Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

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larfingiraffe
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Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by larfingiraffe »

On the basis that there's nothing new under the sun, someone reading this probably has experience of this and could you please share your wisdom?

I have an MSR Hubba Hubba NX, which I have used once on an overnight stop while car camping. I'm doing a longer bikepacking tour in the next few weeks, about 9 days ride, and this highly livable tent is my "portable palace of choice". Now, this being the UK, its highly probable that in the morning the rainfly will be wet when I want to pack it. The question is: whats the best way to deal with a soggy rainfly?
So far I have rolled both the tent inner and outer and packed them very much as it came in the original bag. But I see elsewhere that some folk recommend stuffing the two parts separately into 2 stuff sacks, keeping the inner dry and away from the outer. This also gives the opportunity to distribute the package about the bike in multiple locations, say one stuffsack in each fork bag, rather than sling it across the handlebars - my hardtail bike is very small and handlebar harness type solutions don't work that well, they tend to droop on the wheel.
Has anyone ever done this? Caveats? Bad idea?
PT1029
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by PT1029 »

In the days of my Saunders tent, I always packed them separately (there wasn't a "pack together" option). Inner in 1 stuff sack, outer in another. If the outer was wet, each stuffsack was double wrapped in plastic bags, the outer tent (rolled as a cylinder) horizontal in the bottom of a front pannier, the inner tent stuff sack on top where it stayed dry.

Roll on a few years, we have a Hilliberg tent, the inner and outer are linked by (removable) elastics, so it all rolls up as one - no point (when dry) separating them when it is so easy to pitch the tent with them joined. However...
I always wondered what would happen if the outer was really wet, so I tried. On the penultimate morning of a trip, there was seriously heavy rain (a named storm had blown in). As a trial, we took the tent down in heavy rain and rolled up as one. No rain at the end of the day when we put the tent up. However, the inner tent ground sheet was so wet (think puddles) that I had to sponge the floor out, leave to dry for a bit before putting sleeping mats in.
In future, if the outer is notably wet, I'll go to the faff of unhooking the inner first and packing separately.
Thehairs1970
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by Thehairs1970 »

I think MSR like ours is an inner first tent?

Our routine goes like this if tent has condensation (I.e. not raining). First one up gets kettle on. Pack up the sleeping kit. ventilating as much as possible. Take outer off, leave hanging over bike to air. Wipe any damp spots with microfiche cloth on outer and leave to dry while drink tea. Then inner down and pack away with poles and pegs. Get the floor protector drying while have breakfast. Pack outer as normally dry. Pack everything else away, leave floor protector out to dry until last minute, if still damp leave accessso we can dry at coffee/lunch stops. These new materials dry very quickly.

If raining, pack inner with pegs and poles, outer goes with floor protector. I’d never want to mix a really wet outer with relatively dry inner.
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pjclinch
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by pjclinch »

larfingiraffe wrote: 29 Apr 2023, 9:10pm I have an MSR Hubba Hubba NX, which I have used once on an overnight stop while car camping. I'm doing a longer bikepacking tour in the next few weeks, about 9 days ride, and this highly livable tent is my "portable palace of choice". Now, this being the UK, its highly probable that in the morning the rainfly will be wet when I want to pack it. The question is: whats the best way to deal with a soggy rainfly?
So far I have rolled both the tent inner and outer and packed them very much as it came in the original bag. But I see elsewhere that some folk recommend stuffing the two parts separately into 2 stuff sacks, keeping the inner dry and away from the outer. This also gives the opportunity to distribute the package about the bike in multiple locations, say one stuffsack in each fork bag, rather than sling it across the handlebars - my hardtail bike is very small and handlebar harness type solutions don't work that well, they tend to droop on the wheel.
Has anyone ever done this? Caveats? Bad idea?
The main point of putting everything in one bag is it's got to be done to ship them to the shop/customer, and it's handy to keep stuff together in storage, but when you're out to do some camping there's little point in having everything together.
Even if everything goes in one pannier/rack pack/whatever, keeping all the bits separate gives more packing flexibility as two smallish things are easier to fit in amongst other stuff than one big thing, and it often makes sense to at least stow poles and pegs separately to everything else.
While I'd always want the pegs in a bag to keep them together, the actual fabric bits don't really need separate stuffsacks and you can stuff them directly in to crannies in luggage (which is often easier that finding a place for a bag you've already filled with tent in another bag).

As to fold/roll/stuff, it's not really a problem doing whichever you like. I like to fold the inner at least as a starter so the (possibly wet/muddy) groundsheet is on the outside and any water/mud doesn't transfer to clean/dry inner, but after that it doesn't matter so much.

Within a bike-bag use waterproof stuffsacks/liners to differentiate wet from dry (or have a designated "wet bag"), or in this case very wet from just a bit wet. Note that tent stuffsacks are rarely waterproof, even if the fabric is.

One final point, the outer on the Hubbas has a silicone coat and you can get rid of a lot of water from the fly by giving it a good hard shake before packing.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
larfingiraffe
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by larfingiraffe »

Thanks very much for your responses. some very useful info there.
My main takeaways so far: Yes do pack inner, outer, poles and pegs separately, with the inner and outer in their own truly waterproof bags, and take a microfibre cloth for morning wipe downs. Don't be frightened to give the (yes siliconised) fly a good shake and don't underestimate the usefulness of the bike as a drying rack.
The poles on this tent are quite long so will probably do better along the underside of the top tube or strapped to an upright of the rear (Tailfin) rack, or if there is enough room, under the Tailfin.

For some reason I'm having difficulty getting my head round not putting everything back in the bag it came in. Just force of habit I guess, will overcome by practicing packing into multiple bags.

The Hubba Hubba has a ventilation window at each end which are held open by ~6 inch non-removeable semi-rigid supports. Does anyone know if I stuff this tent, might they get damaged?
PH
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by PH »

larfingiraffe wrote: 30 Apr 2023, 8:03am My main takeaways so far:
I think you've got it, though I'd be nervous about hanging the fly on a bike, there's too much chance I'd end up with oil on it.
I use an inner pitch first tent, have always packed in three, two stuffsacks for inner and fly, poles in their original bag then rolled in the groundsheet protector if using one. The fly gets stuffed into the bag without touching the floor. Leave the fly easy to access, I might get it out to dry if I stop for lunch, ten min in the sunshine draped over a park bench or the like is often enough. I like to leave early, so the fly is often wet with condensation, I wipe some of with a J-cloth, then give it a shake, even when it looks really wet, there isn't much water left on it.
The great thing about modern materials is how fast they dry, even in mild weather, I've put up tents that looked drenched, gone for a shower and come back to a dry tent.
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pjclinch
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by pjclinch »

larfingiraffe wrote: 30 Apr 2023, 8:03am
The Hubba Hubba has a ventilation window at each end which are held open by ~6 inch non-removeable semi-rigid supports. Does anyone know if I stuff this tent, might they get damaged?
I can't 100% guarantee it, but assuming they're much the same as the ones on our Hubba Hubba HP (an older version) I don't think you need to worry about it.

Tents with a good track record (and the Hubbas have that) will be good for occasional hurried and sub-optimal packing in use. As long as you make sure they're completely dry before long term between-trips packing and take basic care (e.g., don't do daft stuff like pack them with unprotected sharps) you don't have to be too paranoid about how you put them away day to day.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Thehairs1970
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by Thehairs1970 »

PH wrote: 30 Apr 2023, 8:35am
I think you've got it, though I'd be nervous about hanging the fly on a bike, there's too much chance I'd end up with oil on it.
Good point but we put our bike’s transmission towards each other and tent then can’t get to oily bits. It’s worth hooking the fly onto bits of the bike too to stop it flying around too much.
Jdsk
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by Jdsk »

larfingiraffe wrote: 30 Apr 2023, 8:03am ...
For some reason I'm having difficulty getting my head round not putting everything back in the bag it came in. Just force of habit I guess, will overcome by practicing packing into multiple bags.
...
Powerful effect, isn't it?

But doing that experiment will give the answer.

: - )

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Sweep
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by Sweep »

I tend to pack separately after first night.

Must say that means that, neat as it sounds, I tend to think the feature of interconnected inners and outers isn't the great advantage/feature it's sometimes cracked up to be.

So I end up getting the outer up and then fiddling fiddling with the inner/groundsheet.

So all in all an inner first tent, for me at least, will usually be far faster to put up.

(yep I know about the potential erecting in rain issue)
Sweep
rualexander
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by rualexander »

Unless sodden with condensation and the forecast is for heavy rain all day and high humidity, I always pack away with inner and outer connected, usually rolled up but sometimes just stuffed. A good inner will dry quickly once pitched up if it's not too rainy/humid.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by MrsHJ »

I have this model. I found it suffers quite a lot from condensation- could just be how I’ve used it though. I have also been rained on a fair bit and I’d observe that although it’s coped fine it’s really a tent best suited to summer due to its American heritage ie al that mesh and a fly that doesn’t meet the ground.

I have always found that I need to keep to a system for my packing and panniers in order to make sure I don’t leave things behind. That works well but it does tend to mean that I use the bag- in my case a good shake and leaving out in the ?!sun on a picnic table whilst packing everything else up. Then the bag goes in the rack with the fly at the top.

I also have a big Agnes copper spur bikepacking tent (solo) and I haven’t really used that enough to be sure but the tighter packing size might dictate a split approach or at least more care in getting the fly dry before packing. TBH unless I had no choice I wouldn’t do serial wet days in a tent but the summer wet/dry with occasional downpour has worked fine in the Hubba Hubba.
larfingiraffe
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by larfingiraffe »

Thanks all for your wisdom and suggestions.
As you all probably know, pitching and storing inner and outer together simply isn't an option with this tent, but my friend and I can successfully pitch our tents in about 3 to 5 minutes (each!). My first tent, a Wild Country Zephyros, is a tunnel tents that does pitch together but quite honestly I spent so much time faffing about trying to got the ridgeline straight and the fly taught, that in the end it simply wasn't any sort of advantage. And waking up in the morning with the tent looking more like a hammock than a tent is an experience not to be repeated.

After much packing and re-packing I have decided this:
stuff the inner and the outer separately into one 5L fork bag. Use a drybag for one of them if in the slightest wet, probably for the wet one.
Using a bottomless cargo cage, strap the poles onto the upright of the Tailfin rack, with the pegs inside the same bag, and placed in a drybag or tough outer bag to avoid snags on gorse etc.

I'm taking a surplus of Voile straps, so I'll have some scope for experimentation along the way.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments. By the time I get to the Lake District I'll have it all figured out!
bohrsatom
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by bohrsatom »

I think you have it right. I have a Hubba Hubba NX and pack the poles/fly/inner separately. Poles go in the red bag that came with the tent, the fly/inner are stuffed into their own stuff sack (I think each sack is 5L, but not 100% sure).

My experience of the tent is that the fly will either be wet through condensation or wet through rain, so there'll be trouble if you pack everything together.

I like the HH NX. It's a good tent, quick to pitch, and roomy for one person. Enjoy the trip.
larfingiraffe
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Re: Packing an MSR hubba hubba - roll or stuff?

Post by larfingiraffe »

For anyone wondering how this turned out, I did stuff the inner and fly separately in their own 5L bags and put these in a Restrap handlebar bag. I carried the poles separately strapped to a cargo cage the Tailfin rack. Miraculously due to excellent weather the tent was dry each morning and so this became a non-issue.
Deeply in love with this tent, its spacious and seems to dislike condensation. My only reservations are that the pole sections are a bit long, and its not exactly the smallest pack in the bikepacking world. But I'm going to forgive it.

I seem to have acquired a Wild Country Micro-Coshee which I'll probably take as a "glorified bivvy" on my forth coming Kernow way trip. Will be trying to stuff that too!
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