MSR Hubba Hubba 1 Review

I just happened to be in the market for a new backpacking tent at the same time that MSR (Mountain Safety Research) released its 2022 version of its Hubba series tent. After researching a lot of different tents, and after carefully weighing out the features I needed in a backpacking tent, I decided that the MSR Hubba might be a good fit for me. With solo camping trips being my most frequent form of camping, and wanting to keep the weight as low as possible, I went with the 1 person model, the “Hubba Hubba 1.”

Intro to the Review Series

This article is the first in what will be a series of articles used to document my findings about this tent. I will be testing the MSR Hubba Hubba 1 extensively this season throughout multiple adventures here in Alaska, and I’ll do my best to keep you updated on what I like or dislike about this tent’s design and features as well as its overall durability and protection against weather.

Since my use of this tent has only just begun, my goal for this first article of the series is to provide an in-depth look at the Hubba Hubba’s basic specs, the materials used, and my initial impressions and observations. So far, my hands-on experience with this tent consists only of having practice pitched the tent a number of times and having spent a single night in my backyard.

If you have watched any of my bushcraft knife reviews, you know that I have a strong dislike for calling something “a review” that consists only of an “unboxing” or a little backyard tinkering. With tents, however, I always begin my assessment with as few variables as possible and build from there.

More importantly, this “backyard testing” is just the beginning. This series of articles and videos will follow that progression as I accumulate more experience with this tent. For now, I’ll share my initial findings and provide photographs and written details that will hopefully help you to get a better idea of whether or not this tent from MSR might be a good pick for you.

*I am not affiliated with MSR in any way, and I purchased this tent at full price for my own use. 

Basic Specs of the MSR Hubba Hubba 1

Packaged Weight: 2lbs 7oz
Trail Weight: 2lbs 2oz
Floor Dimensions: 85 x 30 inches
Vestibule Area: 7.5 square feet
Interior Peak Height: 37 inches
Packed Size: 19 x 4 inches
Rainfly Fabric: 20D ripstop nylon 1200mm Durashield polyurethane and silicone
Canopy Fabric: 20D ripstop nylon and DWR
Floor Fabric: 20D ripstop nylon 1200mm Durashield polyurethane and DWR
Mesh Type: 10D polyester micro-mesh

(“Packaged Weight” for MSR, at least, refers to the total weight of the packaged contents as it comes right off the shelf. “Trail Weight” refers to the combined weight of the tent body, rainfly, and tent poles (stuff sacks, guy lines, stakes…are not included in the trail weight).

Why I Picked This Tent

After researching a number of backpacking tents (mostly 1-person models) I ended up purchasing the MSR Hubba Hubba 1. I needed something that was light enough to haul around in my pack over long distances and into the mountains. There are much lighter options than this tent, but while I sometimes travel with more minimalistic and ultralight options like a tarp or bivy sack, I enjoy the simplicity and livability offered by the MSR Hubba Hubba.

I also needed something that would stand up to Alaska’s rains and winds that sometimes show up out of nowhere. And when it comes to tents, in order to score a low pack weight, tent manufacturers often cut away a lot of material from the rainfly.

This wouldn’t be a problem for me if I was still living in the desert where I would rarely be using my rainfly to begin with, but things are different here, and I wanted the extra protection. I was surprised, during my search for a tent, how many backpacking tents fell short when it came to weather protection.

Eventually, my search landed me with the MSR Hubba Hubba. It’s a very light tent, but it’s not the lightest in its class. The extra ounces of the Hubba Hubba, however, were designed with the intention of striking a very specific balance between comfort and weight savings.

For me and my uses, I appreciate what those extra ounces offer—a little more livable space, an adequate-sized vestibule, and a full-coverage rainfly to name a few.

Again, as this is only the first of my review series for this tent, I’m speaking only from the limited experience I have with the tent based on the basic specs and a single night in my backyard. In choosing the MSR Hubba Hubba over other tents, I based my decision on the basic specs and overall design of this tent. Only through testing this tent in a variety of conditions will I really be able to know how well this shelter will support my adventures.

2022 Updates to the MSR Hubba Hubba

The Hubba Series from MSR has been around since 2004 and is available as a one, two, and three-person tent. The Hubba series has seen many updates over the years, but the intended goal has always been to create a lightweight 3-season backpacking tent without extreme compromises in livability.

Along with the design updates to the Hubba series, the name itself got a makeover. If you’re searching online for this tent and come across names like “Hubba Hubba NX2” or “Mutha Hubba,” these are older models of the tent that often had slightly different names based on whether it was the one, two, or three-person version. Now, in 2022, MSR has simplified the names of this tent series by referring to them all as “Hubba Hubba” and then using a number (1,2, or 3) to indicate the size.

Another of the more noticeable changes to this Hubba series was the color of the tent fly. Previous versions, at least in the U.S., were Red and White (like the tent body). The new tent fly is a more neutral and natural color that MSR calls “Sahara.”

I’ve noticed a lot of complaints about this color choice, and while I admit the red looks a little off alongside the Sahara color, I prefer this over the previous color schemes.

Personally, I like to blend in with nature as much as possible, and this tent accomplishes that much better than the bright white and red of the old versions. There is, of course, an argument that could be made for the need to be visible (for safety reasons), but I guess I lean on the other side of that argument as far as this tent goes.

Now let’s get into the more functional updates of this tent because there are a lot of them.

One of the big ones: the 2022 updates shaved quite a bit of weight off. The previous 1 person model of this tent, the Hubba NX1, was 7 ounces heavier. Some of these weight savings came from using lighter zippers, making modifications to the stake grommets, and swapping out the material for the flooring (now 20D instead of 30D). There’s always a compromise that comes with lighter pack weight, and it’s often durability that is at the other end of the scale.

Part of why I’m doing this series of articles is to share how this tent holds up over time and through various conditions. So while I don’t yet have enough experience with this tent to conclude whether or not these new weight savings are worthwhile, I can say that it appears that care has been taken to reduce weight in the right places without compromising the shelter’s ability to perform.

For example, while the zippers are noticeably light and far from what you’d find on a military-grade rucksack, the new design got rid of the curved zipper path of the door and now features two separate straight zippers. Not only does this allow you to easily open the tent door one-handed, but it also reduces strain on the zipper. I’ll make sure to report my findings over time about how this zipper holds up, but my initial impression is that as long as I’m not frantically flailing my way in and out of the tent, the zipper will hold up just fine.

The new, thinner floor also concerned me at first, but I always lug the extra weight of a footprint anyway, so a thicker tent floor layered over a footprint would have been overkill in most situations anyway.

More features on this new 2022 version of the MSR Hubba Hubba include “nearly indestructible” Easton Syclone tent poles, cable ports in the interior mesh pockets, a gear loft, a true rectangular floor (not tapered, which is rare for backpacking tents), a vent “kickstand” in the fly door, and a redesign of the layout of the mesh and fabric panels.

Most of these features will be discussed in more detail later on; but, at least on paper, this represents a very significant redesign of MSR’s long-time bestselling backpacking tent.

How to Pitch the MSR Hubba Hubba 1

Here’s MSR’s setup video of the Hubba Hubba. This video shows a clear demonstration of how to pitch the tent. Below the video, I’ve also written out each step based on how I set up this tent. Within those steps, I’ve included some extra information, notes, and tips that I’ve found helpful in keeping the setup process smooth.

Set up and takedown of the MSR Hubba Hubba 1 is fairly simple. There are various ways the tent can be set up, especially if you’re using the MSR Universal Footprint (which you have to buy separately). With the footprint, a fly-only option, as well as a fly-first option, is possible (those options will be covered later on in this review series after I’ve had a chance to test them out). For now, here’s the most basic way to pitch this tent:

1. If you’re using a footprint, lay that out first and stake it down. NOTE: If it isn’t windy, you can wait until Step 2 to stake this and the tent body down at the same time. The added advantage of this is that the footprint’s stake loops don’t always match up perfectly with what the tent body requires for a good squared pitch. Always prioritize the tent pitch over the footprint.
2. Lay the tent body over the footprint (if one was used) and use those same corner stakes from Step 1 to secure the four corners of the tent. TIP: It isn’t absolutely necessary to stake the tent down first—or ever since it’s a freestanding tent—but doing so has two advantages. First, if the wind is blowing, it will keep the tent where it needs to be so that it doesn’t turn into a sail as you clip the walls up. And second, it maximizes your interior floor space. Without the stakes, the floor is less rectangular and more hourglass-shaped because of the tension from the pole structure.
3. Assemble the two poles. There is a long pole with two attached hubs that provide almost all of the structure for the tent, and there is a short pole that spans the width of the tent roof.
4. Insert the long pole into the four corner grommets of the tent body. This pole, when fully assembled spans the length of the tent before splitting into two directions (like the letter “Y”) toward the tent corners at the head and foot of the tent. The pole system is symmetrical, so you can’t really mess this part up.
5. Clip the tent to the pole using the clips that are fixed to the tent body.
6. Take the short pole and span it overtop the place where the centermost clip is attached to the long pole. There are two grommets that receive this small pole and they are located at the top of the tent, one on each side of the long pole that is already in place. Securing this pole in the grommets pulls the remaining slack from the tent’s roof. TIP: Reach over the tent and secure the far end first, then simply press down on the other end of the pole to leverage out the slack while pulling up on the grommet closest to you until the two meet and the pole is fully secured. Attaching the pole to the close grommet first works too, but I find it unnecessarily awkward.
7. If the weather is good, and you don’t need the rainfly, you’re done. But if you’re using the fly, drape it over the tent so the door (the door is easy to find—it has a red rain gutter that covers it) is on the tent door side. Make sure that the darker side of the MSR logo is on the underside of the fly. The 2 and 3-person models of this tent are even more simple since the fly is symmetrical with a door on each side. The Hubba Hubba 1 is a little different since there is only one door.
8. Once the fly is oriented over the tent correctly, attach the fly to each corner of the tent. The fly features aluminum grommets and a tension strap on each corner. This grommet is placed over the pole ends at each corner. TIP: As you secure each corner, make sure there is a little slack in each of the tensioning straps. This ensures that the fly will have enough slack to reach each corner and allows you to do the final tensioning later
9. There are two grommets fixed to the underside of the top of the fly. These need to be secured to the ends of the short ridge pole. This can be done before the fly grommets are put in place (Step 8), but if there’s wind, I usually prefer to secure the corners first (with slack in the tension straps) even though it means that I’ll have to remove one of the grommets in order to perform this step (I try to avoid the classic “flailing around camp tangled up in the rainfly” situation). Also, the grommet on the door side of the tent can be reached by unzipping the fly door, but since the 1-person model of this tent only features one door, this isn’t an option for securing the other grommet (unless you have the Hubba Hubba 2 or 3 which have the two doors).
10. Secure the two velcro straps (on the underside of the tarp) to the tent pole at each end. The velcro secures to the long pole just above the hub at each end, so once you know where it is, you may be able to reach it without having to remove any fly grommets. NOTE: Just like in Step 9, in fair weather with little to no wind, this step is easy to perform before securing any of the fly’s grommets, but if the wind is whipping over your tent, keeping as much of the fly secure throughout the process keeps things running smooth.
11. Stretch out the vestibule and stake it down. NOTE: The Hubba Hubba 1 features only the one vestibule. The opposite side will guy out a little (referring to the guy out point at the bottom of the fly, not the higher one), and I usually stake this down during this step to give the tent more stability and allow me to get the vestibule side nice and taut without causing the tent to lean. TIP: The opposite side guy out point features only a sewn-in loop (like the other guy out points), but it doesn’t need to be pulled out very far, so instead of using up one of the four included guy out cords, I cut my own piece of cord and fixed it to this loop and use a taut-line hitch knot as the tensioner).
12. Tighten the tensioning straps at each corner and make sure the seams of the fly align with the tent poles.
13. If the wind is really whipping, or you predict that it might show up in the night, guy out the tent.

Backyard Initial Camp Test

With new gear, I always like to do some initial tests in a controlled environment. For one, I don’t want to be miles into the backcountry when I find out my gear isn’t working the way I anticipated, but also, this sort of initial test gives me a baseline to work with.

It’s the end of March, but here in Alaska, Spring is still a ways away. It’s warming up enough to melt some of the snow during the day, but often reaches freezing or near freezing at night.

The snow is packed in most places from this sort of freezing and thawing, so I was able to get away with pounding the stakes the way I would in the summer instead of using snow anchors as I do with softer snow.

There was a little wind on and off, and the forecast called for up to 20mph gusts to hit during the night. I probably didn’t need to guy out the MSR Hubba Hubba 1 for this, but I did so anyway because I was a little concerned about how well the stakes would hold in the packed snow (adding the extra guy out points helped to spread out the stress on the stakes).

Even though this was just a simple backyard camping session, there were still some things I knew I could at least begin to evaluate.

Pitching the Tent

First, until pitching the tent in the backyard, I had only done practice pitches in my living room (without stakes—and with an overturned chair for the vestibule). In the living room, the tent’s interior floor space was tighter than I expected, but I assumed that staking out the corners would help this. It did.

In the backyard, as soon as all four corners were staked down, the bathtub floor of the Hubba Hubba popped into a nice rectangle that has a little more length than when not staked, and it also becomes a proper rectangle instead of an hourglass shape that appears more narrow at the center.

The rest of the tent body went up very easily. The rainfly is fairly simple due to the symmetrical pole design, but the fly’s grommets that secure it to the short ridge pole, along with the two velcro straps at the head and foot end, demand a little more attention (but is still simple enough once you learn where they are and how to best access them). I appreciate these features (the grommets and the velcro) being included as they help to ensure that the fly stays where it’s supposed to.

Unique Feature of the One-Person Version

Unique to the one-person version of this tent, there is only one vestibule/door. This creates something that isn’t really a problem, but just something to be aware of. The vestibule stakes out at a single point and includes a tensioner, but the opposite side of the tent (which has no door or vestibule on this 1 person model) doesn’t have a stake cord. Instead, there is only a guy out loop sewn into the bottom of the fly.

I suppose it could be argued that this is an optional guy out point and isn’t necessary unless there is wind, but I’ll need to test that theory before I make any sort of conclusive statement. At this point, however, I think it serves the tent well to guy this point out. It helps pull the tent fly out and away from the tent body (improving ventilation), stabilizes the tent so that the tent doesn’t lean toward the vestibule side, and it helps to keep the fly tauter (which helps with wind and rain).

Overall, I see this guy out point as being nearly as necessary as staking out the vestibule. I attached a short section of accessory cord and tied in a taut-line hitch for tensioning. The cord doesn’t need to be very long. Staking it out too long doesn’t align correctly with the design of the fly. I plan to keep this cord fixed to the tent fly at all times.

As I mentioned, more testing will help me prove if this is even necessary. I may be able to get away without staking out this point. But seeing as the 2 and 3-person versions of this tent include a vestibule and door on each end (both with a cord and tensioner for staking purposes), it seems that the 1-person variation should at least have the cord and tensioner sewn in.

The Ridge Pole

Another concern I have with the design of the MSR Hubba Hubba 1, and only time will tell if this is a legitimate concern or not, is that the ends of the short ridge pole press against the underside of the tent fly. In fair weather, I have zero concern about durability, but I’m curious how the fly material will hold up as the winds blow and cause the pole ends to rub against the fly.

I’m hopeful that this will not be a durability issue, and my hope is based on at least four features that seem to be working toward protecting against this becoming a problem.

First, the fly material itself is reinforced where it meets with the pole ends. Second, the tent poles themselves are rounded and smooth. Third, the grommets that secure the tent fly to the short ridge pole (as well as the velcro straps to some degree) work to minimize the movement of the fly even in the wind. And fourth, the fly itself is well-fitted to the tent’s shape which naturally minimizes excess movement.

So the tent appears to be designed to protect against this becoming a problem, but I’ll still be monitoring it closely to see how it holds up over time and against the winds. If I have any issues with this, I’ll be sure to share this in my later additions to this review series.

Tent Stakes

One thing to keep in mind is that the tent comes with 7 stakes, but depending on the weather, you might need more. I could get away with 5 stakes by not guying out the bottom of the fly of the side opposite the vestibule, but I’d rather have at least 6 because I prefer to stake that non-vestibule side out when possible. As long as the wind wasn’t going to be an issue, and if I really wanted to use that final seventh stake, I’d probably use it to guy out the bottom of the rainfly at the head end. This doesn’t do a whole lot for stability, but it pulls that bottom edge out just enough to increase airflow a little and reduce some of the condensation that might build up from my breathing.

It will take 12 stakes if I want to stake the out the four corners, the vestibule, the non-vestibule side, the four main guy out lines (the high ones), and the two low guy out points at the head and foot (which I consider to be more for ventilation than wind stability—again, more testing may prove me wrong, so keep an eye for the follow-up articles).

Livability

This is another area that I can only scratch the surface on from a simple backyard test, but even this basic test was helpful for me. Going with a 1 person tent always means there isn’t a ton of wiggle room. And backpacking tents in general are always going to cut out some of the luxuries of extra space that come with heavier tents.

From the basic specs on MSR Hubba Hubba 1, it appeared to strike a good balance for me as far as maintaining enough livable space while still meeting my needs in the ounces department. Of course, things always look different on paper, so I was looking forward to spending the night in this tent to begin to draw some more solid conclusions. Vestibule space, interior space, and ventilation all factor into the livability of a tent.

Vestibule Space

Starting with the vestibule, it appears to have an adequate amount of space. Personally, I’m a fan of large vestibules, and many tents slash away at this feature in order to get their tent weight down to a competitive level.

In the desert, that wasn’t a problem because I didn’t have much need of a vestibule there. In fact, most of the time, I didn’t even need a tent. But in places like Alaska, where weather is to be expected, vestibules can make a huge difference in the livability of a tent.

My previous tent was a tunnel tent with an enormous vestibule (it required its own pole and extended out far enough to zip myself in out of the rain or snow before even opening the tent door). For this tent, I wanted a good amount of vestibule space, but I was willing to give some of that up to keep the weight down. 7.5 square feet (on the Hubba Hubba 1) is much smaller than my old tent, but so far, I believe it’s a fair balance between space and weight.

Since I was just in my backyard, I wasn’t hauling a pack around, so I’ve yet to see how crowded the vestibule gets with a large pack shoved in there. I did have a dry bag with some extra items stuffed inside and that tucked away very easily in the corner of the vestibule. I was also able to open the tent door, sit down on my sleeping mat with my feet still outside in the snow, and then close the vestibule before taking my boots and storing them under cover of the vestibule.

This isn’t nearly as luxurious as the porch-like vestibule of my old tent, but I didn’t feel crowded or have to resort to any yoga-like positions. I placed my winter boots in the vestibule next to my dry bag and they all stored nicely out of the way of the tent door, allowing me to go in and out of the tent without climbing over my gear.

I’ll test out the cooking potential more later on, but I believe it’s possible with a little extra care.

Interior Space

The interior space of the Hubba Hubba 1 is another area that I was anxious to test out. 1 person tents, especially those designed with backpacking in mind, often feel very coffin-like and can be difficult to move around in. For some people, regardless of their size, one-person tents are far too great of a compromise and they’ll carry a two-person tent even for solo adventures.

Personally, I’m willing to sacrifice some of this comfort in favor of a lighter and more packable tent, but I have my limits as well. Especially when harsh weather moves in, life can get very uncomfortable in a short amount of time. I was a little concerned that I might have sacrificed a little too much comfort with this tent, but this backyard session really helped give me a better idea of what I was working with.

I’m 6’1” tall and have a medium frame, so there isn’t a ton of wiggle room inside this tent, but the tent’s design makes good use of the space. The short ridge pole at the peak of the tent stretches the ceiling out to each side.

Not only does this provide more head space when sitting up in the tent, but it allows the door-side wall and the side opposite the door to fall more vertically. In fact, the actual angle creates a subtle peak that overhangs the width of the tent floor. This not only makes the interior feel roomier, but it helps the rain not fall directly into the tent when the fly door is opened.

The peak height of the Hubba Hubba 1 is the shortest of the Hubba Hubba series, but it still ended up with a peak height of 37 inches. For me, when I’m sitting upright at the center of the tent on my sleeping pad, my head occasionally brushes against the mesh roof (for reference, I was using a 2.5” high inflatable Kylmit Insulated Static V Lite with a Thermarest Z Lite Sol overtop). Most of the time, like when I was sitting in the tent taking off my boots, my head didn’t touch at all.

The head and foot end are nearly vertical as well and maximize the space so that material wasn’t hanging in my face or draped over my down sleeping quilt and threatening to kill all the loft with condensation. When laying down, even with my sleeping pad and a small inflatable pillow, the space around my head still felt roomy enough to keep me from feeling that “trapped in a coffin” feeling.

Being a one-person tent, the MSR Hubba Hubba 1 isn’t very wide, but it does feature a rectangular shape instead of tapering toward the foot end. I appreciate this as it not only helps the tent feel less constrictive but also provides a little extra storage space for items I want to keep inside the tent. There isn’t a lot of space (my 23” sleeping mat takes up most of the 30” wide floor space), but there’s room for things like clothing and smaller items.

Overall, while the tent’s interior space isn’t huge, it feels spacious enough for what I need. The true test of this livable interior space will have to wait until I’m pinned down with wind or rain. Conditions like that have a way of making any tent feel too small, so I’ll report back on that later.

Ventilation

Ventilation was another concern of mine that I knew that only experience would settle. Mesh and fabric panels both have their value. I’m willing to allow more fabric panels here in Alaska than I was in the desert where overheating was often the main concern, but ventilation is still important in minimizing condensation. Also, the summers—even here in Alaska—do heat up, and too much fabric on the tent’s walls will trap that heat in and make for an uncomfortable night.

The new 2022 update of the MSR Hubba Hubba features a new balance of mesh and fabric panels. The mesh panels are somewhat small, and only more testing will prove whether or not they’re too small to let this tent breathe.

There is a triangle of mesh over the door and over the wall opposite the door. There’s also a triangle of mesh over the head and foot area. And last, there’s a diamond-shaped mesh panel on the roof of the tent at its peak.

This seems, at first glance, to be a very small amount of mesh, and it makes me curious about what I’ll discover with more testing. But again, there is hope that this will be a non-issue because the positioning of the mesh is right where it needs to be.

The head and foot ends allow airflow across the length of the tent and the head end specifically will help with the hot air that comes from breathing. The roof vent will help to dump a lot of the heat as it naturally rises upward. And the other two mesh panels (on the door and on the wall opposite to the door) will create another area for airflow near this higher, heat-gathering end of the tent.

Also, another feature designed for ventilation is a sort of “kickstand” at the top of the tent’s fly door. The fly zipper is a two-way zipper, so with the fly door closed, if you pull the top zipper down a little, the attached stick-like piece can be fixed horizontally with velcro to prop open this gap in the zipper right near the peak of the tent.

Initially, I was concerned with how this would work out if it was in place as the rain fell, and while I still haven’t been able to properly test this feature in the rain, it does show promise by its design. From photos I’d seen of this feature previous to my purchase, it looked like this would provide an easy way for rain to enter. Having pitched this tent a messed around with this feature myself, I now see that this kickstand props open the zipper in a way that it still maintains two methods of protection from the rain.

First, the rainfly still extends over this gap, creating an overhanging peak that covers the opening below. And second, the fly door’s rain gutter is still fully functional when the kickstand is in place. I’ll still be monitoring this feature throughout the year, however, because I’ve learned that only the gentlest of rain chooses to fall perfectly vertical. Bring me the wind-driven rains that no rain jacket hood can escape, and then I will see how this feature holds up!

Once again, more testing will be needed before I can draw any conclusions about the overall ventilation ability of the new MSR Hubba Hubba 1, but for my backyard testing, I was curious to learn if the tent would breathe well enough to keep condensation down.

Temperatures averaged around 30F degrees throughout the night, and so I imagined I’d be building up a fair amount of heat inside the tent. To really put the breathability to the test, I made sure to zip everything up tight, giving the tent as few advantages against condensation as possible. I didn’t use the kickstand feature and didn’t stake out the lower section of the fly at the head and foot of the tent (all of which would have increased ventilation by at least some degree).

As I woke at different times in the night, I would run my hand over the tent wall in places to check for moisture, but it was always dry. Again, in the morning, I checked, but still, there was no condensation. The underside of the tent fly was dry as well. With as cold as it got during the night, I was surprised by these results.

Condensation is a complex beast, however, and so this initial test is just the beginning. There was a breeze that passed through from time to time and occasionally some larger gusts, and that may have helped me avoid condensation issues as well. Still, I was pleased with the breathability of the Hubba Hubba for at least this first night of testing.

Tent Pockets and Storage Loft

In the MSR Hubba Hubba 1, there are two mesh pockets positioned at the head and foot of the tent. These pockets are fixed to the side walls (not the head and foot walls where they would limit the tent’s lengthwise floor space). Personally, I don’t need a lot of luxuries like this in a backpacking tent, but I do appreciate a couple of pockets like this for quick access items or allowing wet clothing a better chance at drying. The pockets hang down into the tent space a little when loaded (even with lightweight items), which could potentially crowd the limited space around the face at the head of the tent. The pocket at the foot end is much less of an issue.

The pockets also feature cord ports (openings at the bottom of the pocket that allow a cord to pass through for charging or for corded earphones). Personally, I don’t see using those very often for their intended purpose. The cord ports also make storing smaller items more difficult as they could fall out through the hole. On the other hand, these cord ports might be helpful in preventing dirt or sand from getting stuck in the bottom of the pouches.

In the tent’s ceiling, there are two gear lofts. Each loft features a strip of material that forms a sort of retention ledge to allow items to be placed in the loft without falling back out into the tent.

More Details and Features of the Hubba Hubba

Easton Syclone Poles

The MSR Hubba Hubba uses Easton Syclone tent poles which are made from a very strong composite material. These tent poles allow the tent structure to flex and collapse if enough force hits it (like a sudden, heavy gust of wind) and then spring back to shape afterward instead of remaining permanently bent or broken.

With proper campsite choice, use of guy out lines, and a little common sense, I believe these tent poles will serve me well. Still, I would like to test these Scylone poles out in some strong winds (within reason—this is a tent, not a bomb shelter) to see how they actually perform. At what point do the poles begin to allow my tent to collapse? Answering this question is important to me because while I appreciate having poles that might survive the weather, I need my shelter to be able to do so as well.

Mild 10mph gusts of wind were the most I experienced during my backyard testing in the Hubba Hubba 1. The tent easily remained solid through these.

Tent Door Zipper

Previous versions of the MSR Hubba series featured a single zipper with a curved section in the corner. The 2022 Hubba series threw out the curved section and now features two separate zippers—one running horizontally along the bottom, the other running at an angle toward the top. The straight zippers allow the door to be easily opened one-handed.

I never used the previous versions of the Hubba, so I can’t say how the new door compares to the old one, but I do like this new door. It functions as it should and is easy to open with one hand.

I appreciate the size of the door as well. Getting in and out doesn’t feel like a prison escape, and reaching out to retrieve anything from the vestibule is easy to do.

Rain Fly Gutter

The rain gutter featured along the door of the vestibule will require some actual rain to really appreciate, but the design looks promising. The folded material is sewn together like a seam to create an easy path for the rain to follow. This is especially useful in keeping the rain out of your tent when opening and closing the fly.

MSR Needle Stakes

The MSR Hubba Hubba 1 comes with 7 needle stakes. These are basic stakes, but they are lightweight and appear to be fairly sturdy.

Unlike the stakes that come with most tents (even high-dollar ones), I actually like these stakes and plan to use them until they give me a reason not to. I’ll also be carrying some additional stakes (a mix of MSR Groundhogs and MSR Mini Groundhogs) since there are not enough stakes to guy out the tent fully.

I like the MSR Groundhog stakes because they work well with a variety of ground conditions and soil types. The needle stakes that are included with this tent will do well when camping on firm soil, otherwise, the Groundhogs tend to win when it comes to holding power.

For now, I’ll carry this combination of the included needle stakes as well as the extra Groundhogs. I think the combo will be fine, but I’ll monitor their performance and discuss my findings in the follow-up articles of this review.

Dyneema Guy Lines

The four lengths of 1.8mm accessory cord that comes with this tent for use as guy lines are made from Dyneema. A lot of tents will only include nylon-based cord which stretches when wet. The fabric of the rainfly is nylon, so it’s going to stretch some when wet, and may even need to be retightened at times because of this—that’s simply the cost of using this lightweight fabric—but reducing stretch in other places helps to minimize the issue.

The guy out lines, as well as the corner stake loops and the tensioning cord on the vestibule of the Hubba Hubba, are all made from this Dyneema cord. It’s a simple detail, but it shows the extra attention to detail and level of quality packaged with this tent.

Each of the four guy lines includes a very simple, aluminum tensioner. In my testing so far, it’s been doing its job. With a little more wind, or maybe some rain, I’ll be able to learn how effective these tensioners really are.

Tent Footprint

The MSR Universal Footprint is not included with this tent, but purchasing it not only helps you protect the floor of the tent but also opens up options for other pitch options. I plan to experiment with these different options soon, especially the fly-first pitch for use during a heavy downpour.

More Testing of the Hubba Hubba 1

As I mentioned earlier, this review is only the beginning of a series of reviews that I’ll be using to share my findings about the MSR Hubba Hubba 1. Spring is approaching here in Alaska, and as the snow melts and the temperature grow warmer, I’ll be camping more and more.

Each trip, whether big or small, car camping or backcountry camping, will provide me with an opportunity to learn something about this tent. Repeated use will also allow me to report on the tent’s durability over time.

I’ll be carefully monitoring how this tent performs in the wind and rain that I’m sure to come across a number of times this season whether I like it or not. I’ll also have the opportunity to test the ventilation of the tent under a variety of conditions, and I’ll be able to see how it handles during the warmer nights. And finally, more experiences with this tent will help me to draw better conclusions about the livability of this tent and how well it supports my adventures and wanderings here in Alaska.

I’ll do my best to document and share whatever I discover, good and bad, about the MSR Hubba Hubba as I spend time with it. Please feel free to comment if you have any suggestions or specific things you would like me to test with regard to this tent.

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