A friend of mine was doing a bit of house cleaning at the direction of the CEO and he came across his MSR Hubba tent which he used a handful of times but hasn't used in a couple years. Knowing my Scout son and I were doing a good bit of backpacking he brought it in and gave it to me rather than take it to Goodwill – rather generous on his part!
So I was checking it out and the fly (this was around a 2008/2009 tent with orange fly) was completely delaminating, seams cracked, etc… Know I know this guy and he is meticulous with his gear – all of it from his bikes (5 of them – lucky DINK!) to his Husqy chainsaw and tools, to his car – so I was pretty sure this wasn't from being put away damp or stored in an attic. I was dismayed as we would really have used it.
But knowing it hadn't been mistreated I on a lark did a google search and found that apparently this was a known issue with some runs. However, most posts were from more than a year ago and the tent was a gift – not one I purchased. I contacted MSR anyway – told them a friend had given it to me – and explained the issue. The rep issued a RA for the old one and today I received a brand new fly (and nicely a new stuff sack – the one with the tent was the same material as the fly and also delaminating but I hadn't mentioned that, pole bag and stake bag).
I'm really really impressed with that service. I needed a small part for an MSR Miniworks and they sent me one of those as well.
That tent will now provide a lot of years of service to me and my son – he'll be delighted to have his own setup!
Thought I'd share with the board – service like that is getting harder and harder to find!
