They aren't a great deal of use to me. I did take one out last year of the year before, but that was about nostalgia, nothing practical. Having been through a few over the years I can say that the most rubbish built one I've had is also the most useful, and is the only one I still have. Better builds in lighter more flexible materials that pack better have proved to a] be less resistant to water pressure and puncture readily, b] flap about even worse when you try to walk in them, c] still feel like the rain is beating down on me...............................The one I retain has usefulness in that if the goal is to potter about slowly with a bunch of electronics it makes a good semi-mobile bothy bag. I could sit on my pack under one and tap a keyboard. I tend to take a little stool instead though. Think of my use as a slow but mobile hide / blind – could have binoculars, camera, computer or whatever going on under there, could be a kneeling woman......................That said, whilst I can testify that all the above work, to me it's a lot more hassle than it's worth. Poor value. Always reminds me of an idea where you stopped short of really grasping the nettle and making a good strong commitment to a solution – you kinda cobbled something together, which, while it sort of worked, you always knew it was a bodge-up job..............................Dislikes: Wind flap. Impeded mobility. If the weather is inclement enough to need to put it on I'll still get wet eventually. The hoods are an abomination compared to jackets. Rain on the hood puts an ear bug on you like a finger being run across a stethoscope. The “goes over the pack to keep your pack dry” is a bunch of marketing codswallop – your pack should be able to defend itself. No, this is about; if you don't wear it over the pack you sandwich an impermeable layer between your back and the pack and that isn't going to be fun for long. Avoid that by “putting over your pack to keep your pack dry” and we amplify some of the deficiencies already mentioned. As far as sleeping under one goes, they tend to all be very small. Whilst you can hunker down under out of the rain when it comes to making a shape to resist some properly bad weather you need to be thinking “coffin size”. Of all the pictures I've seen with pitches using a poncho as a rain fly nearly every one of them overcomes the size limitations by using long guys. There's usually at least 6” of gap for wind and water to get under, which is huge considering the amount of space you have, and more common is about 2'. Considering I don't tend to see rain falling like its is being gently sprinkled vertically in a very cooperative way I tend to think of those pitches as more being about the psychology of having a tiny little bit of roof than any real practical value. I just don't think something that can work over a hammock in the tropics necessarily ports well to other places. It definitely doesn't to the places where I go.........................In short, it's only nostalgia that gets me to take one out once every few years. I may well never do it again. It's one of those things that just comes over me. For any real practical use though I'd sooner take an umbrella and a bit of silnylon in the pack.
