MSR Hubba Hubba Tent - 2 Person, 3 Season

"I have hiked 1025 miles on the AT with this tent GA to Harpers Ferry, WV...Feb-April. Will return in June to finish the AT. It has performed well through cold, storms and wind. I like the extra space (for gear, for raining days there is space to kick back and read a nice novel, more of a home feeling...2 1/2 months on the trail that is important) so I am willing to carry the extra few pounds. I recommend a REI large microtowel to dry off the rainfly or dew prior to packing...works great. I will take this tent over a AT shelter any day! Get the footprint...for sticks, rocks, ect."

"So much has been written about the Hubba Hubba and its ease of setup, spacious footprint and head room, relatively light weight and sturdy construction that I'll assume you already know this is a great tent and a great value. I wholeheartedly agree with all the glowing things I've read here and in reviews on the web and in the popular backpacking magazines.



What most don't tell you is how flexible this tent is in varying weather. I live in Texas, and yes, it is as hot as you think it is. I've spent many nights steaming away in my old tent wishing there was some way to enjoy the outdoors without miserably dripping sweat from every pour. Then I bought my Hubba Hubba. On most nights when rain isn't forecast I just pitch the all-mesh body to protect me from the helicopter sized mosquitos and other "little friends". With mesh everywhere, even the slightest breeze keeps you cool and comfortable. The full-view of the sky makes star gazing and reflection quite a treat. With the fly rolled up just inside the door, I know I can (and have) jump out quickly and toss the fly in in less than a minute should the weather suddenly turn foul.



Hubba Hubba works very well in the cold too. I backpacked the Chisos mountains in Big Bend over the week after Thanksgiving a few years ago with temps at or below zero at night at altitude and I was perfectly warm, even in a lightweight bag. I had zero condensation issues despite a heavy frost one morning and the orange fly is cheery inside without being too bright to sleep-in late.



I highly recommend the Hubba Hubba for its flexibility, solid construction, great features, light weight and super easy setup. I've included pictures of hot desert car camping (body only) and cold weather mountain camping."

"I rely on many of these reviews when buying gear so I'm trying to return the favor by reviewing the key gear I've run through the test recently. Thanks to everyone who has written great reviews on here - they are really helpful.



I really love this tent. Have had it for 2-3 years now and it shows no signs of wear and tear. I use the footprint all the time and usually use the fly as well. When weather is clear and warm enough, the nearly full mesh makes it really special but the fly transforms it into a more protective, warm tent. I use it for backpacking and car camping. It is light enough that I use it all the time, whether backpacking solo or with a partner, car camping, etc.



Pros:

- Mesh is awesome for ventilation in all conditions.

- With good weather and no fly, the mesh is really spectacular.

- Set up is super easy and weight, while not ultralight, is very good. Packs down small. Only one pole is very helpful too. So fast that you can sleep without the fly and know that you can add it later (in rain or if cold) in only a minute or two.

- With fly on, vestibules add a solid amount of usable space on both sides.

- With fly on, tent is warm enough to be very comfy, yet ventilated, even into the 30's and 20's. Definitely good at protecting from wind and rain.



Cons:

- The actual space in the tent is really only enough for two regular guys (say, six foot or less), and a few items (books, water, camera). You'll be only inches from touching your partner and anything else in the tent. Not so much of a con as knowing what you want. When you add the fly, this limitation isn't so bad as you have the vestibules for extra stuff. Not unreasonably tight for me, but definitely snug in there.

- In really cold weather, the mesh can become a liability. I always use the fly if it starts to dip into the mid 30's or below and that warms things up. But probably not ideal if you spend most of your time in the 30's and below.

- Similarly, in desert or sandy environments, the mesh can cause problems by inviting even more sand in. When the wind blows in sand, even the fly doesn't add much protection.



Short of being the perfect tent for everything - which simply isn't possible - I can hardly think of anything I'd change about this tent. In super cold weather or windy, sandy environments, you'll probably prefer something else. For just about anything else, this is simply amazing."

"I've had my Double Hubba going on 6 years now, and it is still my go to 2P tent for backpacking. And by 2P I usually mean myself and my 60lb husky. Rika finds it difficult to settle down in a tent, and the Hubba2 gives her plenty enough room to circle a few times without stepping on me or my pad before she curls up next to me.



It has held up exceptionally well in any conditions I've thrown at it. I know some folks are complaining about its inability to hold together in a stiff breeze, but my Hubba2 held its own, completely exposed, in some pretty sustained wind and 40+ gusts in Volcanoes NP, Hawaii (see photo). It also kept me quite cozy in 2 feet of snow in W VA, and hail/sleet/snow above the treeline in the Beartooth Range in MT. All that reliable protection for well under 5lbs of packed wt is more than acceptable for this camper. Set-up is a breeze, and the provided stakes are what you'd expect from MSR. Cloudless nights without the fly are an absolute dream in the Hubba2; I almost feel like I should be paying admission to a planetarium when I crawl inside and hunker down for the night.



The only hitch I can think of is the difficulty in opening the vestibule from the outside; the velcro holding the flap down sometimes makes it hard to get a good clean zipper pull. Maybe that has been fixed on newer versions?



Like a lot of gear junkies, I'm always looking for the next best thing, the newest, lightest bag, or this year's Award winner on which to blow my dividend. The Hubba Hubba is one of the very few pieces of gear that always remains at the top of my all-season gear pile, and one of the very first things I grab for any trip, anywhere, anytime."

"I recently returned from a lightning-fast over night trip on a river trail in central Virginia. It was the Hubba's first "wet run" and it did not disappoint.



Both my Osprey Aether 70 an my partner's bargain bin monster fit in the vestibules with room to spare for boots and Nalgene bottles, which proved to be lifesaving because that night it rained starting at 3 AM and snowed starting at 5. The fly kept us bone dry during the night - no leaks, no problems.



The humidity was 85% that night and the dew point was low enough that whatever you breathed on got wet, but in the morning there was no condensation whatsoever inside the tent. This was surprising to me because we broke the cardinal rule of avoiding tent condensation and hung four pairs of soaked socks and 2 pairs of soaked pants on a clothesline across the ceiling of the tent. However the tent pitches so tightly that whatever condensation occurs rolls right out onto the ground.



The only problem I can see with this tent is that it's a bit hard to remove the fly from the pole across the top of the tent. I still haven't found a way to easily do it, and with frozen fingers it was almost impossible.



I also recommend that if you are expecting soft ground, pick up some Y-shaped stakes such as the MSR groundhog stakes because the tent comes with the thin MSR needle stakes. These are great for hard or rocky ground but won't hold up in soft ground or loose soil."

"I bought this tent to go backpacking with my son. I could not believe how easy it was to setup. As the another reviewer stated this tent is up in 5 minutes at most. When my other friends were still working on setting up their tents I was putting the sleeping bags in. My only concern would be using it in dusty areas as it is all mesh."

"I took this tent solo-backpacking through Iceland, Sweden, and Denmark last summer. REI didn't have it in stock when I bought it, so I went to a local retailer and found it there because I really the liked the online specs on how much vestibule space was created by the rain fly. It did not disappoint.



The weather in the backcountry of Iceland was horrible. Rain, sleet, 30-40mph winds and there are no trees there to use as a barrier from the elements. This tent not only didn't budge an inch in the wind, but I never had a drop of rain in the tent after four days of non-stop downpour. Even my gear under the vestibule was dry, and allowed me to have nice dry boots in the morning before I had to go out in the elements and continue my trek.



This tent is also very light weight. Yes, you could find lighter, but for the room and comfort you get with this tent, I highly recommend going for the extra few ounces. I cannot stress enough how happy this tent makes me; worth every penny."

"If you are going on a backpacking trip, this is the only way to go. MSR makes quality gear, and this tent is no exception. On a 20 day trip this tent could not have performed better. One advantage of this tent over others in my group is that it came with 8 of its own lightweight titanium stakes - other "lightweight" tents came with either aluminum (flimsy) or steel (heavy!!), or none at all and had to be purchased separately. Especially nice is that there are EIGHT stakes, so you can stake your corners, both your vestibules, and also the fly in 2 additional places to ward off wind and condensation. Ownage.In addition, this tent is able to be extremely light weight without making any quality sacrifices, which is awesome because you will not have anything heavy to hold you back from getting anywhere (see photo).The air circulation in this tent is spot on. I could wash clothes in the evening at camp, hang them inside the tent with me on a carabiner, and have them be dry - even on some of the colder nights, and no condensation. Some nights in the Sierras were pretty darn windy and I slept like a baby in my cozy MSR.All in all, I can't find a flaw with this tent, and IF something were to go wrong, [...]"

"My wife and I bought this tent in 2008 for our Trans-American Bicycle Tour. Since then we have also used it on countless over night, and multiple night hiking trips. We have also used it for multiple day bicycle tours around Oregon and Washing, including the entire Pacific Coast of the U.S.



After years of use, we recently were on a trip and got stuck in a torrential downpour for a night a woke up to water everywhere inside the tent. This was partially my fault due to poor judgement of tent placement but because this was once out of hundreds of uses in similar conditions, I still rate this tent as amazing. I did however subsequently reapply a poly-coat to the footprint and waterproof the rainfly, but after almost 2 years of constant use, it may have seen it's better days.



The only real problem we've ever had was in really high winds, the top of the tent seems to bow really badly but as long as you stake it out with the guy lines, it should be fine.



Overall, an amazing tent."

"I really like this tent. It's roomy and super easy to set up. The full mesh rules. It may get a little cold in the winter. If so, just rock the fly. Speaking of the fly, there's an unadvertised option to "Half fly" it. Where you can roll up the front or back half of the fly. I did that and it started to rain, so I simply unrolled the fly and was waterproof again. I really like this rent. I had a Hammerhead 2 by Mountain hardwear, which rules, but not a good summer tent if you want a lot of cross breeze. The all mesh on the Hubba Hubba is sweet, until you want to make out with your tent mate, then every one can see your bodies moving around. But who really cares?"