Setting up MSR Hubba Tent Under Fly in Rain

How to pitch and MSF Hubba rainfly first, and then pitch the tent underneath, keeping the tent completely dry.

[@jerrys88]

Hi Michael. I've practiced doing this myself with my MSR and REI tents. I would suggest after you get the ground sheet down go ahead and use the ground cloth grommets to set up the pole structure, then set the rain fly over it. Two reasons for this: 1) it's easier to lay the rain fly over the dome, and 2) you won't run the risk of stepping on one of your poles like you did in this video. Of course, if it's windy you'll want to stand with your back to the wind as you spread out the fly over the structure. I also recommend attaching the cross-pole to their grommets first. Learn from my mistake - I broke the swivel hub because of the force it took to orient the cross-pole at its 90˚ angle after all the corners were grommeted. If you're concerned about the order of the corner grommets, i.e. rain fly grommet above ground cloth grommet, you can easily detach and reattach each corner in their "proper" order. If memory serves, though, I don't think it's necessary.

[@rouschkavanderplank2396]

This is very helpful, thank you!

[@michaelharvey1461]

Agreed. That is a better approach!

[@bushmanheart]

Hell of a tip. I was thinking man! It would suck to set this tent up in the rain. Thanks. I’m hiking across Canada. This is soooo helpful. I appreciate the knowledge ✌🏼

[@michaelfox9750]

Awesome instructions. I’ll certainly experiment with this, in dry conditions first. Thanks much!

[@joshualloyd2915]

I have been practicing for an upcoming scattered weather trip. This crossbar suggestion is a very useful one. Thank you for sharing! You helped me perfect my approach.

[@DavidSmith-ne1zp]

Thanks for this!

[@eavxphilgrlifeinhongkong]

Nice 🙏☀️

[@Sara-Smile]

Thank you

[@melanie3400]

but wouldn't the ground sheet be covered in rain, trapping water under the tent? I'm trying to find a way to do rain fly first, then ground sheet, then tent :)

[@michaelharvey1461]

Unless your tent floor has a leak, no water should be coming into it whether you use a ground cloth or not. The ground sheet is only there to either protect the more fragile tent floor from rocks or other sharp objects, or to provide an additional attachment point for the poles allowing you to pitch the fly without the body. Assuming the tent floor is intact, the fact that the top of the ground sheet will have some water on it won't matter at all. If you are getting water intrusion into the tent from water beneath it, whether because of the actual surface you're pitching onto without a ground cloth, or because some water is on your ground cloth, then you need to deal with that issue regardless (patching, sealing, etc.). Hope that makes sense.

[@jasondunbar3667]

Wait wouldn't in inside of your rain fly be wet after laying it on the wet ground? Now it is going to drip into your tent.🤔

[@northernbeadle]

I personally set up the poles first THEN put on the rain fly and connect the poles to the grommets (then lay out the ground sheet underneath which keeps it dry) or more times than not I set up a tarp over head and then set-up underneath it!

[@Zayaxa]

What groundsheet is this? Mine doesn't have the grommets:(

[@northernbeadle]

Unfortunately MSR removed the grommets from their ground sheets in the last year or two :( I was able to find the previous model on clearance and bought it right away so that I still had this feature if needed