NEMO Equipment Inc.

Aurora Highrise Tent: 4-Person 3-Season

First review that I HAD to leave!

This tent is a winner! I got it for events where I travel and teach craft and I wanted something roomy but still strong. I have Dyneema tents that weigh a pound or so and I'm used to quality gear but I really wasn't sure what to expect from this tent. Holy smokes did this tent pass its first test! I drove 16 hours to North Carolina from New Hampshire and arrived exhausted. In the dark and by myself I set this tent up without my headlamp(forgot it on the coffee table) So roomy and great color. I stayed in the tent for a few nights and it was great experience but then tropical storm Ophelia passed by at night. The wind absolutely howled and rain came down sideways all night and this tent held up like a champ. it held up to the wind, the water, and was my little safe haven. So if you want a tent for car camping this will certainly not let you or your family down! its roomy, and cheerful and strong. nice job Nemo. Making NH proud!

Many uses and different climates

Over the last year, we took this tent out and pitched it roughly 30 to 40 times. We embarked on a road trip to Alaska. The tent held up pretty well from Muamee Bay to the Badlands of South Dakota, Yellowstone, Glaicer National Park, Banff National Park and on to the Yukon and Alaska. The tent was able to hold 2 adults. 2 kiddos under 5 and a dog with no problem at all. Overall, I was super stoked about the tent. The downside... We noticed while out at the bottom of the tent in the tub the corner fabric was super weak. While I know it maybe silly but I would recommend having a more reinforced fabric like what Hilliberg uses. It will add more strength to the tub of the tent as well as create more confidence during gnarly rain storms. That being said, it is a great product that we have used the mess out of, and with some TLC we will continue to use it. The best news. Nemo has also been great about warranty their products, which is fantastic.

If you like space and comfort in easy conditions

Lots of space tall enough in the middle good all around

Impressed

Ease of set up and great performance. Of all the tents we set up in my 4-H camping project this was the largest and took the least time. It was a chilly trip with temps in the high 20’s and both rain and a mixed snow/hail. The tent kept the kids warm and dry the only issues were because we didn’t stake out the rain fly well enough. They had some water leak under the tent due to being camped on the hillside but it did not soak through the floor.

Simply too tall

Familiarity:

I've used it several times

I used this on a week-long camping trip to California in March. There were 4 of us, but we could have probably fit 2 more comfortably (we were all small women). It was a bit windy where we were camping, and therefore made lots of noise throughout the nice and felt like it would fall over at any point. Even small winds were treacherous. I did like the feature where you could put a headlamp inside at the top and it would light up the entire tent! The pockets on all corners were really helpful as well. #BackcountryGearhead

I would like to give it an 11!

My husband and I are very involved with the Scouts, this review is about our first use of this tent at a Scout campout. We bought the tent to be able to stand up which helped lessen back stiffness and pain. However, we just used it this past weekend in south Texas during torrential rain wiht lots of lightning and thunder! This tent held up to it all and very minimal leakage due to a slope in the area we camped, so we cannot blame Nemo for this. However, even though we did have some leak through, it didn't spread and we otherwise stayed safe and dry! We are so thankful to have this tent and can't wait to continue to use it in good and bad weather!! On a side note, it's very easy to put together and with the footprint, it all stayed in place with some sturdy tent stakes.

Side windows make all the difference!

Almost all the large family sized camping tents suffer from the same 2 issues. Ventilation, and lack of views. NEMO came up with a great design that allows us to keep the side windows open even in a deluge, which makes for a much more live-able tent. In three Adirondack thunderstorms, we've been totally dry and comfortable. Very pleased!

Simple and spacious

My typical outdoor adventure is a stripped down, ultralight hike with a bivy or a tarp. I got the 4P Aurora for a family trip and, oh boy, did it ever feel luxurious. Putting it up was an intuitive breeze, even with a customary refusal to read any instructions first. The vertical walls make it as roomy inside as it looks. I’m used to two-person tents barely fitting two people, but our family of four with two grown children fit in this comfortably, with each of us on our own 25” wide pads (with just a bit of extra room for nighttime necessities). We were in fair weather with no moisture, so I can’t speak to how it holds up to wind and rain, but the pole structure holds the tent itself nice and taut. The whole front of the tent opens up with one big door. The door in the back is basically half the one in the front. I’ve added a photo of that since it is not clear from the product pictures. Overall, this tent (with the Stargazer chair) makes a compelling case for the comforts and convenience of car camping. It’s making me reconsider some things.

A lovely tent with a design flaw in the rainfly

This is a lovely tent with a design flaw. The shape of the rainfly doesn’t match the top dome of the tension rods, so rain water pools at the top. I adjusted the fly multiple times and couldn’t get rid of the concavity. When you put on the rainfly, make sure the fly seams EXACTLY match the lines of ALL the tent rods and tighten all the attachments: this reduced but didn’t get rid of the indentation. We stayed dry in driving rain and we’re keeping the tent, but it’s nerve racking to look up and see a couple cups of water hanging over your head. Other drawbacks: the tension rods are so long, this requires 2 people to put up. And the stakes are ridiculously thick, not pointed, so really difficult to get into the ground. We used thinner stakes from another tent. Big plusses: the color and patterned floor are really attractive, we love the height, shape, the 2 doors, the side windows. The 4-Person Highrise is perfect for 2 women car camping.