Garry McGivern’s Travelsonabike2 May-2018 cycle touring photos. Photographs that have appeared on the website over the past month. This month’s photos come from Salisbury and the Isle of Wight.
Other photographs this month come from Garry’s culinary efforts in the kitchen. A visitor to his garden who didn’t want to share it. Garry’s new tent that failed while he was camping on the Isle of Wight. (he’s not happy!) And Garry was busy at home building a new dining table for the garden. To read the full stories behind the photos, visit the May 2018 archives page.
There are also more photos on Garry’s Facebook and Instagram pages, which you can view without subscribing. But if you already subscribe to social media, why not follow Garry? You can also subscribe to Garry’s blog and receive news and updates straight to your inbox.
Garry McGivern’s May-2018 Photos
Garry got bored so tried his hand at cooking Smocked haddock pilau
Garry came home to find this imprint on his doors
A Sparrowhawk in Garry’s garden and the reason for the mark on the windows
The Sparrowhawk finishing of it’s kill
My irritable skin before I started taking the steroids
My breakfast
Netley Abbey
River Avon
Salisbury cathedral
The scene of the poisoning in Salisbury still cordoned off
Salisbury poisoning site
Campsite cooking
Old Sarum Salisbury
Salisbury Guildhall
River Avon
Nice easy signs to follow
The Floating Bridge on the Isle of Wight was working for once
My route across the fields
Ships waiting out at sea off the Isle of Wight
Beach near Ryde
On the Fastcat
Portsmouth Harbour entrance
The leak around the main door
Dripping in from one of the toggles that attach the inner tent to the outer tent
One of the leaks in the front vestibule
The broken toggle
The inner tent touching the outer tent
Water being transferred from the outside into the inner tent
Inside the MSR
Garry’s new workbench
If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry web page. And, of course, you can always follow Garry on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.
If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry web page.
The month started off well with a cycle ride to Salisbury and the Isle of Wight; It was only a short ride, as I only had a couple of days to spare!
Salisbury cathedral
Bit of a strange place to go you may think, especially after the poisoning of that former Russian spy, but I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go that wasn’t too far away and that I’d not been to in the past month or two! I think I got away without picking anything up! But then who could tell I seem to have so many things wrong with me, it would just get lost in amongst all my other ailments!
The scene of the poisoning in Salisbury still cordoned off
The rest of the month has been spent at home as I’ve had something on nearly every day, not that I think I would have been able to go too far I’m in a lot of pain most days and it doesn’t seem to matter whether I sit, stand or cycle! The only way I seem to get any relief is by laying down!
Netley Abbey
Health
Things on the hip front are moving in the right direction albeit very slowly! I’ve had my pre-operation assessment which seemed to be okay, (just seemed like a lot of form filling to me) and I’ve had the occupational therapy people around to assess my needs post operation! I’ve also attended “joint school” and not the type you smoke! It was more about the detail of the operation, what physio to do, diet and what anaesthesia they use, all useful stuff but no doubt I’ll have forgotten it all by the time I have my op! In theory, it’s all done to aid a speedy recovery! I’m all for that!
The Floating Bridge on the Isle of Wight was working for once
Not having any time to go on another tour this month and spending a lot of time at home, has given me plenty of time to make loads more videos! Which can you can find on my YouTube channel. And luckily for you, there’s still more to come! I’m still editing the videos from last months tour to Swanage and London, and I’ve still got the ride I did at the beginning of this month to Salisbury to do, I bet you can’t wait! Subscribe to my YouTube channel then you’ll always know when a new video gets published!
Garry’s new workbench
I forgot to mention it, but a few months ago I noticed that my old patio table was rotten, so I decided to make a new one. Anyway, after making it, I was going to have a barbecue to try it out, but I couldn’t find any friends to come round! So it now comes in handy as a workbench!
Garry McGivern’s Travelsonabike2 MSR Hubba Tour2 Leaks YouTube video was posted on his YouTube channel on the 25th of May, 2018. Garry brought his new MSR Hubba Tour2 tent in February 2017, which he thinks is a superb tent. However, he has had issues with the waterproofness of it ever since the first time it rained!
Inside the wet MSR
Now, after 15 months and three new tents later, Garry has had enough of the poor quality and design flaws of the MSR tent, so he’s made a video to highlight the problems!
Garry also wrote an updated review of the tent, which you can read by clicking here.
You can watch the video below or on Garry’s YouTube channel. But honestly, it won’t be any more enjoyable wherever you watch the video! You can also subscribe to his channel. You’ll then be amongst the first to know when Garry releases a new video. Or subscribe to Garry’s emails and receive all of his updates.
MSR Hubba Tour2 Leaks Video
Subscribe to Garry’s YouTube channel.
Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.
If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry page.
Well, it’s been 15-months since I purchased the MSR Hubba Tour 2 tent, so I thought it was about time to write an updated review of the tent, it leaks!
As I said in my previous post, II was excited when the MSR Hubba Tour 2 was released! And saw it as the long-awaited replacement for my old MSR Velo. And immediately bought one! But a replacement it certainly isn’t, it just doesn’t even come close! The tent doesn’t work!
One of the leaks in the front vestibule
I’m not too sure whether MSR tested this tent, before releasing it! But if they had, I’m sure they would have worked out some of the major flaws with the tent, for themselves!
After enjoying a few nights away in the new MSR Hubba Tour 2, without any problems, I was enjoying my new tent. Okay, it all felt a bit flimsy, and the fly needed tightening a couple of times, before settling in for the night! No matter how tight the fly was, as soon as the temperature dropped, the fly dropped! Once the fly had sagged, condensation would then drip in! Maybe that was the un-doings of the tent, over-tightening the fly?
With the inner tent touching the outer tent water then drips into the tent
And yes maybe there wasn’t enough room between the inner tent and outer tent. And no matter what I did, they always touched, causing condensation to drip in! But I was prepared to put up with these. As I said, I liked the layout of the tent, it suited my needs perfectly. And has a well-balanced space to weight ratio.
The inner tent touching the outer tent
The Inevitable
But then the inevitable night came when it rained! No problem I’m in my new tent everything will be fine! When the morning arrived, I noticed that there were one or two wet patches in the corners of the inner tent. There was also some water in the vestibule. But I decided to put these down to condensation. After all my tent was only a couple of months old and had only been out a handful of times there was no way it could be leaking, could it?
The following night came, and once again it started to rain. I must admit I was a little apprehensive and nervous! After finding the pools of water this morning! Then, my worse fears came true, water was pouring in! Through the corners of the inner tent, and the corners of the vestibule! To say I wasn’t happy was an understatement! The new MSR Hubba Tour 2 leaks! The tent that I had waited years for was leaking like a sieve! And to top it all one of the toggles that attach the inner tent to the fly broke! I wasn’t happy!
The broken toggle
Customer Service, What Customer service?
After returning home from my trip, I wrote to MSR explaining the situation. Once I’d eventually found an address to write to! The reply I got back, was somewhat god smacking, and not what I’d expected! I was practically called a liar and told it must be condensation, as nobody else has complained! As you can imagine, that got my back up! What sort of response was that? Terrible customer service on MSR’s part! To be told I’m lying? Especially after I’d sung the praises of the MSR Hubba Tour 2! It felt like a kick in the teeth!
Rain dripping in from one of the toggles that attach the inner tent to the outer tent
Eventually, after a bit of communication, MSR agreed that I should send the tent to them (at my expense) so they could test it. After a few weeks, I got word back that yes, the tent was faulty and they would replace it. But, they didn’t have any in stock! I asked if I could have the old one back as a stop-gap, but that had been thrown away! My new tent eventually arrived a month later. But due to one thing and another, I never got to use it this year.
April 2018
Roll forward to this year (2018) and the start of the camping season and yes you’ve guessed it, on my first night out in the rain the new MSR leaked and even more than the old one! Although one good thing the inner tent seemed to stay dry this time! It was, however, leaking in the corners of the vestibule and this time above the vestibule door; it poured in through there!
The leak around the main door
A New Season
Roll forward to this year (2018) and the start of the camping season. And yes you’ve guessed it, the first time it rained, the tent leaked like a sieve, even more than the old one! Although one good thing the inner tent seemed to stay dry this time! It was, however, still leaking in the corners of the vestibule! But now there was a new leak, above the vestibule door; it poured through there! PHOTO
Whoever passed this tent off for general sale should be fired, was it not tested in the field first? (If you’ll pardon the pun) It’s not waterproof! The seams leak, the fly stretches too much and sags! There’s not enough space between the fly and inner tent. Allowing them to touch no matter what you do! That, in turn, enables condensation to drip into the inner tent! And as for the fly screen on the vestibule door, why? It serves no purpose! Yes, it keeps fly’s from entering by the main entrance, but with no fly screen on the vents, it’s useless! I know I’m not the only person who has had problems! Do these issues not get passed on to production? If they want to contact me, I’d be more than happy to help!
Profit First
Does MSR not care about the quality of their equipment anymore? I’d read one or two disparaging reports about the MSR Hubba Tour tent but chose to ignore them as I am such a big fan! But you can only push somebody so far! What has happened at MSR? Their equipment used to be robust, reliable and long-lasting! Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case with the MSR Hubba Tour 2 tent!
Although my main problem with the MSR Hubba Tour 2, is that I want it to work! I don’t want it to fail! I think it’s layout and design are excellent and ideally suited to cycle touring! But the reality of it is that it’s not fit for purpose! And after defending the tent for the past 15-months, I feel I can no longer!
As I said earlier the “MSR Hubba Tour 2 a brilliant tent as long as it doesn’t rain!” I have since received another replacement fly, which like the previous ones still leaks!
As of May 2018, I’m awaiting for another response from MSR!
