Made it through the AT

By Barry Blalock Ranked #24 - 3-Season Tents May 27, 2009

I took this with me on my thruhike of the AT and while there are much lighter options, I came to love carrying the extra weight for the following reasons.
1) b/c it's freestanding, you can pitch it anywhere and move it to a flatter spot if you realize you're lying at an angle when you get in your bag to sleep. 2) It rains on the AT, ALOT! Especially in the Spring. You'll not want to spend a long time setting up your tent. I got so good at popping this thing up it took me only a few moments to where it would actually get rained on. My buddies went with the non freestanding Contrail Tarptent by Henry Shires which is fantastic but take a long time to set up. I was always in my tent drying off before them, so their bragging about how lightweight their tents were when I'd be dry in my tent which weighed literally a pound more, never got under my skin. 3) This puppy is durable. The materials are tough and very water resistant. The design of how the fly goes over the mesh is brilliant and I marveled at it every night before I'd go to bed. Because the clip design of the poles, the fly never touches the mesh which also means, no condensation whatsoever on the mesh, which means it never gets on you. Now, there is condensation on the fly, but you'll never notice it. This is not an opinion, it is a fact. You'll never notice it because of the geometry of the angles of this tent. If condensation becomes too much, the drops accumulate into beads and fall down to the perimeter of your tent. Not once did I wake up with a single drop of moisture on me or my gear at anytime. 4) This will stand up to high ridge exposure, snowstorms and snow stacking on the tent, 60 mph winds and extended driving rains. I more than once took a 0 day in this tent while the weather outside was just ridiculous. It would rain for 5 days straight without letting up and this tent took it in stride. I never got wet, the bathtub floors and seam sealing kept streams out of the bottom of my tent. I am 5'10" and my backpack and shoes fit inside the tent with me at my feet bc there is so much room in this thing lengthwise. My vestibule housed only my Crocs. I had a house out there on the AT and it was my Hubba. I swear by this thing. It is the only product I've ever reviewed which I wish I could give 6 stars. Get one now.

View Details: MSR Hubba Tent: 1-Person 3-Season

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