Tag: Tents

Garry McGivern’s favourite bicycle touring tents, a vital part of any cycle tour, and Garry has tried several different types out over the years.

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Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel 2 | Travelsonabike2

A tent and a bicycle in a park

Bicycle Touring Tent

My latest acquisition to my kit is the Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel 2, a lightweight three-season two-person tent. And although I’ve only taken it on a few trips, it’s already becoming my go-to tent when heading off on my bicycle. Over the years, I’ve had several tents, some good, some not-so-good. But the Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel 2 is one of the better ones. You can read more about how I choose my touring gear in my Long-Distance Cycle Touring Guide.

It reminds me of the first tent I used when I first started cycle touring, the MSR Velo. It should have been the design MSR stuck with, but that’s a different story, which you can read about here.

The Big Agnes

Although after saying the Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel 2 is a good tent, I have one or two reservations about it. The materials seem a little less superior to some of my other tents. And the zips don’t fill me with confidence that they will last. But time will tell on those. The pegs that came with the tent were cheap and nasty and were discarded immediately, replaced with Groundhog pegs. The top vents on the tent are also a bit of a concern. And Garry’s not too sure how good they would be at keeping out rain in a strong wind.

The inner tent walls are predominantly mesh, which might be a problem when the temperature drops. And there is a significant gap between the sides of the outer tent and the ground. But that, along with the upper vents, allows for plenty of ventilation. Keeping condensation down to a minimum.

It might sound as though I’m not too impressed with the tent, but nothing could be further from the truth. I love its roominess and excellent headroom. The large vestibule allows me to store all my gear inside the tent. The vestibule also allows me to cook inside if it’s wet. And if it’s been a wet ride, I can change out of my wet gear without getting the inner tent wet. You can buy your Big Agnes tent via this link.

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Follow & Support Garry’s Bicycle Touring Adventures

If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always support me by buying me a beer. Or follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.

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Hilleberg Staika | Travelsonabike2

Tent forest

My Latest Bicycle Touring Tent

The Hilleberg Staika is my latest tent. After all the problems with leaks and breakages I’ve experienced with my MSR Hubba Tour, I decided to buy another tent, yes, another one! Some people like to buy shoes or clothes, I like to buy tents!

After a little research and looking at different brands of tents, I decided to go for the Hilleberg Staika. I already owned a Hilleberg, the Nammantj 2Gt. Which, despite being a good tent, doesn’t really suit my needs. It’s not free-standing, and being a tunnel tent isn’t as versatile.

Looking at the Staika on paper, it ticked all the boxes for me: it was free-standing and had two decent-sized vestibules. It was a bit heavier than my MSR at 4kg, but what’s a bit of extra weight if the tent’s right. There was nothing else to do but buy one!

YouTube Video

 

After several trips using the Hilleberg, I found it didn’t suit me quite as much as I’d hoped. There’s nothing wrong with the tent at all. It’s a brilliant tent. Well made and will stand up to a lot of abuse. And if there’s a storm blowing, I know which tent I’d like to be in. But what on paper looks good, in reality, doesn’t always work out. And the only way to see if a tent is any good is to try it out. Although granted, it’s an expensive way to find out. But as I said earlier, I like to buy tents.

The search for the perfect tent goes on! You can read more about how I choose my touring gear in my Long-Distance Cycle Touring Guide.

Follow & Support Garry’s Bicycle Touring Adventures

If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always support me by buying me a beer. Or follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.

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MSR Hubba Tour 2 Still Isn’t Waterproof | Travelsonabike2

Tent

The MSR Hubba Tour 2: The Saga Goes on

It started when Garry bought his first Hubba Tour tent in 2017. After the tent fly failed, he returned it for repair. However, the new one wasn’t waterproof! After many calls to MSR, with many of them basically calling Garry a liar! Saying it was condensation and that nobody else had had this problem!! They eventually agreed to send him a replacement fly, which also leaked!

Once again, after many calls, he was sent another replacement, which, yes, you guessed it, also leaked! Garry was then sent yet another tent, which unsurprisingly also leaked! Garry was so annoyed that he posted a video on YouTube highlighting the problems!

After a few months, MSR got in contact, wanting to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, the timing was terrible. He’d just come out of intensive care after recovering from sepsis. Garry did send them an email explaining his situation, and they replied, saying no problems, get in touch when you’re better! Well, Garry eventually did send them an email at the beginning of 2019. It got ignored entirely, and he’s never heard anything since!

Not Giving Up

Liking the design and layout of the MSR so much, and the fact he’s not been able to find anything similar that suits his needs, he took matters into his own hands! And sealed the seams that were leaking, which he did in 2019, but despite over 5000 miles on the road last year, it never rained! Or rather not when he was camping!

After being asked the question on his YouTube channel. Is the tent okay now? It reminded him that he’d not tried it in the rain! Now with the country, in fact, much of the world in lockdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak! And with no end in sight, he’s decided to try it out in his garden. You can read more about Garry’s choice of touring gear in his Long-Distance Cycle Touring Guide.

Subscribe to Garry’s YouTube channel.

Follow & Support Garry’s Bicycle Touring Adventures

If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel Garry’s next mile, you can always support him by buying him a beer. Or follow Garry on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. Garry’s also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all his tours, along with regular photo updates that he generally publishes each month.

If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry page.

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MSR Hubba Tour2 Leaks Video | Travelsonabike2

MSR Hubba Tour2: Not Worth The Money

My MSR Hubba Tour2 Leaks YouTube video was posted on my YouTube channel on the 25th of May, 2018. I bought this new MSR Hubba Tour2 tent in February 2017, which I think is a superb tent. However, I’ve had issues with its waterproofness ever since the first time it rained!

Inside a leaky MSR tent
Inside the wet MSR

Now, after 15 months and three new tents later, I’ve had enough of the poor quality and design flaws of the MSR tent, so I’ve made a video to highlight the problems! I’ve also written an updated review of the tent, which you can read by clicking here.

You can watch the video below or on my YouTube channel. But honestly, it won’t be any more enjoyable wherever you watch the video! You can also subscribe to my channel. You’ll then be amongst the first to know when I release a new video. Or subscribe to my emails and receive all of my updates.

MSR Hubba Tour2 Leaks Video

Subscribe to Garry’s YouTube channel.

Follow & Support Garry’s Bicycle Touring Adventures

If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always support me by buying me a beer. Or subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. 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, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.

Follow Garry on his travels

Subscribe to my email and follow me on my travels

If you’re tired of gear failing and want to see my philosophy on ‘bombproof’ touring setups, check out my Life at 10mph Guide.