Eagles Nest Outfitters HouseFly Rain Tarp

The ENO Housefly Rain Tarp is a large hammock shelter designed to provide full coverage with the added benefit of overlapping doors that provide full wind and weather protection with the added convenience of buckles to stow the doors out of the way when not needed.

I was looking to assemble my first hammock system and decided that the ENO HouseFly offered the most ready to go, factory provided, features that would expedite my entry into the world of hammock camping. The HouseFly is 10' 6" X 10' and weighs 27 ounces.

Upon initial receipt I was impressed with the quality of manufacture. There was no loose stitching anywhere and all seams are well sown and taped. All of the tieout and stress points are well constructed and survived a couple of days subjected to winds around 20 mph on a few occasions. There was no evidence of stretching or tearing at any location.

A brief rain yielded no leaks. A further test with Mr. Garden Hose proved that the seams and waterproofing of the tarp are up to the challenge. The 15D Silicone Impregnated Ripstop Nylon w/PU fabric instantly beads up water and the water flows at a very rapid rate off of the tarp. There was no evidence of any fabric saturation. The water literally runs right off.

The biggest feature of this tarp are the doors on both ends. For storage they are secured with convenient miniature side lock buckles. Each door has its own tieout and by utilizing your existing tarp corner stakes, the door lines can be crisscrossed securely to prevent wind and rain from entering the tarp. Ladies will especially appreciate the ability to change their clothes standing up in relative privacy compared to a regular hammock tarp. I would have liked to have seen some Velcro added for temporary closure of the doors. I will likely add some Velcro myself.

The cordage ENO uses is a small diameter, stiff, almost wire-like material that has a rather rough texture to promote the included line locks to retain your adjustments. High winds did allow the plastic line locks to slip a bit and that is easily cured by adding a slippery half hitch to all of your final line adjustments.

The tarp was easy to store in the included stuff sack without too much drama, which is always nice. Compression straps should be included in my opinion. An additional upgrade would be an additional tieout on each side of the tarp. This would help prevent the sides from closing in during high winds and add utility to the tarp when used as a ground shelter.

The Housefly really shines when configured in "storm mode" as seen in the picture below. When the weather is fine, "porch mode" is the way to go. As you can see the Housefly offers many options,

Storm Mode with doors deployed,

Porch Mode with doors stowed,

This tarp is unlike any other that I have used. If you are looking for a hammock tarp that offers you more coverage than most tarps, then this is for you.

I bought this tarp for the sole reason it had doors on both ends. I had not seen a tarp like this before. I used it in a storm this past weekend and it performed perfectly. No water entry at all. I stayed bone dry.

It is pretty lightweight at 29 ounces and is much larger than other tarps I have used. It is 10'8" x 8'10". You can tie this one off directly onto trees without having to use a ridge-line or tie it off onto the tree straps. I think this would also be great if I ever need to go to ground if no trees could be found and just use it as a tarp using trekking poles. It comes with 8 DAC aluminum stakes, double stitched waterproof seams, 10 point anchor system with EXTREMELY reflective cord.

In the pictures I had it pitched in Porch Mode and just before going to sleep I lowered one side to allow for rain runoff from the storm I knew was coming. There was no need to move to storm mode since there was no wind blowing.

I am very pleased with the ease of setup and coverage this tarp provides. I highly recommend it.

Background

At this writing, I have used this tarp twice once in clear weather and once during a pretty bad storm.

4 words, Will keep you dry.

The Eagles Nest HouseFly is probably one if the best investments I've made to date in my camping gear. I spent 14 days in the Daniel Boone National Forest and it really proved itself worthy of packing.

The first night out it rained, not just your mother's everyday light shower, it poured buckets. I wasn't sure if the ENO HouseFly would be up for the job. But to my surprise, me and my gear stayed perfectly dry. I was truly amazed.

It's much lighter than most of the tents I've used in the past and none of those allowed me to sleep in the comfort of an ENO hammock. As I've come to except from ENO, the ENO Housefly is a well designed and thought out piece of camping gear that I know will serve me well in my many outdoor adventures, rain or no rain.