The North Face Docking Station Family Tent 6-Person 3-Season

I have put the Docking Station to use about 8 different times now, in a variety of configurations and have had nothing but comfortable nights sleep and plenty of space!!

On the beach, it is an awesome shade structure that can withstand some serious winds. I leave the sturdy, steel stakes behind and use sand to cover the corners and base of Docking Station for a floor-less spot to relax out of the sun.

In the mountains, I have set the Docking Station up with Mesh Room and experienced some significant rain & wind, but remained dry on the interior (8/26/11). Some bugs do accumulate between Mesh Room and Docking Station canopy/fly, but that also tends to happen on smaller tents as well.

I feel the Docking Station really shines in the desert however. It has provided me with some excellent lodging when setting up camp for a few days in a row and using it as a base camp.

I have come to prefer utilizing the Docking Station and 4-Person Sleeping Dock as my go to set-up. The main Docking Station remains floorless and can withstand serious winds when fully staked out and maybe a cooler, tool box or some water jugs on the interior corners for added weight & wind security. With each of the 4 doors ability to be rolled up, fully dropped, half up, and partially zipped, the options for airflow, visibility, and shade are plenty.

The 4-Person Sleeping Dock connects to the larger doors and provides plenty of headspace and floor room to sleep in either direction with a full length pad. The Sleeping Docks provide a bug/sand free environment with full zip doors and mesh screen windows that can be closed or opened for privacy.

The ability to customize your sleeping structure and base camp needs with the Docking Station, Mesh Room & Sleeping Docks based upon the environment and number of people keep this item quick to grab when heading out with a crowd!!

I recently purchased the North Face Docking Tent with the 4 and 2 person docks and the mesh insert. Up to the point I inserted the mesh insert this was an excellent tent. However, once the mesh was inserted this tent became just an average tent. I think the mesh design significantly reduces the overall interior space and the floor could have been better aligned next the side walls. I think North Face could have better designed the tent if they would have separated out the mesh insert into a traditional floor insert and used a traditional mesh door cover. The bathtub floor could have used zippers attached to the interior side walls. With a little modification by NF this tent could have been awesome meeting the needs of two different groups - one that wants a covered space for recreational use and does not mind no floor covering and the other group that wants more of a traditional tent with floor and mesh walls. If you are not interested in the mesh insert, I would give this tent a 5 however, if the mesh insert is important to you, it gets a 3.