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Biggest gear challenge?

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Light is good. Light but still durable and functional is better.

Always the case. Some depends on how and where you go. If you are never more than a few miles from a road, as is the case in the Adirondacks, a failure isn't necessarily the end of the world. If you are 20 miles away and out for weeks at a time, then failure is not an option (or at least field repair is desirable).

I had been somewhat skeptical of the durability of my Swift kevlar boat until this past fall. Some may recall me questioning around and letting out that it fell from the top of my canoe rack in wind gust. The bottom was severely cracked. I thought it would be a fortune to repair.

Well it turns out I took it to Dave Curtis this spring and he looked at it and asked me what the problem was. Ha! Turns out everything was cosmetic and there was no functional issue whatsoever. It did get a small reinforcing patch just for safe measure, but overall no structural failure. It gives me a better feeling about it's durability in the field. That was a heck of a whack it took, enough to spiderweb the whole side of the boat. But I've been paddling it and no issues. Acts just like it did new, just doesn't look as nice.
 
So anyway I started amassing gear. Essentials first - sleeping pad, bag, clothing. Then I bought my own stove, water filter, etc. Eventually I wound up with a 4 man tent which I used to carry - God that thing was heavy!

What I had wasn't the lightest or the best, but it did the trick. I got around pretty good with it.

I expect that many or most of us started off with what we had. My first tent was a (truly awful) Boy Scout canvas pup tent, my original sleeping pad was some ¼”" thick cream-colored thing, my first canoe was an aluminum Ward’s Sea King.

I don'’t miss the gear, but I didn’'t know what I didn'’t know, and those were some memorable trips. I likewise slowly amassed better quality gear when I could afford it, and found that tripping with better equipped friends provided good lessons in what worked. It still does.

I am grateful, or at least appreciative, for having started out that way and slowly gathering better kit. I have several friends in the outfitter business and feel sorry for the folks in their tales of trustfund babies who walk into the shop announcing that they want to try paddling and proceed to buy carbon fiber boats and paddles and top of the mark everything else they could possibly need.

On the other hand it makes for a great sales day in the shop and I expect a lot of that gear ends up on the used market.
 
My lovely wife, knowledgable and wise beyond her years, and beautiful beyond compare, is standing behind me as I type this (can you tell?), helping me correct my earlier mistakes. She won't allow me to put -helping- in quotation marks.
Correction #1: She likes the tent cot, and even though we aren't likely to purchase one, I shouldn't poke any fun at it's weight. Besides she says, I insist on bringing coffee (not 56 lbs of it) and 1-2 L of wine (half of which is hers).
Correction #2: Cast iron fry pans are ideal for searing meat and roasting meat and vegetables. She uses ours regularly here at home. Don't I like the meals she cooks with them? Don't I want to continue to enjoy them? Yes, and yes. (She's dictating now) They're not that heavy in the kitchen pack. Just because Brad burns the bannock with cast iron, and uses the nonstick as a culinary crutch, is no reason to dis the cast iron.
Correction #3: The Tupperware was Brad's idea. They're good enough for his lunches now, aren't they? Yes they are. But it's no big deal portaging my empty lunch containers to my car. (She's off to take some cookies out of the oven.)
Well, now that all's right with the world, and I'm put back in my place (because she said so) I'd better sign off.
 
I bought my first generation HH at a discount when MSR came out with the second generation. Now that they have come out with the third gen HH NX for 2014 I’ll keep an eye on REI Outlet and other discounter sites and see if I can pick up a 2nd generation HH on sale.

Well that didn'’t take long to find.

Closeout 2013 Hubba Hubba on the REI Outlet site. Including a gear shed, which is a $170 accessory. Plus an extra 35% discount for orders over $150.

And the order automatically deducted the 20% off REI.Outlet discount I'’d forgotten to use that came with my member dividend back in March.

I'’ll save you the math - Total for the tent and gear shed with sundry discounts - $226.73 with delivery to the nearest REI.

http://www.rei.com/product/868771/ms...-2013-closeout

I had been ogling the Hubba Hubba gear shed for a few years. I like to keep a clean camp when I’m away daypaddling or hiking, with everything stashed away out of sight, and the vestibules on the HH are less than spacious, but I wasn’'t willing to fork over $170 for the extra storage.

It didn'’t take me long to pull that trigger, and if the poles/fly/footprint from my 1[SUP]st[/SUP] generation Hubba Hubba fit I'’ll have spare parts.

That is a helluva price on a very functional tent.
 
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Well that didn'’t take long to find.

Closeout 2013 Hubba Hubba on the REI Outlet site. Including a gear shed, which is a $170 accessory. Plus an extra 35% discount for orders over $150.

And the order automatically deducted the 20% off REI.Outlet discount I'’d forgotten to use that came with my member dividend back in March.

I'’ll save you the math - Total for the tent and gear shed with sundry discounts - $226.73 with delivery to the nearest REI.

http://www.rei.com/product/868771/ms...-2013-closeout

I had been ogling the Hubba Hubba gear shed for a few years. I like to keep a clean camp when I’m away daypaddling or hiking, with everything stashed away out of sight, and the vestibules on the HH are less than spacious, but I wasn’'t willing to fork over $170 for the extra storage.

It didn'’t take me long to pull that trigger, and if the poles/fly/footprint from my 1[SUP]st[/SUP] generation Hubba Hubba fit I'’ll have spare parts.

That is a helluva price on a very functional tent.

Congrats.

I received my HH NX today, so I'll give you the skinny for when that one wears out.

My opinion, buy a different tent. I'm really disappointed in the HH NX. I'm going to send it back. Two main reasons:

The tent is saggy without the stakes. Unlike the solo version which was tight as a drum, the lengthwise span on this is sloppy and loose. The poles don't hold it taught in the long direction.

The footprint sucks. Again, unlike the solo version, it doesn't fit properly. The decal says specifically for this tent but it also fits another... I suspect there may have been some compromise there. On the corners it goes out too far and the fly does not cover it so I'm sure it will collect water there. What a terrible mistake. I've had that happen before from an ill-fitting ground cloth and I'll never make that mistake again.
The other thing is, it is definitely directional. It's also not as obvious which way the fly goes unless you look at the color codes. The solo tent was a no brainer.

The size and the weight seem acceptable. Those two flaws are deal breakers for me on a tent. Maybe this one is defective (it is dirty so it looks like it has been used and returned) or it's just a poor design. Either way I'm going back to my BA for now.

There is one BA tent that kind of meets my requirements but it seems to have a chintzier pole system that I don't like. The stakes it comes with aren't as good but I could always buy the nice ones separate:

https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Tent/jackrabbitsl1

This is very similar in layout to the Hubba NX, but a tad bit roomier in the shoulder/head area (which I like).

I might have to hunt one down and get some better stakes. It's a lot like what I have but smaller and with a side door. And I find this level of BA to be tough enough for what I do.
 
Tent reading light test

From “What didn’t work” last trip:
My Black Diamond LED lantern. I like the tent reading light it throws, and I’ve never returned anything to REI, but that POS is going back. 70 hours on 4 AAA batteries my arse. Try 4 hours, and 10-12 with hours using lithiums. I’ll get another, just to see if mine was defective or if their battery life claims are fantasy.

Be careful what you plan. The battery-eating Black Diamond lantern was at least well built, rugged and sturdy. The replacement Black Diamond model currently available is as well constructed as a Happy Meal toy.

Of course I didn'’t know that until I got it home and extracted it from the packaging. Opening the wobbly lens cover my immediate thought was “"I'’m going to break this dang thing"”. The battery cover and innards are no better.

http://www.rei.com/product/871875/bl...-2013-closeout

I note that Black Diamond has provided more accurate run-time in the specs, now listed as High 15 hours, low 24 hours, with no mention of some fantasy 70 hours.

The BD Orbit lantern is flimsy enough that I know I'’m going to break it PDQ. I might as well satisfy my curiosity about the run time.

And compare the actual battery life of the Orbit to a similar lantern. Something inexpensive and widely available. WallyWorld had this UCO on sale for $15:

http://www.amazon.com/UCO-Clarus-Lan...s=uco+lanterns

The UCO Clarus is solidly built and identical in features to the BD Orbit, but uses one less battery.

It is time for another experiment. Both lanterns have fresh batteries. I'’m going to simulate bedtime tent reading and turn each on for an hour every night, timing the results.

(I would do this on a trip, but I hate looking at a watch when camping, and I’'m pretty sure I neglect to record the use time accurately)
 
I received my HH NX today
I'm really disappointed in the HH NX. I'm going to send it back. Two main reasons:

The tent is saggy without the stakes. Unlike the solo version which was tight as a drum, the lengthwise span on this is sloppy and loose. The poles don't hold it taught in the long direction.

I have always staked out the corners of the HH, even if that meant tying off the rocks or ect when the ground was unstakable. We have (and have had) dozens of different tents, and I’ve never really considered any of them freestanding. Even the ones that supposedly were freestanding performed better with at least a couple of corner stakes or fly guy lines

In many of the areas I paddle wind is a near constant and airborne tents are a distinct possibility. I really don’t want to come back to camp and find my tent and contents upside down in some marsh channel 100 yards away.

I will put something weighty inside the tent if I’m away from camp in windy conditions, but unexpected things happen, and I’d prefer to have the tent body and fly solidly staked or tied down whenever possible.

The footprint sucks. Again, unlike the solo version, it doesn't fit properly. The decal says specifically for this tent but it also fits another... I suspect there may have been some compromise there. On the corners it goes out too far and the fly does not cover it so I'm sure it will collect water there. What a terrible mistake. I've had that happen before from an ill-fitting ground cloth and I'll never make that mistake again.

That does suck. The footprint for the first gen HH is near perfect, with scalloped ) ( edges that don’t protrude and webbing straps on the inset corners. If the footprint with the HH NX was a one-size-fits-several compromise it was a terrible idea, especially considering the ridiculous cost of the footprint.

I’m hoping the (well designed) footprint from the first gen HH fits the next model. I’ll know when it arrives.

The other thing is, it is definitely directional. It's also not as obvious which way the fly goes unless you look at the color codes. The solo tent was a no brainer.

I hope that is not the case with the second gen HH. Again, I’ll know when it arrives. If it is color coded I will mark the corner orientations in some manner more easily recognizable by color blind me. Even so I’d rather have symmetrical everything, if only to prevent flapping out the tent atop the footprint or the fly atop the tent and discovering that I’m holding the wrong end.


Maybe this one is defective (it is dirty so it looks like it has been used and returned.

Unless you bought it as a factory second returned and repaired that is beyond unacceptable.

There is one BA tent that kind of meets my requirements but it seems to have a chintzier pole system that I don't like. The stakes it comes with aren't as good but I could always buy the nice ones separate:

https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Tent/jackrabbitsl1

This is very similar in layout to the Hubba NX, but a tad bit roomier in the shoulder/head area (which I like).

We have a Big Agnes clone of the Hubba Hubba in the family four pack of gear. The Copper Spur UL 2, bought several years ago, again as a last year’s discontinued model

https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Tent/copperspurul2

It is nearly identical to the Hubba Hubba in shape, size and design thoughtfulness, down to the spidered pole and hub system and even though it is tapered slightly unidirectional (including the footprint, tent and fly), the corner webbing is color coding in silver and black, and unmistakable even in hurried darkness.

I would just have retired the HH and used the Copper Spur 2, but the Missus quickly claimed it for her solo trips and I don’t want to wear it out and have an unhappy bug bit boss return from a trip.


I might have to hunt one down and get some better stakes. It's a lot like what I have but smaller and with a side door. And I find this level of BA to be tough enough for what I do.

“Better stakes” is likely a thread unto itself. And might be a topic akin to hats and footwear in opinion and personal preference.
 
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