The Best Backpacking Tent According to Two 6 Year Olds, Two Dogs and a Tortoise.

How I chose what tent to take with me to New Zealand to walk the Te Araroa.

Now I'll be honest with you right off the bat, Erica, the tortoise, offered very little input. But it would be wrong not to include her in the line up of helpers I had in making the decision between buying an MSR Hubba Hubba or a Big Agnes Copper Spur (both 2 person).

Decision Making Paralysis

This was a big decision. Whichever tent I chose would be my home for four months as I walked 1,800 miles from the top of New Zealand to the bottom (and who knows where after that).

To say I’m shite at making decisions would be an understatement. Whether it’s what to have for tea or what to watch on telly, I spiral into what I call decision-making paralysis. Instead of dealing with that, I passed the responsibility to my neighbour’s six-year-old twins…and their pets.

The Contenders

I had at least narrowed it down to two options: the MSR and the Big Agnes.

The MSR Hubba Hubba was the first real tent I ever owned. I bought it for my very first wild camp, and it’s been with me ever since. After countless nights under the stars and more than a thousand miles of trails, it became more than just a bit of gear. It was no longer just a piece of camping equipment to keep me safe and dry, it became the backdrop to me finding myself out in the wild.

Those early nights in the tent were filled with fear. I was convinced it would fall apart and leave me stranded on a mountainside with no shelter. I doubted the tent’s ability to protect me in the same way I doubted my own ability to be out there at all. But slowly, as my confidence in my gear grew, so did my confidence in myself.

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Care & Repair
I'm a big believer in repair over replace, but there is only so much you can do before you have to call time of death on a piece of kit. When I first started out, I had no clue how to properly look after any of it. On my early trails, I’d pack my tent away wet and then forget about it for months, leaving it to slowly grow musty and quietly rot away

Over time, I got better. I patched where I could, cleaned it, re-waterproofed it, and did my best to make up for my early mistakes. But a few months ago, something snapped. Literally. One of the joists on the poles broke. When I was attempting to fix it, I lost a key piece and couldn't use them anymore.

I could’ve bought new poles, but by that point they were just one more item on a growing list of things falling apart. It was time to let it go.

Why Replace The MSR

So why not just buy a new MSR? Because although I love so many things about it, it does have drawbacks, and the Big Agnes seemed to solve many of them. (I’ll spare you a full review, but I’ve got three rambly videos comparing the two on Instagram.)

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Expert Help

Borrowing the Big Agnes from a friend and gorilla taping my MSR back together, I took them to my neighbour’s house . I was using her lawn as my testing ground to pitch them side by side and make a decision.

As I set to work in assembling them both, the twins sprang into action to offer their help with laying out the components and pushing in pegs. I had hardly finished snapping on the last clip before they had crawled inside.

“I think you should get this one,” they said in unison, referring to the Big Agnes.

I asked why, expecting them to say it was a better colour or something equally kid-like. But clearly, I’d underestimated these two mini adventure enthusiasts. They jumped straight into full review mode pointing out the better storage, lighter feel, and extra headroom. All the while, they mimed placing imaginary items into the pockets, confidently demonstrating where they’d store their things if they were on an adventure.

Then came the pets
After the girls’ excellent review came the dogs. Lilly, the small terrier, made a beeline for the Big Agnes clearly appreciating its lighter, airier feel. It wasn’t long before her four-legged big brother, Brody, followed. The wide doorway and roomy porch posed no issue for his, let’s say, slightly chonkier build.

Kid approved. Dog approved. Now for the tortoise.

After slowly circling both tents (obviously she was assessing their durability and structure) she climbed into the MSR, had a look around… and promptly pissed in the corner. Clearly the MSR was not up to her standards.So, Big Agnes it is then.

Adventure Awaits
Before I knew it my MSR was being turned into the girls' secret headquarters, all available blankets, pillows and toys… and dogs being dragged inside. Leaving my little helpers to it I sat with their mums to enjoy the sunshine and the feeling of knowing my decision had been made for me. Giggles and squeals of laughter radiated from the bottom end of the garden as the girls played.

My MSR had gone from sheltering me in remote Scottish wilderness surrounded by calm and quiet, to being an island den in the middle of a stormy sea as two pirates dove from their boats, swimming to its safety to shelter from the oncoming tornado attack.

I was ready for a new adventure, maybe my tent was ready for one too. That's why when I was asked ‘Jess, can we keep your tent?’ It was the easiest decision I've ever made…‘Absolutely’.

Giving the tent away did come with one condition: when it's worn out or no longer needed, they give it back. Not for me to use, just to keep. I'll cut out the MSR logo on the fly sheet- the same one that once terrified me on my first ever wild camp when the wind pressed it against the inner, making me think a face was peering in at me. A small scrap of fabric to celebrate the season of my life where everything changed -when I stopped dreaming about a life of adventure, and finally started living it.

How about you?

Am I just a sentimental bugger or do you do the same? Is there a piece of kit you can’t part with?

This tent is just the start of a long list of things I need to sort before heading to New Zealand. I’ll be back next Sunday with more on my kit planning and prep.

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