MSR Hubba Hubba LT 2 Tent Review
The MSR Hubba Hubba LT 2 is a freestanding double-wall two-person tent that weighs 3 lbs (48 oz). It has a rectangular footprint, which makes it easier to orient when camping and provides more interior space than tents with tapered floors. The Hubba Hubba has undergone many iterations over the years – I think this is the fourth time I’ve reviewed it – and this latest model has several refinements, both in design and materials, that make it one of the most comfortable, storm-worthy, and easy-to-use two-person double-wall tents made today.
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- Capacity: Two people
- Type: Freestanding
- Structure: Double-wall
- Doors and vestibules: 2/2
- Poles: 1
- Pockets: 4
- Minimum number of stakes to pitch 2, 6-8 for stormy conditions
- Mfg Claimed Trail Weight 48 oz (minus stuff sacks and stakes)
- Seam-Taped: Yes
- Floor: Solution-dyed 20-denier ripstop nylon 1,800 mm polyether urethane and PFAS-free DWR
- Rainfly: Solution-dyed 20-denier ripstop nylon 1,200 mm polyether urethane and PFAS-free silicone
- Actual Trail Weight 49.8 oz
- Pros: Freestanding, Fits two 25″ wide sleeping pads, there is only one pole to keep track of
- Cons: Rainfly waterproofing is comparatively low
- The carbon fiber pole set in the previous model has been replaced with aluminum poles, and the tent now features a single pole instead of two. The corner “Jake’s foot” hardware used to secure the poles has also been modified.
- The dimensions of the inner tent increased by 6 inches, bringing it up to 86″ in length, while the width of the tent increased by 2 inches. This increased the volume of the tent and vestibules slightly and added 2 oz to the tent’s weight.
- The tent now comes with MSR mini ground stakes instead of needle stakes, which MSR has dropped from its product line. If you like needle stakes, Paria Outdoors offers brightly colored ones that are easy to find.
- A clothesline was added to the interior gear loft, allowing you to dry clothing.
- The floor’s waterproof rating has increased slightly.
- The tent coloring has changed to a neutral beige and stealthy grey.
Tent Setup and Design
Setting up the Hubba Hubba LT 2 is straightforward. It comes with a one-piece, many-segmented aluminum pole that has three hubs, forming an exoskeleton to support the inner tent and rainfly. The inner tent is clipped to the poles, and then the rainfly is draped over top. It’s that simple. The setup is pretty intuitive, but instructions are also sewn into the tent’s stuff sack, making them impossible to misplace.
It’s easier to insert the pole ends into the corners before the tent is staked out, but you could do it either way. The beauty of the freestanding structure is that you can move the erected inner tent somewhere else if you decide the ground is uneven or you want a better view.
The Hubba Hubba is a double-wall tent featuring an inner tent and an outer rainfly. The pole structure preserves a gap between the two, so that condensation is not transferred to the inner compartment, where it can make you wet, but it remains on the underside of the rainfly. Condensation occurs when there is a difference in temperature between the inside (heated by your body heat) and the outside of the rainfly. All tents suffer from it, but double-wall tents, in particular, are designed so that it doesn’t affect your comfort.
The outer rainfly drapes over the exoskeleton frame created by the aluminum poles. The corners of the fly clip onto the hardware securing the inner tent, so both only require one stake between them. Once that’s done, you can stake out the corners and the vestibule doors to anchor and tighten up the pitch.
I’m not sure when MSR stopped adding a way to secure the rainfly to the poles, except for the corner attachments. I suppose they discontinued this feature, typically associated with storm-worthiness. I rarely bother with it on other tents because I usually camp in protected campsites, but its absence is noteworthy. However, MSR does include extra guylines with the Hubba Hubba LT 2, as well as line tensioners, that can be added to the tent in stormy weather.
The Hubba Hubba LT 2 requires a minimum of two tent stakes for each of the vestibule doors, although you’ll also want to stake out the corners, requiring at least four more. There are additional guy line loops over the vestibule doors and tent ends that you can also stake out to give the tent additional stability in wind or increase ventilation.
Tent Livability
The Hubba Hubba LT 2 features two doors, which I consider essential in a two-person tent, especially if you plan to use it with another person, allowing you to exit at night without disturbing your partner. The interior of the Hubba Hubba LT 2 is not tapered at the ends, but rather rectangular, which gives the inner tent a spacious feel. The ceiling is high enough to comfortably sit up in (34″ at the ends and 40″ at the center), and the near-vertical sidewalls provide plenty of clearance for your feet at the ends of the tent
The actual interior width and length are 52″ x 86″ (since I measure the usable space in the tent interior, not the exterior rainfly like manufacturers) when it’s pitched, enabling the use of two wide and rectangular 25″ sleeping mats, which more and more people prefer to carry when backpacking.
The internal storage inside the tent is excellent, featuring one mesh pocket that runs the width of the interior at each end, located below the end window. Additionally, there are gear lofts above each door, which are handy for protecting delicate items like glasses from being crushed or for providing overhead illumination using a headlamp. Additionally, the side vestibules are spacious enough to accommodate high-capacity packs without obstructing door access.
Interior ventilation in the Hubba Hubba LT 2 is also very good, provided the vestibule doors remain unzipped. Another option is to fold half of the rainfly up over the tent, allowing stargazing through the large inner tent mesh ceiling. (The inner tent can also be used alone in dry weather.)
The vestibule doors have rain gutters that are designed to keep rain from dripping on you when you unzip wet doors. These gutters are simply extensions of the fabric flaps that cover the vestibule zippers, helping to channel the flow of water running down the fly fabric away from you. They’re oriented to run along the sides of the tent and not down the middle of the vestibule, making it easier to get in and out of the tent without having to crawl over your gear or brush against a wet door.
More Recommended Two-Person Tents
| Make / Model | Structural | Trail Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 | Freestanding | 2 lbs 10 oz / 1191g | $600 |
| NEMO Dagger OSMO 2 | Freestanding | 3 lbs 5 oz / 1502g | $600 |
| Hyperlite Mtn Gear Crosspeak 2 | Freestanding | 2 lbs 2 oz / 964g | $950 |
| Durston X-Mid 2 | Trekking Pole | 1 lbs 15 oz / 880g | $319 |
| MSR Hubba Hubba LT | Freestanding | 3 lbs / 1361g | $550 |
| Tarptent Double Rainbow | Semi-Freestanding | 2 lbs 10 oz / 1191g | $284 |
| NEMO DragonFly OSMO 2 | Freestanding | 2 lbs 13 oz / 1191G | $550 |
| MSR Freelite 2 | Semi-Freestanding | 2 lbs / 907g | $500 |
| Zpacks Duplex Pro | Trekking Pole | 1 lb 3.6 oz / 555g | $799 |
| Slingfin Portal 2 | Freestanding | 2 lbs 14 oz / 1305g | $610 |
Recommendation
The MSR Hubba Hubba LT 2 is a two-person camping and backpacking tent featuring a spacious interior that sets up exceptionally easily. Featuring a rectangular floor, vertical sidewalls, and dual doors, the attention to detail on this tent makes it highly livable for two people out to enjoy a backpacking or camping trip. While it’s not the lightest two-person double-walled tent you can buy today, its 3 lbs (48 oz/1.3kg) trail weight strikes an excellent balance between comfort, weather protection, and ease of use. If you’re looking for a premium double-wall two-person tent, the MSR Hubba Hubba LT 2 is definitely the cream of the crop and provides a good benchmark on which to judge comparable backpacking tents.
Disclosure: MSR donated a tent for review.
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“The vestibule doors have rain gutters that are designed to keep rain from dripping on you when you unzip wet doors.” This is excellent. Every single one of my four tents have vertical zip vestibule doors and it’s extremely annoying that you either have to tie open the door (not a great idea in a downpour) or just get wet (not great when you’re just going out to pee in the middle of the night) when you are leaving the tent in the rain. Why it isn’t standard practice to have rain gutters on tent doors, I don’t understand. I keep looking for tents that have doors like this one does and they’re a lot rarer than the ones with vertical zip doors.
Yep. I hear you.
Nice review.
Thx.
There are so many great features on the HHLT2 that it shot to the top of my list to replace the X-Mid 2 that didn’t agree with us last year in the Sawtooths. Despite these many improvements, my concern with this tent is how high the low point of the vestibule corners are, in addition to a mild Nemo-like cut on the vestibule fabric as it extends towards the zipper. This creates a definite increase in height from the ground to the bottom of the vestibule. As hikers who use pack covers to protect the rear of the backpacks while laying flat on the ground parallel to the tent body – would this extra several inches of open space not increase the likelihood of pack edges being exposed and getting wet and/or significant splashback during a heavier storm? How was your experience related to such possibilities? The Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 XL appears to have coverage a little closer to the ground – would you say it is any better in this scenario?
I think what you want is a tent designed for the European market that provides vestibules that reach the ground. What you describe is a design pattern to reduce weight and increase airflow, commonly found on tents designed for use in the United States market. There’s one US manufacturer that designs for your use case (vestibules that reach the ground) named Tarptent and I’d look at their Stratospire 2 and Scarp models. Then there’s Hilleberg and the other European tent manufacturers, which are harder to obtain in the US. Personally, splashback onto a pack is less worrisome for me because my packs tend to be made with waterproof fabrics like Dyneema. Hope that helps.
Thank you for a great review! Would you recommend adding a footprint to use together with the tent? And in that case would the MSR Footprint Universal 2 person regular be a fit – even though it is a bit smaller in size than the tent itself? (122 x 208)
You could do that if you need to camp on an abrasive surface like sand or gravel, but I haven’t used a factory footptint for over 20 years. When I need a footprint, I use the plastic wrap that people use to insulate their windows. Its much less expensive and much lighter to carry.