Hubba Hubba 2

Hey everyone! Recently I acquired the new Mongar 2 model from Naturehike called the 'base'. This is basically everything the UL and Pro version offers, but in a 210T polyester. It comes in at around 2.5kg so I mostly take this on short hikes and when going by car. For true hiking trips I'm using a Durston X-Dome 1+. I want to share my thoughts with you, since I think it's a very good tent for beginners and overall backpackers. Oh and btw, this isn't like a sponsored review, I just like to share my thoughts and opinions. Obviously bought this with my own money. I also wanted to do this write up since there's literally no actual information or review online about this tent (yet). It's very hard to find more information about it than what's provided on their website. So with that out of the way, I'll walk you around the tent in detail: **Specs and what's included** The tent weighs in at 2.5kg and 2.75kg with the groundsheet. That is with 12 stakes, 4 guylines + adjusters, the fly, inner, poles and stuff sacks. The tent is 10cm longer than the older model at 220cm long. The tent's inner is 130cm wide and it's just above 100cm of peak height. I paid 120 euro's for this tent which was an insane price. The fly material is polyester. I came from an almost identical Star River 2 (same color, materials and weight) and I swear by polyester. Much easier to dry, doesn't sag etc. The material can feel a bit heavy or cheap, but it's more robust than my 15D polyester on my Durston so obviously it's heavier but also more forgiving in rough terrain. The mesh feels absolutely great and bomb proof as well. Fly material doesn't sag and it quite nice to use. The tent also offers 2 vents on both sides for good airflow. I didn't have any condensation issues thus far, which is also nice. What I also like a lot is the extra yellow fabric around the whole inner. One of the reasons I went with the Star River 2 instead of the old Mongar 2 model a few years ago, was that the Mongar was mesh only. I know your sleep system will provide the warmth, but being protected from sand, water splatters and wind while sleeping is a quality of life thing in my opinion. This new tent now also includes that same fabric which goes all the way around the inner as you see in the images. **Ease of use and setup** The tent is dead easy to pitch. You can pitch it in a few ways, but traditionally you peg out the inner, clip the poles into the metal inserts, attach the clips to the pole structure, put the fly on top, clip that to the 4 corner clips and stake it out. However with the ground sheet you can pitch it fly first in the rain, which is a non negotiable for me at this point, especially in Northern Europe. You can use the new feature, the canopy, with 2 stakes, 2 of the included guylines and 2 trekking poles. Personally I think it's a funny feature, but in reality I don't use it that much. It makes it harder to enter the tent from the outside. One BIG thing to note and what I've experienced is the distance between the fly and inner. I've tried out their UL Mongar 2 which was nylon, and that fly was so close to the inner, that I barely had one or two fingers space between them. WHen the nylon sagged, the inner and fly kept touching and condensation would drip into the inner tent and my stuff. With this one it's much further apart and the fly doesn't sag, so I'd never have that issue with this one. To me that was one of the most important things on this tent to check. **Zippers and hardware** The tent uses SBS zippers which run incredibly smoothly. They are pretty big/solid as well (I think #5 in size). One runs horizontally and one at an angle to the top. The fly uses the same zippers and those for the canopy are a bit smaller. For the clips you have nice and solid clips on the inner to attach to the poles. They make a firm click sound and won't ever come loose accidentally. I especially like the metal corner clippy things and the red ones on top for the crossbar. They feel like quality and the poles stick in there nicely. Talking about the poles, they're upgraded since the poleset on the Mongar 2 UL had some issues I've heard. These are much more firm. The fly has adjusters which run and work smoothly as well. It's cool to be able to clip the 4 fly clips to the ones on either the groundsheet or the inner tent. Either way, when clipped in either of those, you get a nice freestanding tent which is easy to move. **(Interior) Space** One big selling point of this type of tent design is the huge amounts of room you have in there. Compared to my Star River 2 which had sloped walls, these go vertical, giving a lot more headroom. In the images I have my Sea to Summit Ether Light XR in LxW (long wide) with a liner around it. You can see how much space there is still left around it on both the head/foot end and the width. The tent would easily fit 2 people with wide pads, but for me alone it's a palace. I like that I can stow away the backpack and clothing on one end, and have my phone and sleeping stuff next to me. **Pockets , washing line and hook** This tent offers superior pockets over both the old Mongar models and my Star River. You have a total of 6. On the head and foot end it looks like you have one big one on each end, but they're actually divided by two. So in my case I had all my stuff sacks on the left side and my watch and headlamp on the right side(see images). Also there are two nice pockets on the roof which have a smart barrier so a phone or powerbank can't slide out. All the 6 pockets have a little triangle hole where you can loop a charging cable through which I thought was very neat. Also nice that they already installed a washing line. It runs all the way around the 4 sides of the inner and also across the whole width of the tent. I found it very useful to hang my mini towel after washing the dishes with it or some dirtier or wet socks. There's also a pre added hook on one side of the inner. I had the same one on the old Star River 2 and always hang my Flextail Tiny Pump 2X on there which works great. **Other features** One of the unique things with these naturehike tents is the canopy. Like I said in the beginning it's pretty cool to have the option to have, but it's a bit fiddly and makes accessing the tent a bit harder (you have to duck down earlier). The canopy is only on one side and you can roll up the material to get it out of the way iof you want to use the door normally. To set it up you close one zipper (smaller one) and attach the loops on both sides to the tip of a trekking pole. Then you can guy out a longer line to add the necessary tension on the canopy. It does make the tent look very cozy, not gonna lie. Also another thing that I only noticed later, was the option to keep the doors open slightly for more ventilation. Not sure how to explain, but you can see it in some images. Basically there is a little toggle that you can attach the under side of the door to, so it stays a bit more open. Nice addition if you ask me. **Verdict** For only 120 I think this is one of the best tents to get if you can get by the weight. There are much lighter options out there (Lanshan 2, Mongar 2 UL, Cloud Up 2 etc) but nothing that comes close to the ease of use and the feature rich design of this tent. That it's polyester only makes it better in my opinion. So worth the extra weight penalty for me (if I go by car or small walks like I mentioned at the beginning). It's easy to set up, break, pack in it's stuff sack and everything is included. Truly I can't find anything really wrong with this tent and think all the upgrades it has over the old Mongar 2 design is better. The canopy is a hit or miss for some though. Thanks for making it this far and if you have any questions regarding this or the other tents I've mentioned, feel free to ask them! :)

Aah that's unfortunate. In my opinion it's a major design flaw. Most dome tents have a nylon fly, but my friend's Hubba hubba 2X has a lot more space between the inner and fly. You only need a tiny bit of rain/condensation for the tent to sag onto the inner.. And yes haha! Definitely true.