Tents: is that really a "rain fly"?

Now these look like great tents right? You could sleep 4-8 people and have room for some gear inside. They look like they could be set up pretty easily too. These are the kinds of tents that you'll find at Walmart, Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, MC Sports, and many other department stores with a camping section. 

But what's wrong with these pictures?!

Despite the advertising on the box... they don't have a true rain fly. Neither of these will keep you and your gear dry. They are fair-weather tents only and they fool a lot of inexperienced campers, summer camps, and boy scouts! I honestly don't know why tents like this are even on the market. Who would want a tent that won't keep you dry and forces you to pack up and go home in the event of some rain? Why would a company make such a tent and sell it to consumers? This question just baffles me. I recommend not wasting your time pondering these questions and instead just invest in a real tent.

I've worked at several different outdoorsy summer camps over the years and all of them had tents like the two pictured above. We just came to accept that if it rained we were going to get wet. But I'm here to tell you that you don't have to do that too! Learn from our mistakes and lack of information.

The good news is that there are tents on the market that have proper rain flies. Let me direct your attention to the photos below.

Slumberjack 6-person Tent, currently $168 on amazon.com

Kelty Acadia 6-person Tent, currently $249 on amazon.com

I recently bought 2 of the Slumberjack tents for our overnight summer camp program and I am very impressed with them. First off, you'll notice that the rain fly goes all the way to the ground thus guiding the water completely off of the tent so that you and your gear stay dry! This is what a tent is supposed to do... it's primary purpose is a shelter and if it doesn't fulfill that purpose then it's worthless. The Slumberjack is affordable and sets up quick with only two poles. It's quite roomy enough to stand up in and has 2 large doors; one on each side.

I will say, for those of you who are stuck with a tent like the ones pictured at the beginning of this post, that there is another option to keep you dry. However, it requires that you carry even more gear in the form of a tarp and some rope. Tie the tarp up (which requires good trees or poles and stakes) and be sure that the tarp has overhang on all sides of the tent. You can get away with this and stay dry but the down-side is the aforementioned burden of carrying the extra gear. My recommendation is to get the tent with the proper rain fly and enjoy your time in the woods!