If you have been reading my past trip reports with a keen eye and have had a close look at the photos, you surely have seen that I had the MSR Hubba HP 2010 model for quite a while already. Time for a first look at this solo tent, and what it offers to the lightweight backpacker.
MSR Hubba HP 2010 on a trip last autumn, experiencing the first minus degrees of the season.
Lets start with the important bits, a break down of the weight:
MSR Hubba HP complete: 1385 g
Stakes x 6: 59 g
Stakes stuff sack: 10 g
Repair: 18 g
Poles: 347 g
Poles stuff sack: 18 g
Outer: 429 g
Inner: 463 g
Stuff sack: 41 g
"That's a lot of stuff sacks" is what I thought, and then I ditched the one for the poles and used a lighter one for the whole set. The MSR Needle stakes which come with the tent are fantastic, I have been using them also with my other tents and tarps, good visibility and easy to get into the ground.
As you might know, the internet is a medium where you can use video to the fullest, so before I show different photos and ramble on, have a look at the HD video I made of setting it up:
It is a lightweight tent, with using a lighter stuff sack and lighter stakes (even if they're good, Titanium stakes are half the weight!) you can get a trail weight of about 1300 g. But of course the seperate set up of fly and inner also allows you to variate - only inner for summer days with mosquitos and without rain, fly for spring and autumn days with a friend or dog, and both for a winter trip. So you could get away with a trail weight of 860 g for the pole, fly and stakes, if you want.
The fly can be set up alone, and in case you take both on a rainy and mosquito infested summer night, you can set up the outer first and then clip in the inner. Personally I find the inner can take those three drops which might hit it in the time I get the fly thown over it. Those who are more afraid of the rain will think different.
The inner with a view on the closed door. It is huge.
Completely closed and pitched low.
Condensation was never an issue with this tent. Where my Scarp 1 had a wet inner on some mornings, I yet have to make that experience with the Hubba HP. Great ventilation, but not so that you think it is breezy. The extras like the top net pockets and the side pockets - for some unnecessary, for me nice to keep a tidy tent - are great, zippers are easy running and it is easy to roll up the fly and put it to the side.
And on those days where you want to enjoy the view, pull the fly back and relax.
Space for your backpack and shoes under the fly, and also cooking there is no problem.
And a look inside. Note on top again the storage net, I really love that!
While it has some nice extras, I find it a rather minimalistic tent - in a very positive way. The small footprint and the possibility to set it up with only two stakes mean it is a tent made for the mountains, where a good pitching space is hard to come by. That doesn't mean it won't perform in the forest or on our Fjells in Lapland, though.
If you are on the look out for a new solo tent which is 4-season worthy, quick and easy to set up, and of course light, then the MSR Hubba HP might just be what you're looking for. The green fly allows you to go stealth camping and it is a friendly colour to wake up to, the features are well-thought out and the inner and fly set up allows you to be variable - take only the inner when its warm and sunny and you need rest from the bugs, take only the fly when you're with a friend, and take both in winter. You will feel comfortable and safe, in rain, wind and sunshine, with this tent.
If you have been reading my past trip reports with a keen eye and have had a close look at the photos, you surely have seen that I had the MSR Hubba HP 2010 model for quite a while already. Time for a first look at this solo tent, and what it offers to the lightweight backpacker.
MSR Hubba HP 2010 on a trip last autumn, experiencing the first minus degrees of the season.
Lets start with the important bits, a break down of the weight:
MSR Hubba HP complete: 1385 g
Stakes x 6: 59 g
Stakes stuff sack: 10 g
Repair: 18 g
Poles: 347 g
Poles stuff sack: 18 g
Outer: 429 g
Inner: 463 g
Stuff sack: 41 g
"That's a lot of stuff sacks" is what I thought, and then I ditched the one for the poles and used a lighter one for the whole set. The MSR Needle stakes which come with the tent are fantastic, I have been using them also with my other tents and tarps, good visibility and easy to get into the ground.
As you might know, the internet is a medium where you can use video to the fullest, so before I show different photos and ramble on, have a look at the HD video I made of setting it up:
It is a lightweight tent, with using a lighter stuff sack and lighter stakes (even if they're good, Titanium stakes are half the weight!) you can get a trail weight of about 1300 g. But of course the seperate set up of fly and inner also allows you to variate - only inner for summer days with mosquitos and without rain, fly for spring and autumn days with a friend or dog, and both for a winter trip. So you could get away with a trail weight of 860 g for the pole, fly and stakes, if you want.
The fly can be set up alone, and in case you take both on a rainy and mosquito infested summer night, you can set up the outer first and then clip in the inner. Personally I find the inner can take those three drops which might hit it in the time I get the fly thown over it. Those who are more afraid of the rain will think different.
The inner with a view on the closed door. It is huge.
Completely closed and pitched low.
Condensation was never an issue with this tent. Where my Scarp 1 had a wet inner on some mornings, I yet have to make that experience with the Hubba HP. Great ventilation, but not so that you think it is breezy. The extras like the top net pockets and the side pockets - for some unnecessary, for me nice to keep a tidy tent - are great, zippers are easy running and it is easy to roll up the fly and put it to the side.
And on those days where you want to enjoy the view, pull the fly back and relax.
Space for your backpack and shoes under the fly, and also cooking there is no problem.
And a look inside. Note on top again the storage net, I really love that!
While it has some nice extras, I find it a rather minimalistic tent - in a very positive way. The small footprint and the possibility to set it up with only two stakes mean it is a tent made for the mountains, where a good pitching space is hard to come by. That doesn't mean it won't perform in the forest or on our Fjells in Lapland, though.
If you are on the look out for a new solo tent which is 4-season worthy, quick and easy to set up, and of course light, then the MSR Hubba HP might just be what you're looking for. The green fly allows you to go stealth camping and it is a friendly colour to wake up to, the features are well-thought out and the inner and fly set up allows you to be variable - take only the inner when its warm and sunny and you need rest from the bugs, take only the fly when you're with a friend, and take both in winter. You will feel comfortable and safe, in rain, wind and sunshine, with this tent.
Nice tent, nice review and good video. I don't think inner pitching is good for wet climates. But that is a preference thing. Be quick pitching it and it should be fine. I think the flysheet has too much clearance from the ground. Yes you will have good ventilation but it will be colder in the wind and that was a fault with the first Scarp1 flysheet. The inner is fine from the video. I have read it is too narrow but looks fine to me. It could do with some more guy-lines. I emailed PTC about it last year. He rated it and used it high on some munro s. The new model can only be better.
On the other hand I think it looks great, inner 1st doesn't bother me too much as long as the tent is fast to pitch and with the footprint it should pitch fly 1st with the inner clipped in later. I'd expect to be wetter pitching a TN Laser and expect the inner to be much wetter if packed away when wet with the inner/fly attached.
As far as closeness to the ground it looks closer than my Phreeranger fly which I've been using recently with no inner tent at all.
Not saying you're wrong Martin, just offering a different point of view :-)
Thanks for this informative review. I bought this tent 2 weeks ago and weighed all the parts. My fly is 361 grams instead of the 429 grams you mention here. Do you know whether this variation is normal? Thanks already and good luck with this nice blog,
There are several options for gear lofts, the only question is if it'll fit your tent? Rei's got a bunch http://tinyurl.com/2ag824m and I bought one last year only to find it didn't fit my hilleberg tunnel... No worries though, I gave it to a friend who had a tent it fit in!
Nice review and a beautiful camping spot. I just purchased a 2010 Scarp 1 as a foul weather alternative to my MSR Hubba which I lived in during a month-long bicycle tour in the Icelandic highlands last summer. I was very close to upgrading to the Hubba HP, but there were a few extremely windy and cold nights in the volcanic desert that required a fly extending to the ground. Perhaps the additional solid fabric of the HP adequately keeps the wind at bay. The Scarp also has a nice feature that allows you to roll up the fly from inside the tent to increase ventilation if needed. I really loved the MSR Hubba for 90% of the time I used it (light, compact, waterproof, ,free-standing and quick to pitch), but the option of a full-coverage fly steered me to the Scarp 1 to handle rougher weather.
I do like the colors. I once had a yellow tent with a brown fly, and thought it was garish, and it was heavy too, but friendly inside.
Then I got a smaller tent in blue and white, and was depressed all the time. Every time I came out the world seemed to switch from a strange midnight movie to full color.
Soft green looks like it would fit nicely in the middle.
Hi, i have the same tent and am searching for quite a while on any experience concerning storm worthiness. Have you any experience of the hubba hp performing in higher winds?
Since I am about to buy the Hubba HP I still would like to know if condensation is a real problem. I do not want to hike with my Coleman Rigel anymore as I wake up soaked because of this problem.
Perkunas, if you want to give the tent or the stove a spin (once I have the stove back) you're very welcome!
Thanks Martin!Everyone has different preferences regarding pitching, and if they're happy and it works for them, good! I have no problems with a to high fly, and still think that the original Scarp 1 was just fine. The inner is wide enough to store gear on the sides and sleep in the middle, that might be different from the perspective of someone who is taller than me =)
Thanks for the comment Richard! I have no experience with the TN Laser; and somehow it always was pretty dry when I pitched it.
Joe, I also want a netting loofa in all my shelters! Lets start a cottage and offer those =)
Jan, my model is a pre-production Sample, so it might be different than your production model. I'd be happy if I would have the lighter version you have ;)
Robin, can't really say. Both are good, I like the Scarp's two vestibules and entries, but are they really needed? I might need to pitch them side by side some day and sleep a night or two in each to be able to compare.
Anonymous, thanks for your additional insights and have fun with the Scarp 1!
Dave, the green is great, though I also like yellow =)
Lisa, the quality is top notch and you surely won't be disappointed!
Anonymous, I have had it pitched in Vaasa on the west coast of Finland which is always fairly windy, and there where at no point problems with the wind. I think the design should be able to survive gales et al. without problems. Regarding condensation, that was never an issue. The "high" fly and the vent on top keep it to a minimum, and waking up soaked was never experienced.
I'm really late on this, but I have the standard Hubba. It's a nice wee tent but there is loads of space under the fly but outside the inner tent on the non-door side of the tent. It could be quite useful for storage if you could get to it from inside the tent but you can't - you can just see it through the net of standard version inner! Does the HP have the same shape? It makes it feel like the inner is narrorwer than it has to be.
Toby, As you can see from the first photo above, the room on the backside is actually quite small. It can not be accessed, but given that it is such a narrow space I do not think that there's much sense in storing anything there.
I have been using the Hubba for a few years now. Have used it on 4 to 5 week cycling trips across the Canadian Rockies (twice), England, Ireland and Wales, New Zealand South Island, Alaska (minus 7 at times) and numerous shorter trips in New South Wales. Fantastic tent. I have sewn in a few extra netting pockets that I find useful. No complaints about the Hubba although I have started to experimenbt with a Black Diamond bivvy. Problen with the bivvy is space especially in wet weather. Also using a Cape Storm sleping bag that is ultra light and an MSR Reaktor. So, including the bike (a carbon fibre 9.8 Trek) with two Ortlieb rear panniers and a Peak saddle bag for tools the entire rig (when fully packed)is 22kgs. The bike itself weighs about 9kgs.
Standing in my room at last... I m looking forward to try this tent in the open! I am so amazed by the care of details on this tent, though I have to say I ve never owned a professional tent... but the emroidered image on the stuff sack is just nuts!!
Perkunas, if you want to give the tent or the stove a spin (once I have the stove back) you're very welcome!
Thanks Martin!Everyone has different preferences regarding pitching, and if they're happy and it works for them, good! I have no problems with a to high fly, and still think that the original Scarp 1 was just fine. The inner is wide enough to store gear on the sides and sleep in the middle, that might be different from the perspective of someone who is taller than me =)
Thanks for the comment Richard! I have no experience with the TN Laser; and somehow it always was pretty dry when I pitched it.
Joe, I also want a netting loofa in all my shelters! Lets start a cottage and offer those =)
Jan, my model is a pre-production Sample, so it might be different than your production model. I'd be happy if I would have the lighter version you have ;)
Robin, can't really say. Both are good, I like the Scarp's two vestibules and entries, but are they really needed? I might need to pitch them side by side some day and sleep a night or two in each to be able to compare.
Anonymous, thanks for your additional insights and have fun with the Scarp 1!
Dave, the green is great, though I also like yellow =)
Lisa, the quality is top notch and you surely won't be disappointed!
Anonymous, I have had it pitched in Vaasa on the west coast of Finland which is always fairly windy, and there where at no point problems with the wind. I think the design should be able to survive gales et al. without problems. Regarding condensation, that was never an issue. The "high" fly and the vent on top keep it to a minimum, and waking up soaked was never experienced.
Hiking in Finland is licensed under a Creative Commons license. If you want to use or reference anything you see here, please contact me.
You're going out on your own responsibility. If you try out something that I write about here, and it goes horribly wrong, don't come crying to me. Know your limits. Use common sense.
oh man...if youre too busy with all that MSR stuff youre getting,you know to who you can haul em :).
ReplyDeleteNice tent, nice review and good video. I don't think inner pitching is good for wet climates. But that is a preference thing. Be quick pitching it and it should be fine. I think the flysheet has too much clearance from the ground. Yes you will have good ventilation but it will be colder in the wind and that was a fault with the first Scarp1 flysheet. The inner is fine from the video. I have read it is too narrow but looks fine to me. It could do with some more guy-lines. I emailed PTC about it last year. He rated it and used it high on some munro s. The new model can only be better.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand I think it looks great, inner 1st doesn't bother me too much as long as the tent is fast to pitch and with the footprint it should pitch fly 1st with the inner clipped in later. I'd expect to be wetter pitching a TN Laser and expect the inner to be much wetter if packed away when wet with the inner/fly attached.
ReplyDeleteAs far as closeness to the ground it looks closer than my Phreeranger fly which I've been using recently with no inner tent at all.
Not saying you're wrong Martin, just offering a different point of view :-)
I wanna netting 'loft' in my tent! That would stop me breaking sunglasses and losing stuff. Great little idea.
ReplyDeleteHi HikinginFinland
ReplyDeleteThanks for this informative review. I bought this tent 2 weeks ago and weighed all the parts. My fly is 361 grams instead of the 429 grams you mention here. Do you know whether this variation is normal?
Thanks already and good luck with this nice blog,
Jan Vonk
How do you rate it relative to the Scarp?
ReplyDeleteThere are several options for gear lofts, the only question is if it'll fit your tent?
ReplyDeleteRei's got a bunch http://tinyurl.com/2ag824m and I bought one last year only to find it didn't fit my hilleberg tunnel... No worries though, I gave it to a friend who had a tent it fit in!
Nice review and a beautiful camping spot. I just purchased a 2010 Scarp 1 as a foul weather alternative to my MSR Hubba which I lived in during a month-long bicycle tour in the Icelandic highlands last summer. I was very close to upgrading to the Hubba HP, but there were a few extremely windy and cold nights in the volcanic desert that required a fly extending to the ground. Perhaps the additional solid fabric of the HP adequately keeps the wind at bay. The Scarp also has a nice feature that allows you to roll up the fly from inside the tent to increase ventilation if needed. I really loved the MSR Hubba for 90% of the time I used it (light, compact, waterproof, ,free-standing and quick to pitch), but the option of a full-coverage fly steered me to the Scarp 1 to handle rougher weather.
ReplyDeleteI do like the colors. I once had a yellow tent with a brown fly, and thought it was garish, and it was heavy too, but friendly inside.
ReplyDeleteThen I got a smaller tent in blue and white, and was depressed all the time. Every time I came out the world seemed to switch from a strange midnight movie to full color.
Soft green looks like it would fit nicely in the middle.
I love MSR stoves but have yet to try one of their tents. If it is made with the same quality though, they will perform great.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeletei have the same tent and am searching for quite a while on any experience concerning storm worthiness.
Have you any experience of the hubba hp performing in higher winds?
Since I am about to buy the Hubba HP I still would like to know if condensation is a real problem. I do not want to hike with my Coleman Rigel anymore as I wake up soaked because of this problem.
ReplyDeletePerkunas, if you want to give the tent or the stove a spin (once I have the stove back) you're very welcome!
ReplyDeleteThanks Martin!Everyone has different preferences regarding pitching, and if they're happy and it works for them, good! I have no problems with a to high fly, and still think that the original Scarp 1 was just fine. The inner is wide enough to store gear on the sides and sleep in the middle, that might be different from the perspective of someone who is taller than me =)
Thanks for the comment Richard! I have no experience with the TN Laser; and somehow it always was pretty dry when I pitched it.
Joe, I also want a netting loofa in all my shelters! Lets start a cottage and offer those =)
Jan, my model is a pre-production Sample, so it might be different than your production model. I'd be happy if I would have the lighter version you have ;)
Robin, can't really say. Both are good, I like the Scarp's two vestibules and entries, but are they really needed? I might need to pitch them side by side some day and sleep a night or two in each to be able to compare.
Anonymous, thanks for your additional insights and have fun with the Scarp 1!
Dave, the green is great, though I also like yellow =)
Lisa, the quality is top notch and you surely won't be disappointed!
Anonymous, I have had it pitched in Vaasa on the west coast of Finland which is always fairly windy, and there where at no point problems with the wind. I think the design should be able to survive gales et al. without problems. Regarding condensation, that was never an issue. The "high" fly and the vent on top keep it to a minimum, and waking up soaked was never experienced.
Thank you Hendrik.
ReplyDeleteI'm really late on this, but I have the standard Hubba. It's a nice wee tent but there is loads of space under the fly but outside the inner tent on the non-door side of the tent. It could be quite useful for storage if you could get to it from inside the tent but you can't - you can just see it through the net of standard version inner! Does the HP have the same shape? It makes it feel like the inner is narrorwer than it has to be.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, you're welcome.
ReplyDeleteToby, As you can see from the first photo above, the room on the backside is actually quite small. It can not be accessed, but given that it is such a narrow space I do not think that there's much sense in storing anything there.
I have been using the Hubba for a few years now. Have used it on 4 to 5 week cycling trips across the Canadian Rockies (twice), England, Ireland and Wales, New Zealand South Island, Alaska (minus 7 at times) and numerous shorter trips in New South Wales. Fantastic tent. I have sewn in a few extra netting pockets that I find useful. No complaints about the Hubba although I have started to experimenbt with a Black Diamond bivvy. Problen with the bivvy is space especially in wet weather. Also using a Cape Storm sleping bag that is ultra light and an MSR Reaktor. So, including the bike (a carbon fibre 9.8 Trek) with two Ortlieb rear panniers and a Peak saddle bag for tools the entire rig (when fully packed)is 22kgs. The bike itself weighs about 9kgs.
ReplyDeleteV.E.
Standing in my room at last... I m looking forward to try this tent in the open!
ReplyDeleteI am so amazed by the care of details on this tent, though I have to say I ve never owned a professional tent... but the emroidered image on the stuff sack is just nuts!!
Lorenzo, that sounds great, I hope you're going to have a lot of nice adventures with it - where are you going to take it first?
ReplyDeleteHI,
ReplyDeleteI had a look at one of these tents and it really suits me fine, however i found the fly material very thin.
Could you please comment on the durability of the tent?
regards
nel
Lorenzo, that sounds great, I hope you're going to have a lot of nice adventures with it - where are you going to take it first?
ReplyDeletePerkunas, if you want to give the tent or the stove a spin (once I have the stove back) you're very welcome!
ReplyDeleteThanks Martin!Everyone has different preferences regarding pitching, and if they're happy and it works for them, good! I have no problems with a to high fly, and still think that the original Scarp 1 was just fine. The inner is wide enough to store gear on the sides and sleep in the middle, that might be different from the perspective of someone who is taller than me =)
Thanks for the comment Richard! I have no experience with the TN Laser; and somehow it always was pretty dry when I pitched it.
Joe, I also want a netting loofa in all my shelters! Lets start a cottage and offer those =)
Jan, my model is a pre-production Sample, so it might be different than your production model. I'd be happy if I would have the lighter version you have ;)
Robin, can't really say. Both are good, I like the Scarp's two vestibules and entries, but are they really needed? I might need to pitch them side by side some day and sleep a night or two in each to be able to compare.
Anonymous, thanks for your additional insights and have fun with the Scarp 1!
Dave, the green is great, though I also like yellow =)
Lisa, the quality is top notch and you surely won't be disappointed!
Anonymous, I have had it pitched in Vaasa on the west coast of Finland which is always fairly windy, and there where at no point problems with the wind. I think the design should be able to survive gales et al. without problems. Regarding condensation, that was never an issue. The "high" fly and the vent on top keep it to a minimum, and waking up soaked was never experienced.
Nel, I found it to be very durable and have no problems with it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review Hendrik - very useful and I've just ordered one! Should be out in it by this time next week...
ReplyDelete