Is the Attractive Nemo Aurora Highrise 6P Worth it?

Camping in an uncomfortable tent will most likely ruin your camping adventure! With growing kids, a spacious family tent quickly feels like a sardine can. The Nemo Aurora Highrise 6-person tent is big and comfortable and holds up to the howling winds and torrential rains, but is it worth the price – let’s find out!

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Since our family had outgrown our favourite tent and we were not too keen on camping in my husband’s military crew tent, it was time for an upgrade. Unfortunately, the upgrade happened during a pandemic when stock was hard to come by, and you had to take what you could get.

After scouring numerous tent reviews, I decided that the NEMO Aurora Highrise 4-Person tent was the perfect choice for us.

Little did I know that a 4-person camping tent was hard to come by. It seemed like everyone decided that camping was the activity that would get them through the pandemic, subsequently settling for what was available – the NEMO Aurora Highrise 6P camping tent. 

Nemo Aurora Highrise 6P Tent Features

Camping in a family tent with very little headroom, insufficient ventilation and lacking basic features leads to a miserable camping experience.

It’s why you need to look for a reliable, comfortable and well-designed tent, which is why the Nemo Aurora 6P Tent ticks all the right boxes. Let’s take a quick look at some of these features.

Interior

The Aurora Highrise is not your typical dome-shaped tent. Its side walls are more vertical, providing for a spacious interior. There is ample room for four to five people to sleep comfortably. Additionally, the Nemo 6-person tent offers generous headroom, allowing you to stand up and move around freely, which is a bonus when getting dressed or needing a stretch.

My husband is 6’2″ and comfortably stands up in the middle and can sit up when sleeping at the edge of the tent. He does have to duck a little around the perimeter of the camping tent.

Doors

The Aurora’s massive front opening is another feature that makes this tent superior. There are three ways to unzip the NEMO Highrise tent: from the left, the right or a full unzip.

Unzipping the entire door leaves you with a massive front entrance to the tent, ideal for loading in queen-sized air mattresses, sleeping bags, and gear.

NEMO provides a half-back D-shaped door, making this tent very versatile. The doors can be left open by securing the tabs to the gatekeeper door clips. Personally, I find the half-door comforting, but my husband would prefer a massive opening on both ends.

Windows

The Aurora Highrise has two large side windows that provide ample views and airflow. The tent’s rainfly yields quite a bit of a drooped overhang to preserve the enjoyment of your view in the rain. 

To open or close the window, NEMO supplies a roll-up fabric. Since these are large windows, I wish this feature would have a zipper. Or, at the very least, NEMO could have installed a few anchor points to help adjust the opening. Unfortunately, it’s all or nothing with the windows.

Rainfly

The shape of the rainfly creates a vestibule in front of both doors, thus keeping your camping gear and shoes safe and dry. You would be surprised how much gear this little area can hold.

We’ve managed to fit four pairs of shoes, a cooler, two chairs and a Rubbermaid bin without cramming or damaging the tent.

And yes, there is even a vestibule for the back door! During the tent’s inaugural trip, we tested the vestibules over multiple rainy days, and the gear stayed perfectly dry. 

The front of the rainfly has a door that can unzip from both sides to create an awning by using extra cordage and guylines or tent poles.

Material

The NEMO tent Aurora’s main canopy body, two large windows and full-sized doors are made from a no-see-um fabric mesh, allowing maximum air ventilation while keeping the tiniest of bugs out. 

The ventilation features in the Aurora 6p is incredible, and because of this, we did not encounter any condensation in the tent.

The weather resistant rainfly fabric is 68-denier polyester coated with polyurethane and has a waterproofness of 1200 mm. The canopy fabric is also a 68-denier polyester with nylon no-see-um mesh, and the floor is a 150-denier polyester coated in polyurethane. The waterproofness of the floor is 1500 mm.

Nemo Aurora Highrise 6P Tent Specs:
Size is the Main Consideration

This large tent for camping has a bright and fun colour scheme of atoll and oasis (fancy terms for bright blues and greens) and a funky floor design. I love the printed floor design – it helps make the tent feel cozy and inviting and helps hide all the sand the kids track in.

The Nemo Aurora Highrise 6p tent dimensions of the floor is 83.3 square feet (7.72 square metres, 100 x 120 in.). You can comfortably fit two queen airbeds, a storage bin and three duffle bags! Being a large footprint gives the kids a phenomenal excuse to roll around and use the tent as a jungle gym!

Most importantly, you can stand and stretch as the tent is 77 in. tall (196 cm) in the centre. Those who sleep on the ends can sit up without having their head touch the side wall.

Weight

The weight of the NEMO Aurora Highrise 6P comes in at 15.14 lbs (7.21 kg), which is still suitable for backpacking as it falls within the recommended carry weight of 2 to 3 lbs (.9 to 1.4 kg) per person. Not sure why you would want to backpack with a 6-person camping tent, but the option is there. 😉

Keep in mind, as size goes up, so does weight. Looking back, we are happy that the Aurora Highrise 6P was the only size available – it really does make for an excellent camping tent.

Nightlight Pocket and Storage

Inside the dome of the NEMO Aurora tent, you will find a nightlight pocket, which is where you can place your headlamp or a small light source. The nightlight pocket is made from a light-diffusing fabric meant to remove blue light. 

This pocket is perfect for those who hate sleeping in darkness, as it tones the headlamp down enough to act as a night light. It does this efficiently enough to satisfy those who like to sleep in the dark. In other words, everyone is happy.

Step outside, and this nightlight pocket gives the tent a nice ambiance. The glow can be spotted from quite a distance, making the tent a homing device for finding your way back to camp. 

Nighttime can be so dark in remote areas that you wouldn’t find your hands if they weren’t attached, especially on those nights with no moon. It is an incredible feature for peace of mind, and the kids love that their tent glows! 

Around the nightlight pocket, you will find five attachment points for hanging a lantern or string lights.

Storage

There are also four large, deep corner pockets for personal effects. Not to be discounted, the amount of off-floor storage for your most precious or frequently needed items is incredible.

My only complaint would be that the pockets are too high. It would be nice to have them lowered or have a reachable pocket when lying down.

Removing accessories from the corner pockets is done on your knees or standing up. That’s fine during the day, but not when turning in for bed with children or when something is rustling outside the tent.

There are a couple of pockets at the floor level for personal items. However, these pockets get blocked by air mattresses and pillows and aren’t the easiest to get to. 

Nemo Aurora 6p Tent Setup

Our first day of camping was a bright sunny day followed by two days of heavy rain – not the ideal weather for tent camping. On these particular days, buying an RV sounds really good! But this is BushLife, and even I need a reminder here and there to suck it up as it’s only rain.
 
After two days of heavy rains, I must say that there was NOT ONE drop within the NEMO Aurora Highrise camping tent. It held up to the rain and the strong north winds.

Pitching the tent was easy with Nemo’s colour-coded tabs – light green is the front, and blue is the back.

Set up on the Nemo tent can be done by one person. If you are a shorter person, you will need assistance getting the rainfly over the tent poles and clipping it in near the top of the tent.

Staking the tent is done through grommets on the colour-coded fabric tabs. I am curious to see how long these fabric tabs will last. So far, it has been three years, going into our fourth, and there have been no issues.

The rainfly gets clipped into sewn-in buckles on the tabs. It’s also where final adjustments are done.

Since the tent stands taught and has a lightweight design, repositioning it to a more suitable location is easy – just pick it up and place it wherever you’d like.

Nemo provides enough guylines to keep the tent taught, which helps keep the Aurora dry and stable in the wind. However, they do not supply extra guylines for the awning.

Nemo Aurora Tent Setup Time

Any first setup on a tent is usually a challenge, but once you’re familiar with the layout and pieces, the setup is easy. Expect to spend 5 to 10 minutes popping up the Aurora 6P tent.

Footprint

On the downside, Nemo does not supply a tent footprint with the NEMO Aurora Highrise 6-Person tent.

Since the Aurora Highrise is a higher-end camping tent, I think it should come with one. However, there is an option to buy the Aurora Highrise footprint separately. 

If your budget does not permit a footprint, you could easily make your own using a vapour barrier.

Carrying Bag

The Aurora Highrise carry bag allows easy transportation without adding excessive weight to your backpack or vehicle. The tent and its components fit nicely into the bag, providing you roll up the tent properly.

I do find the fabric to be a bit thin. So far, there are no tears – only time will tell if the carry bag is strong enough to withhold the test of time. 

Aurora Tent Weather Resistance and Performance

After three years of camping with the NEMO Aurora Highrise 6P tent, we can confidently say that the tent has held up remarkably well.

Thanks to its fully taped seams, durable rainfly and bathtub-style floor, repelling water and preventing leaks is effortless and keeps the gear safe and dry.

With sturdy aluminum poles and robust construction, the Nemo Aurora Highrise 6P Tent is stable in gusty conditions, making it windproof.

NEMO Warranty

When buying a tent, take the time to check into the warranty and the company’s customer service reviews. For me, these are key considerations when purchasing pricer items.

Thankfully, NEMO offers a lifetime warranty on all defects, workmanship, and materials to the original owner. Another thing to note is that their customer service is friendly, and response time is quick.

Aurora Tent vs Similar Models

Besides the NEMO Aurora Highrise 6P tent, we own another family-friendly tent called the Howling Moon Commanche, which is cumbersome. The Commanche is a massive, heavy canvas tent that needs a large vehicle to transport. Not only that, it takes half a day to set up!

We also had a Coleman dome tent, which was great, but the ventilation was horrid, and the bathtub was extremely high, which prevented you from looking out or entering the tent comfortably.

With so many tents that can accommodate many people, the 6P camping tent excels in interior space and headroom, as well as large windows and fantastic ventilation. It also features quality materials and a solid construction to withstand various weather conditions. We can’t forget the tasteful colour palette and funky floor pattern!

Make sure you take the time to compare the features that matter to you most. Otherwise, you’ll make a purchase that you are not happy with.

Is the Aurora Tent Worth the Money?

The Nemo Aurora 6P Tent price comes in higher compared to its competitors, but it offers exceptional value for the money. Of course, there are more affordable options, but they lack the space, durability or function.

We find that Aurora Highrise camping tent is comfortable, reliable and worth every penny. On top of this, the Nemo brand is known for its commitment to quality, and the Aurora Highrise 6P Tent is no exception.

Investing in this spacious tent gave us a camping experience that is second to none, and it’s a purchase we don’t regret.

Nemo Tent Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Nemo Aurora Highrise 6P Tent Worth It?

After testing the NEMO Aurora Highrise 6P Tent, I can confidently say it’s worth considering, despite a few smalldrawbacks, like the lack of a footprint and tie-up windows. This 3-season tent has a reassuring lifetime warranty, which adds extra peace of mind for your investment. Its thoughtful design, spacious interior, and weather resistance make it a standout in the camping world.

If you’re looking for a roomy, easy-to-set-up tent with great durability, the NEMO Aurora Highrise offers excellent value. Whether you’re camping with friends or family, this tent is sure to deliver a comfortable and reliable experience.

Thanks for reading my NEMO Aurora Highrise 6p tent review! I’d love to hear what your favourite camping tents are in the comments below.

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