The North Face Mountain Manor 6 Tent

Comments about The North Face Mountain Manor 6 Tent:

I have just purchased this tent and have only set it up in our basement, but with a total lack of reviews, I thought I would throw my 2 cents in. Once we actually try a few days of camping I will update this review.

I was looking for a family tent that would hold up under some tough conditions. I live in Denver and often camp above 8000' where even in the summer, snow and high winds are common. I spoke twice to Northface customer service guys prior to buying about the attributes of the tent. Both assured me that this tent had fully zippered mesh without the rain fly. This is not true. The top portion of the tent has exposed mesh that can't be closed up. Not good for the colder conditions I am expecting to use this tent in. I would think that Northface would know a little something about their tents but unfortunately they did not. In fact, their website is still not updated with the specs of this tent. When I asked the customer service rep about getting more detailed information, he basically said the website is out of date and will be updated. Two months have passed and it is still not updated.

Setting up the tent is easy and I was able to set it up by myself with the rainfly in about 20 minutes. It would be easier with two as it was a bit tricky setting up the large diagonal poles and cross poles by myself, but was still doable. The directions are a bit strange as there are only pictures and no words. They also show 4 different sizes of poles, but in reality, there are only 3. Still, it's a tent and anyone with just a bit of experience will have no problem setting it up.

The tent itself is a bit different than pictured. The actual color is much nicer than pictured on the website. It is very roomy and the design lends itself to plenty of interior headroom. The room dividers are a bit strange in the way they divide the interior. The length of the tent is 143 inches. When you drop down the dividers, the space between the dividers and the end of the tent is approximately 38 inches. So you have 38 inches on one side, 67 inches in the middle and 38 inches on the other side. How do you sleep 6 with the dividers down, you don't. Even my two small children could not fit side by side with the dividers down. With just four of us, it is not really a problem and will provide some much needed privacy as they get older. The dividers do roll up and store with attached clips to the ceiling of the tent. So if don't want them, no problem, roll them up.

There is plenty of storage overhead with big mesh pockets built into the ceiling and a single hook in the middle for hanging a light. There are four very small pockets in the bottom corners that could fit a small flashlight, but that's about it. Packaged as a family tent, it would have been nice if the kids had more room for their stuff and Northface had put in some more corner storage pockets. The kids can't reach the overhead storage, but hey, maybe that's a good thing if you want to keep things out of the kid's hands.

Without actually trying the tent in less than ideal conditions, it is impossible to see how it will hold up. The tent material and rain fly are thinner than my Sierra designs convertible tent, but then, it is not advertised as an all season tent. The tent is manufactured in China, which lately, doesn't bode well for quality products, but only time will tell. Northface does offer a lifetime warranty on their tents, but that may mean different things to different people.

Trying to find an all season family tent within a budget is tough to do. There are plenty of expedition type tents that fit the bill, but at around $2000, it will certainly break most budgets. Maybe there is not really a market for a family 4 season tent but I would be first in line if there was. For now, the Mountain Manor 6 will have to do.

Comments about The North Face Mountain Manor 6 Tent:

When looking for a car-camping tent, we had a few things that it needed to have: full rain fly (that covers all the entrances, I'm looking at you BA BH4/6), room divider(s), a vestibule, and a high ceiling. This tent has all of these. In addition, this seems to be one of the larger "6-person" tents available. Some other 6-person tents have as many as 12 fewer square feet of floor space. The vertical walls and high ceiling makes for a comfortable place to stay during a rainy day.

On our camping trip, we had heavy rain, strong winds, and dime-sized hail. Not a drop got in, and the vestibule allowed us to take off wet shoes/jackets. In addition, we had three kids and two adults hanging out during the first rainy afternoon, and no one complained of a lack of space.

Set up is easy (yeah for hooks); but the directions are lacking. However, poles are color coded for hooks, and the rain fly can be put on turned around and still fully function. The room dividers allow for privacy for the kids (or adults, and the case may be), and can be rolled up if you don't want to use them. Also, the room dividers have zippers in the middle, so you can just have half a divider down; making a closet of sorts.

The entire top of the tent is mesh, and there are two lower, closeable mesh windows at the bottom of the ends of the tent. Having closeable lower windows allows for privacy without having to put on the rain fly; something that few of the other 6+ person tents that I saw offered. Also, on the rain fly, there are 4 vents that help keep air moving, even with the rain. There are two clear windows on the larger vestibule that allow you to look out and see the elements. The entire rain fly is attached with buckles, so attaching and tearing down is a quick and easy process.

There is plenty of storage in mesh netting near the top of the tent, and smaller pockets for cell phones or flashlights near the bottom. A hook at the center allows you to hang a fan and/or a light. There are small loops for what could be an additional loft near the ceiling, but, as of this review, no such accessory exists. Sadly, it doesn't come with enough stakes for using the guy-lines; you need to buy 4 more. Also, you can buy extra poles to make the front vestibule into a porch (see attached photos for example), or simply roll it up to have a shaded entrance.

Overall, a rock'n tent for car camping.

Comments about The North Face Mountain Manor 6 Tent:

We purchased this tent as an upgrade from our current cheaper (in price and quality) big box store tent purchase. After much research we decided the Trailhead 6 would be perfect for us, but alas we could not find it anywhere. So we searched again and found the Mountain Manor 6, which North Face seems to claim is the new version of the Trailhead. It had everything we were looking for: clip in poles, room dividers, spacious but not too large, a vestibule on the rain fly and a good quality zipper.

My biggest concern was I could not tell from any descriptions if the doors were able to be fully mesh like the trailhead was. I even directly asked North Face and was told yes, they are fully mesh. That is false and the only thing I dislike about this tent. We used it this past weekend and it would have been nice to have fully mesh doors to allow some air to flow through it without bugs flying in. With the small windows on either end it really does not allow for much circulation. Also, living in Ohio we feel like we have to have the rain fly up at all times as the dew in the mornings has us concerned that we would wake up soaked if we didn't put it up. If the rain fly was off there may be better circulation but not as much shade either.

We will keep the tent as this tent is the only one that had fewer faults than others. I love how easy it went up, we were even able to put up the rainfly at 11:30 at night in the dark when we decided we didn't want to chance the dew. It came down in about 5 minutes when we had to leave very quickly because our daughter got very sick. Granted that wasn't exactly a perfect pack job but it was good to know it could disassemble that quick if need be. I would definately recommend this tent as it is great quality and serves family tent camping quite well, but would recommend to North Face they think about bringing back the fully mesh doors. Even a window on 1/2 of the door would be an improvement. The 12" of window on the top just doesn't cut it for me.

Comments about The North Face Mountain Manor 6 Tent:

We bought this tent for our family of 4 + dog. This tent is awesome as a family tent. Our kids enjoyed the room dividers o they could pretend play that they were getting dressed for the ball in separate rooms and come out into the big ball room beneath our LED lantern hanging from above (think Beauty and the Beast dancing beneath chandelier). The front vestibule is huge. We bring a small portapotti with us on some camping trips, and it fits nicely out of the way to one side of the vestibule, plus the room is tall enough to move around hunched over slightly. The front vestibule also has some clear plastic windows so you can actually see out without having to unzip the rainfly. The rear vestibule is a more typical small vestibule big enough to get shoes on and move on. The gear storage at the top of the tent is plentiful, and nice to keep out of the way. The lower storage pockets are too small for anything larger than a small flashlight. The entire top portion of the tent is screen which makes for some nice stargazing on nice weather nights here in Colorado. The stakes are thick and sturdy. I was able to set up and pack away the tent without any help. The storage bag is a nice cinch sack duffle bag that makes it really easy to fit everything in.

I do wish that the doors had full screens on them. As is, there is only screens at the top portion of the doors which makes for good privacy without the rainfly, but restricts air/wind circulation. It can get quite hot in the tent with the rainfly on. This has been the only fault to this tent.

We have used this tent often this summer it is has been a great addition for our active family. Highly recommend this tent or if you need more space the Mountain Manor 8.

Comments about The North Face Mountain Manor 6 Tent:

I recently bought this tent with the intention of using it as a car camping tent for my family (two adults and two small children). It is a new purchase, but I am pretty sure it will serve us well.
I have a few Moss tents that I used for backpacking before the family was formed. I loved those tents.

This tent is pretty good. Here are the some of the highlights in my opinion:

- good material and construction quality
- nice overall size
- nicely sized vestibule
- good head room
- room dividers are not very useful
- good airflow with its mesh top, side zippered windows and covered vents in fly
- easy setup. one person can do it.

I am looking forward to spending many nights in the PNW and beyond building outdoor memories with my family in this tent.