction. I've never used one or know anyone that does but I don't hunt where rain/wet has ever been a deal breaker for me. My sleep system is down based and always gets a dry bag and a few trips I've used multiple dry sacks but that extra weight starts to add up. Guess maybe I'll have try a cover.
 

Felix40

WKR
Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
1,874
Location
New Mexico
I never carried one for the longest time. I made the mistake of not taking one to alaska and my pack was saturated the entire trip. A wet pack weighs way more than a rain cover.

I carry one pretty much all the time on backpack hunts now. I wouldnt call it essential but they can be handy for butchering, catching water from snow melt, and other stuff too.
 

SLDMTN

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
1,383
Location
Palmer, AK
Used to carry one, now I do not. They rip and get ripped off too easily in brush. Everything in my bag gets put into UL dry bags anyways for organization so it would only serve to keep the bag dry which doesn’t bother me.
 
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
2,591
Location
Tijeras NM
yes i carry and have used the rain fly many times during elk season, and pre-season scouting. it compresses down to nothing and weighs next to nothing. my philosophy? you can't use it if you aint got it ;)
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
7,390
Location
Chugiak, Alaska
Poll results are interesting I figured they would lean the other direction. I've never used one or know anyone that does but I don't hunt where rain/wet has ever been a deal breaker for me. My sleep system is down based and always gets a dry bag and a few trips I've used multiple dry sacks but that extra weight starts to add up. Guess maybe I'll have try a cover.
Pretty much everything in my pack is separated out into dry bags, ie., clothes, rain gear, quilt, etc. A couple years ago I transitioned over to all DCF dry bags and I think my total wt. is around 4 oz. (give or take a few grams), just in dry bags.
 
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