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March 2019 Issue
Home / Gear reviews / Tents

MSR Hubba Hubba NX

Price:

$859.99

Our Rating:

At a glance
The Good: Compact footprint, bright interior, lightweight
The Bad: Lightweight floor fabrics, expensive

Weight 1720g Area 2.7m2

Features: A single ‘unified’ pole with hubs allow the pole to branch out to the corners and across the centre. Two fly vents and mesh panels on the inner ceiling. Ten pegs and four pre-attached guylines. The fly fabric is rated to 1200mm and the floor to 3000mm.

Pitching: The tent has one pole with three hubs where poles branch off to the corners and another creates a centre width pole. There are eight clips on the canopy that attach to the pole giving the tent good shape. The 10 pegs are strong and unlikely to bend and there are enough for the guylines.

Comfort: There’s enough mesh to provide decent ventilation and star-gazing opportunity, but not too much that it limits the tent’s use to summer-only. Near-vertical end walls and a 100cm ceiling height was ample for me to sit and kneel.

In use: This tent provides a greater feeling of space than the other tents reviewed, even though it has one of the smallest living areas. The vertical end walls help, as does the light-filled interior – it’s not gloomy at all, even with the fly doors closed.

The fly is held in place by the corner poles, so the tent has a blunt snub-nose look. This shrinks the overall footprint and allows for pitching in cramped locations without affecting the livability of the tent or its interior space.

There’s ample ventilation, so the tent never felt stuffy, and it’s easy to get into and out of – ‘stay-dry’ entrances help keep rainwater out of the sleeping area.

The vestibules are both 0.81m2 and ample for storing packs and other gear. The tent felt rock-solid. It pitched taut, crinkle-free and with the guylines in use wouldn’t budge in even the strongest winds.

Value: It’s expensive, but it is also a masterclass in tent design with a bright, livable interior coupled with a compact footprint that makes it a versatile choice for everything from bush to open tops camping. The fabrics are moderately durable and it would pay to buy a groundsheet to ensure long life.

Verdict: The tent strikes a good balance between weight and overall volume while still offering the strength and utility required of a tent to handle adverse weather. It’s a delight to use in any condition.