North Face Trailhead 6 tent - need advice

[larliz]

Just joined the forum here. Looks like a good spot for advice.

I'm looking for a family camping tent. I've like the looks and description of the North Face Trailhead 6 tent. I live in New York state so the camping in the summer can be rather humid and sometimes wet. What is the consensus on the full rain fly? Will I bake from no ventilation? The flipside of this is some of the Eurekas for example that have a tremendous amount of ventilation but they dont look as rock solid.

Here's a link to this tent.

http://www.thenorthface.com/opencms/opencms/tnf/gear.jsp?productId=3471

Any advice would be appreciated.

Larry

[NoKnees]

I haven't used that particular TNF tent, but have had good experience with other smaller models. They at least have some vents in the vestibule area of the their full rain fly where other models in the "Family" class of tents don't pay that much attention to their foul weather details. Others give you a bare minimum of rain coverage and hope for the best.

If the price is right, I'd go for it. They are built pretty well and you get a lot of worry free use out of it.

[bearpaw]

I think I like the looks of it. I don't know about the rain fly. It looks like it's gonna touch the "inner" tent for sure and sometimes that can cause weird condensation leaks. The vestibule looks awesome. It lists for $349. so I bet you can find last years model or a clearance somewhere-I bet you could pick it up for inder $299.00.
We had good luck with a 4 man kelty. I am not a kelty fan but we got it for a steal and used it in rainy Oregon with absolutely no problems...well OK, My son broke the zipper on the first one we bought (ykk zippers too) and they mailed us out a whole new tent.
All in all I would say that this is a pretty decent mid level family tent.
I like Marmot but I'm not a big fan of their colors... check this tent out:

Marmot Halo 6 person (http://www.marmot.com/products/product.php?cat=tents&subcat=1&style_id=F2723#)


http://www.marmot.com/products/_large/F2723.jpg
http://www.marmot.com/products/_large/F2723fly.jpg

[stagefright]

I just purchased a trailhead 6 tent with the same worries about roasting in it. We spent 9 days in the mid 80's and this tent vents really well. The 2005 model has a light grey color wich doesn't heat up as much in the sun. It has two mesh windows and each end. A mess dome in the cieling and the door panels are just huge mesh vents when open. If you don't mind the zipper problem I would highly recommend. The problem with the zippers are the storm flap gets jammed in the sliders constantly. Even the inside doors have a storm flap for some reason. It's hard to get out of the tent sometimes when you are in and the stormflap is jammed on the outside. Until you get used to it.
We put a 5 foot camp table in one sleeping area and queen matress in outher and had room for chairs to sit at table with room to spare. The front vestibule is as large as a small tent lol. We also weathered a really bad T-storm that poured all night. No one drop of water came in. I seam gripped the floor seam. Most of wich is not suspended and lays on the ground. But I didn't even touch the fly it is already sealed up. Even the guyout loops have hot taped squares over them inside.
Hope this helps ya.

John

[stagefright]

The vestibule has two large hooded vents in front. The fly is completely support away from the tent everywhere. You can leave the huge front vestibule door wide open even in the rain. And one inportant note this is the 2005 model. The 2004 model is a darker color blue without a full fly. And the side mesh appears to be smaller. Take a close look at the pictures you see on the net. I would go for the lighter color big vestibule one. ;)

[larliz]

Thanks stage, I wound up buying the 2005 model. havent camped with it yet but set it up in the yard, Its really nice. Do you mean the zippers jam? I noticed that a few times. Oh well, not too bad I guess.

I'll post back when i've used it a bit more.

[stagefright]

Yeah they get stuck on the flap. Not really a problem for ME cause I have 8 tents. But is difficult for my girlfriend. Especially at night. I think maybe some silicone sray may help. Will try it.
It is a great tent tho! Hope you enjoy it :)

[larliz]

Did you notice on yours that the "color" coding for the fly doesnt exist. Says its supposed to be in the ads but i didnt see anything that showed where to put it. Not a big deal. Figured it out quite easily.

Also, do you use additional stakes for the fly or clip the fly onto the stakes you already have used to stake the tent down?

[stagefright]

I use existing stakes for the fly. I don't put stakes all the way in until the fly is attached. Also leave all the pulls all the way loose 'till everything is set up then tighten them. Yeah no color coding lol :). Also instructions show poles in wrong holes. The gold poles go in grommet closest to tent, then black poles in center grommets, then the silver fly pole in outter grommets.

[larliz]

Yeah, I thought something was wrong in the way the instructions said to put the poles. Thanks.

[larliz]

I use existing stakes for the fly. I don't put stakes all the way in until the fly is attached. Also leave all the pulls all the way loose 'till everything is set up then tighten them. Yeah no color coding lol :). Also instructions show poles in wrong holes. The gold poles go in grommet closest to tent, then black poles in center grommets, then the silver fly pole in outter grommets.

You dont always leave the fly on do you?

[stagefright]

I do leave it on all the time. I keep stuff like a large cooler in the vestibule. Also it keeps the tent protected from stuff like bird droppings and UV :) Plus when it is sunny the fly shades the inside. Without it you kinda just bake in the sun with the mesh roof. I did use a fan tho. It never really got too warm inside with mid 80 temps outside. The light color doesn't get really hot like a darker color would...

[larliz]

I do leave it on all the time. I keep stuff like a large cooler in the vestibule. Also it keeps the tent protected from stuff like bird droppings and UV :) Plus when it is sunny the fly shades the inside. Without it you kinda just bake in the sun with the mesh roof. I did use a fan tho. It never really got too warm inside with mid 80 temps outside. The light color doesn't get really hot like a darker color would...

What climate do you camp in? In New York State it gets very humid. When I tested it at least it seemed like it heated up a bit with the fly on. I then just sort of rolled up the sides to expose the windows more rather than taking the fly off completely. I got the green and tan one.

[stagefright]

North East Pennsylvania woods. Hot and humid during day and cool at night. Also warm and rainy 2 days. But was mid 80's haven't tried it in high 90's yet. I've only had it for a few weeks and spent 9 days in it already straight lol. Is alot cooler than my MH trango 2 or my Dana Design Pattar. It was actually alot cooler than my Eureka Backcountry 4 too. Wich I also had set up there for gear storage...

[larliz]

Cool. Thanks for the info. Now I just have to find time to get out there and use this thing.