Portaledge without the fly?

I'm a noob when it comes to big walls. Anyone use a portaledge without the fly in places like Yosemite May-September or Zion? What are you doing for bivy gear? Plenty of people climb The Nose without a portaledge. What are they using for bivy gear, and would the same kit be appropriate on a portaledge? Yes, I'm trying to put being cheap ahead of a measure of safety

Brian Abram wrote: I'm a noob when it comes to big walls. Anyone use a portaledge without the fly in places like Yosemite May-September or Zion? What are you doing for bivy gear? Plenty of people climb The Nose without a portaledge. What are they using for bivy gear, and would the same kit be appropriate on a portaledge? Yes, I'm trying to put being cheap ahead of a measure of safety

I've used a ledge without a fly in Zion, as early as February/March. Walls aren't that big/long there, so with a good weather forecast and knowledge of potential bail options/commitment points, we felt pretty good about leaving the fly on the ground. Haven't been on the Nose, but there are ledges to sleep on, so portaledge isn't necessarily required. I've used the same bivy gear I've used for other bivying--all my clothes, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, maybe a bivy sack or tarp as needed. 

Depends on the forecast and run off potential / steepness of the route.  Yosemite and Zion will differ significantly and most likely you will not need a ledge in Zion as the walls are very do-able in a day or a fix-fire mission for the trade routes you'll be wanting to climb.  On the Nose, there are natural sleepable ledges as you progress so the portaledge is mostly unneeded as well, but you'll still see them occasionally and maybe it helps some teams.  On a natural ledge a bivy sack is a great idea, and can get you through a storm if one was to pass over and it is really compact.   Routes like Zodiac don't receive much if any run off and are steep enough that rain won't hit most of the climbing, but parties may still bring a fly to weather a bad storm if it looks possible on their ascent... A route like Lurking Fear would be a huge water course and not only would totally suck in the rain but be likely be overall just a bad call with impending rain forecast.  I've brought a fly on most 3+ day routes that I have done as a precaution just because I don't want to come down, but it can be bothersome to carry along. Simple answer is it varies

In the last 8 years, 17 El Cap routes, I’ve spent 23 nights under my fly. The forecast has changed 3 days into the climb, 40% of the time.

You will feel so, so stupid, sitting there on your ledge, getting rained on.

People have frozen to death on El Cap in July and have suffered heat stroke in November.

 I spent a lot of money on my bivy gear, I’ve survived a 3 night, 4 day storm of rain, snow and sleet in comfort and was able to continue and finish the route. 

I have a large silnylon tarp that I used as a rain fly for a one night stand ledge once.  You can suspend the tarp over the ledge using a prussik or noose over the tarp with a hex or large cam that won't slip through.  You hang the ledge off the caribiner on the hex/cam.  This technique also works great if you are on a rock ledge with just a trap.

A large bivy sack like the BD Hoop Bivy would be a lifesaver without a fly.

Also...it's likely that, if you don't bring a fly,  you are going to chicken out and bail at the first sign of bad weather.  

So get a fly.  But if you don't have the money, there are other options.