The Great Outdoors - UK (2021-08)

74 The Great OutdoorsAugust 2021

MSR

Hubba NX 1

£ 385 1. 26 kg

lightweight, roomy

flysheet doesn’t come right down to the ground

Flysheet: silicone/PU 20D ripstop nylon, 1200mm hydrostatic head

Inner: ripstop nylon/nylon micromesh

Groundsheet: 30D PU ripstop nylon, 3000mm hydrostatic head

Poles: DAC Featherlite NFL

Pegs: 9 MSR Needle

Porches: 1

Inner dimensions:216x76cm, 91cm high point

msrgear.com

With the likelihood of warm nights,

and midges if the wind died down,

I wanted an airy tent that provided

good protection. The Hubba NX

1 fitted the bill. Its large mesh

panels on the inner and flysheet

that doesn’t come right down to

the ground make for good airflow,

whilst the porch is big enough for

cooking with the doors closed if the

midges are bad or it starts raining.

For a two-skin tent that’s roomy for

one the weight is quite low.It packs

up small too. It does pitch inner-

first, but I wasn’t expecting much

rain and I knew I could pitch it very

quickly if necessary. As it was there

was no rain whilst I was camping nor

any midges, so I never fully closed

the flysheet door. The breeze that

blew every night was enough to

prevent anycondensation from

forming whilst the tent kept enough

of the wind out to stop it disturbing

my sleep. Overall, it was an ideal

tent for the trip.

EQUIPMENT

PACK TENT

Montane

Yupik 65

£ 160 1. 76 kg

pockets, comfort

only one size, straps slip occasionally

Capacity: 65 litres

Materials:100D triple ripstop nylon, 420D base

Closure:lid with twin buckles, 2 drawcord closures

Back system:adjustable, pre-curved

aluminium frame, moulded back panel

Back length:59cm

Compartments: 2

Pockets: 2 outer lid, 1 inner lid, 2 zipped stretch

mesh front, 2 stretch mesh side, 2 hipbelt

Sizes:one

montane.co.uk

Having had this pack on test for a while now,

I thought it was time to takeit on more than

an overnight trip.With camera gear including

a tripod as well as four days’ food plus my

camping gear it weighed 16kg when I set off.

The pack is capacious and easily swallowed

all this stuff. I reckon 65 litres is conservative,

especially given the excellent large and very

stretchy front pockets.I liked having nine

pockets and two compartments as they made

it easy to organise gear. The back system

and well-padded hipbelt made the pack

comfortable to carry, though on the roughest

terrain I noticed it wasn’t quite as stable as

more body-hugging packs. I also found the

harness straps slipped a little more often than

on other packs (they always seem to slip a

little at times), though not enough to be very

annoying. Overall, the Yupik 65 was fine for

this trip. It’s quite light for a rucksack with so

many features.

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Gear trip report