I’ve done it again. I have a new tent… In fairness I haven’t actually purchased a tent for quite a few years; the previous one – the excellent Vango Force Ten MTN 2 – was donated. The only downside of that tent was its weight and pack size. Not massive by any stretch of the imagination, but when you know other, lighter and less bulky tents are available, it plays on the mind. (I know there are people out there who have been using the same tent since the 1950s and if you are one of them you will be raising your eyebrows gently as I justify my profligacy in adding another tent to my expanding collection…)

The tent I’ve, err… ‘invested’ in is an MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2-Person Backpacking Tent. Here’s MSR’s description:

“Designed for backpackers who need a tent that can do it all while still being compact and lightweight, our bestselling MSR Hubba Hubba 2-person tent feels as light and efficient to use as it does to carry. From its optimized, symmetrical geometry and non-tapered floor that maximize space, down to its integrated, adjustable stake-out loops that speed setup, this tent redefines lightweight livability. Whether you’re setting out to climb the Sawatch Range or circumnavigate Mount Rainier along the Wonderland Trail, the freestanding, 3-season Hubba Hubba tent lets you enjoy the full backcountry experience — including time spent in the tent.”

Here’s Dale from MSR with a couple of videos:

Note that Dale says “One of our goals with this tent was to make it as easy as possible to set up so we used colour-coded webbing on the rain fly and the stake loops making it really easy to orient the rain fly to the tent“. I have to admit that, when I erected the tent a few days ago for the first time, this did cause me some issues and it wasn’t at all obvious what had been colour-coded. Everything seemed to be red. Back to Dale:

Thanks Dale. So he said “Insert the tips of the two hubbed poles into the grommets with red webbing at one end of the tent floor, then insert the poles into the grommets with the gray webbing“.

Was this where I was going wrong? Red first, then gray (or grey for us here in the UK but it is an American tent so…). Incidentally…

Definition: grommet /ˈɡrɒmɪt/: an eyelet placed in a hole to protect or insulate a rope or cable passed through it or to reinforce the hole.

(It’s one of those words that we use but do we actually know what it refers to? Anyway, moving on…)

Dale also says: “Align the red webbing to the red stake loops, gray webbing to the gray stake loops“.

And lo! There is indeed different coloured webbing on the inner tent…

…and the outer tent:

Why did I not notice this when erecting the tent? I must have stood in my neighbour’s garden for 15 minutes staring at the pile of material in front of me trying to figure this out. FFS…

There’s also a third video from someone who is not Dale and it’s a bit like a science lesson:

I have to admit that this third video is basically stating the bleeding obvious but…

Alas today’s weather is somewhat wet but I am itching to try and erect the Hubba Hubba again, more successfully… Note to self: watch YouTube video before starting to do things, not during or after.

If you are thinking of purchasing the Hubba Hubba, it might be worth considering doing so via Wildbounds, a Bristol-based outdoor shop. I did a bit of research prior to buying and they were by far the cheapest. That said, as of today – July 10th – they appear to have sold out.

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Photo header credit: MSR