Do you cover your tent?

[Outdoormom]

When you go camping, do you cover your tent with a tarp? Or do you just pray it doesn't rain? lol I always thought if you waterproofed it, you didn't need a tarp, but my husband puts one on anyway because rain can still get in. Who knew! Why waterproof it then?

 

[outdoorsy]

Nope, we never cover our tent with a tarp. I wonder why the waterproof stuff wouldn't work. Maybe he is doing it in case of a downpour?

We do use a tarp underneath the tent.

 

[2beoutdoors]

We don't use any tarp to cover our tent either. It doesn't make sense to me. Wouldn't it make it really hot in the tent with a tarp on it? Trapping in the heat?
I would think this would be ok in the colder nights but not in the summer?

 

[4x4]

No we don't do nothing like that but I do spray weatherizing spray as back up for moisture so we do not get wet during the night or early morning from dew.

 

[Ava]

Our tent comes with a cover so If the weather calls for it we can put it over to keep out the rain. In summer it becomes a hot box with the cover on so we tend to keep it off and have the evening winds blow through.

 

[2coastcamper]

Usually I just stick with the rainfly ... that's what it's for.

 

[Uber]

When we know there's a good chance of rain, we throw a tarp over, but it does become very hot very fast. Last time, we set the tarp up nearby so that we could quickly throw it over the tent if it began to rain, rather than let the tent heat up.

 

[calanta]

I do not fully cover the tent top with a tarp but I have done similar in the past. Most times when we camp out we try to make sure the tent is somewhere close to trees, so we can set the tarp up to hang over the tent (so unless its raining up a storm like enough to flood, it wont get inside to us).

 

[Smokeybear]

I set a tarp up on my tent. I don't completely cover it, but I angle it so the rain runs off away from the tent. We also put a tarp under our tent. During the day, I open all the screens so the air is able to flow through and it doesn't get hot in there. As soon as the sun is beginning to go down, I close the screens up to try to capture some of the heat inside.

I also spray weather proofing spray on my tent, but you can never be to safe.

 

[toastedmarshmallow]

I do tarp over my waterproof tent not only in case of sudden rain showers but also because I like a larger area covered, walking room. I like a total shady area and find that putting a tarp over the tent keeps the sun off the top of my tent and therefore keeps it a bit cooler.

 

[Campy]

We put a tarp over our tent on our last trip. It rained for 5 days!! It rained and rained, after the 3rd day we put up a large tarp over the entire campsite.
It's always good to pack one just in case you need it.