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The new Carbon Reflex tents for spring 2009 are the lightest tents ever from MSR and set a new standard for a lightweight tent from a major manufacturer. The Carbon Reflex 2 reviewed here is based on the popular Hubba Hubba, but weighs about one and a half pounds less, arriving at a trail weight of slightly less than three pounds. The low weight is achieved by using lightweight fabrics and mesh, carbon fiber poles, and a unique one-plus pole design consisting of a single hoop plus a top strut. All of this weight reduction was accomplished without compromising the tent's interior volume or floor space. How did the Carbon Reflex 2 fare in our field tests, and how does it compare with lightweight tents from Big Sky International and Terra Nova?

ARTICLE OUTLINE

  • Introduction
  • Specifications: Year/Manufacturer/Model, Style, Included, Fabrics, Poles and Stakes, Floor Dimensions*, Features, Packed Size, Total Weight, Trail Weight, Protected Area*, Protected Area/Trail Weight Ratio*, MSRP, Options, #2#*We normally use manufacturer floor and vestibule data in our specifications table and trust that it is accurate, but this time it is not. The width of the tent's floor at the center is 40 inches, not 50 inches as specified or implied. Thus the floor area is actually 23.3 ft
  • Design and Features
  • Performance
  • Assessment
  • What's Good
  • What's Not So Good
  • Recommendations for Improvement

# WORDS: 2570
# PHOTOS: 8
# TABLES: 1

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