Wise Owl Outfitters Hammock Rain Fly – Waterproof Camping Tarp Cover with Tent Stakes & Carry Bag, Ultralight Shelter for Backpacking & Outdoor Shade

TLDR; Great value, strong, light, waterproof. Much better than I was expecting.I’ve been backpacking for 30 years, and have never carried a tarp into the woods to use as a secondary rainfly. I never thought the extra bulk would be worth it beyond what comes with my tent. I finally decided to go for it with this one because of its light weight and small storage size.I set it up in the Algonquin Highlands in Ontario, where my wife and I were spending a couple nights. Used it to cover our cooking area a few steps away from our tent. Set up was easy, and I can see the possibility for versatile angles and heights. I built this one high enough to walk under, so the low sides were suspended two or three feet off the ground, and the ridge line at like five or six feet high.So a big thunder storm comes through….very windy, but not quite a microburst. We dive into our tent, and im thinking there’s no way this tarp from Amazon is staying in place. Not only did it stay (both ridge line ties plus four stakes), but there was still a very distinct dry spot under the tarp. We could have sheltered under it and still stayed reasonably dry.This tarp definitely gets the award for hero of the trip.

I’ve been using this almost weekly the past few months with the Wise Owl double hammock and bug net. They work well together and I watched Wise Owl’s YouTube video on the Wisefly Rain Fly for instructions. The rain fly in the video was different as it’s a fuller coverage, square/rectangle shape whereas this one is diamond shaped. But if you’ve ever set-up a tent or understand how the square rain fly works, it’s pretty intuitive. I set it up easily myself a lot of times but it was a bit easier when someone else could help me center it over my hammock. By myself, I have to step back and make adjustments on both sides to make sure I aligned it to my hammock for best coverage.This has been great for creating a shade on sunny days, adding some privacy, blocking falling leaves, or protecting me during light showers. If it doesn’t rain much where you are or you don’t camp on stormy days, this would be perfect for you. There was a sudden storm during one camping trip and the wind was blowing some of the initial rainfall under the tarp. I had to lower the tarp closer to my hammock and tighten the ends closer to the hammock to prevent the heavy rain. A traditional square shape could have been better and it also could have provided more coverage for my things that were on the ground. The tent is opaque enough that I was able to privately change my clothes underneath it. It also helped dull down the little light I had on inside my hammock at night so my neighbors wont be disturbed.This is a LIGHTWEIGHT rain fly, so the diamond shape makes sense. It unpacks and folds up/fits right back into the bag easily. Disclaimer that I have my own tent stakes that I use, so I can’t speak on the quality of the 2 provided. I do wish that the center ropes were at least 1-2ft longer. The ones provided with the bug net are sooooo long, which is great if I only have really thick tree trunks available or there’s more distance between them. But since the rain fly’s ropes are much shorter than the bug nets’ ropes, I did struggle to secure them around thicker trees compared to the bug net. I haven’t seen another Wise Owl rain fly that offers fuller coverage, but it’s definitely something I’d be interested in.

I was hesitant at first about using this rain fly for my hammock backing trips, but now it’s the best purchase I’ve made this year. Like most I wanted one of the ENO rain flys but not for the ENO price. This was the next best thing, and had decent reviews and I’ll add another! I’ve used this in several rainstorms during backpacking trips and stayed totally dry, the only thing I noticed was there was some slight sagging when it’s wet, but that was easily fixed by tightening it up a bit. It’s easy for the most part to put up, but I do recommend testing it out first before going on any trips. There is a bit of a learning curve but once you get it down it’s easy. I also suggest you keeps the paracord neat and organized when you put it away. The ground stakes are awesome! Super light weight, super strong. When you fold is back into it’s stuff sack (and I REALLY recommend folding it, not stuffing it) I do find it’s hard to perfectly fit it back into its sack, but I manage. Color is accurate and very cute!

Overall I love it! Worked well for both light rain and bright sun on our most recent camping trip! Seemed fully waterproof and was fantastic to give a little shade. Feels durable and the included ropes and stakes felt fine!Setup: meh, it wasn't terrible to set up, but definitely took longer than the hammock itself. Its exactly what you'd expect from tying ropes to trees and staking out 4 guy lines. I didn't realize there were tensioners so I didn't actually use those which may have helped some.Size: The width is great but it's not much longer than the double hammock by wise owl (about a foot if the hammock is stretched to full length but a bit more as hung). I was kinda worried if there was more wind the ends of the hammock might get a bit damp.