Can the outer fly hold up on the poles without the tent?

Can you use the outer fly and poles (without internal tent) as an ultra light shelter?

Can you pack up the tent in the rain (unclip it from the pole) under the cover of the fly while the fly remains standing?

Normally you can do this with clip-on tents (tents don't have sleeves for the poles, but rather clips, like this one), but being that this tent is not freestanding, I'm not sure how this would work. What exactly needs to be pegged for the tent to stay up?

Just a follow-up to my own question now that I bought the tent. And thanks Jason for a very accurate reply. Your response helped me make up my mind about buying this tent. As Jason mentioned, it's not easy to take down the tent from the inside-out (fly last), and it is wholly impossible without a footprint. I did find, after some experimenting, a procedure that works well enough and does not require exiting the tent at all. 0) To begin with, when setting up the ten, you must attach the velcro tabs underneath the fly to the poles. This is usually optional, to center the fly, but the fly won’t hold up on its own once you remove the tent if you don’t. You should also have both the four tent corners and the four footprint corners staked out (can use the same stakes). To take the tent down in the rain: 1) Put on your rain jacket. Your’ back will be rubbing against the fly and it’ll get wet. 2) Through the front door, remove pull the outer fly grommet out of the short cross-pole (a thumb-sized strap loop is provided exactly for that), and pull the tent grommet out as well. The tent and fly shouldn’t collapse at this if everything else is still staked in, but don’t delay: put the fly grommet back in without the tent’s. 3) Step into the vestibule (your back is now rubbing the fly). Pick an adjacent corner. From the inside, unclip the fly from the tent, and clip it into the footprint. They may not be at the same distance, but the clip on the fly is adjustable, so they don’t need to be. 4) The stake is holding both the footprint and the tent. Leave it in the ground and slip the tent wire out of the stake from above (this works regardless of whether the tent wire is above or below the footprint’s). 5) Do the same of the other corner that is accessible from the vestibule. The vestibule-side of the tent is now collapsing a bit. Close the tent door and unclip the tent from the long pole. 6) Take the long pole out of the side grommets of the tent, and let it rest on the ground. It should hold fine, although go easy on the fly from now on as it has a bit less stability. 6) Repeat the procedure for unclipping the corner (steps 4-5) for one of the remaining corners. 7) Repeat the procedure for removing the tent grommet (step 2) for the grommet on the far side of the short cross pole. 8) Repeat the procedure for unclipping the corner (steps 4-5) for the last remaining corner. 9) Roll up your dry tent and put it in a waterproof/dry place. Your wet fly can go in a separate bag. Ta-da. Your tent, still dry, is packed and you’re under the shelter. You can go on with your hike, knowing that you don’t need to sleep in a wet tent tonight.

Actually the answers are: yes (with a footprint), yes (with a footprint), and no (if you want to save your sanity). The reason is when the fly is set up with the tent, the fly is actually clipped into the tent, and the smaller pole that's positioned just above the door (crosses the main, larger pole) is placed in the grommet of the tent, not fly (although both can be placed into this grommet, the tent must be where the fly isn't required to be). This grommet is fairly difficult to remove the pole from due to the tension of the pole. There probably is a way, but that way wouldn't be easy or practical. It simply wasn't designed to do this. I think you would find trying it would be far more hassle than it's worth...there is absolutely no way without a footprint. The Carbon Reflex 2 has subtle differences when compared to the Hubba Hubba which could probably be taken down while the fly remains pitched. Due to the clips in the corner of the Carbon Reflex 2 and the grommets above the door (which also make doing this difficult on the Hubba Hubba), it might be an exercise in frustration. In the case of the Carbon Reflex 2, you must use a footprint to keep the fly pitched, whereas the Hubba Hubba doesn't need one.