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See the 19 tests

1. In the Box
2. Set Up & Pack Away
3. Peak Height
4. Livable Space
5. Base Area
6. Pad Sizing
7. Queen Sizing
8. Awning
9. Front Vestibule
10. Back Vestibule
11. Front Door
12. Back Door
13. Windows
14. Storage
15. Rainfly Length
16. Rain Protection
17. Quality
18. Mesh
19. Portability
20. Pros, Cons, Recommendations
21. Bonus – MUST Read!

In the Box

• Tent body
• Rainfly
• 4 poles
• 10 stakes
• 4 guylines
• Pole repair splint
• Pole bag
• Stake bag
• Carry bag

• Poles 42 long main poles, plus 2 short ridge poles
• Stakes 10
• Guylines 4

Set Up & Pack Away

The setup and pack away were pretty much fuss-free, and here’s all the details:

• Set-up time 13.0 minsOn my own
• Pack-away time 11.0 minsOn my own

Pro tip If you want the whole tent fully guyed out, you need 12 stakes, but only 10 were provided.

Peak Height

• Peak height 77.75inAt the center

Livable Space

NEMO markets this tent as having vertical side walls and standing height through nearly the whole inner tent. I measured at four points to see how far that really goes.

• 3ft from the peak 61.5inAlong the length
• At the front and back 64.5inBy the doors
• At the extreme left and right 46.5in

At 5’3 I could walk around a good part of the tent. If you’re taller than me, you wouldn’t be able to.

• Vertical walls 2
• Walkable space 70%The ridge poles run width to width

That’s all because of the neat 4-pole frame.

Base Area

• Floor area 79.5 sq ft
• Floor size 118 x 97inLength, then width

That’s about 4 sq ft smaller than NEMO markets it.

Pad Sizing

Six pads go in along the length, but they’re almost shoulder to shoulder.

• Single pads 6
  • Exped Duo 74 x 43in
  • Klymit Double V 74 x 47in
  • Sea to Summit 74 x 20in
  • 1 more single pad Not pictured
• Leftover along the length 8.0inWith the pads pushed to one side

Queen Sizing

Drop to 2 queens and there’s a lot more room for four people.

• Queen beds 2
  • Etekcity 80 x 59in
  • ALPS 80 x 56in
• Leftover across the width 20.0in

Awning

The front vestibule opens out into an awning.

• Awning set-up time 3-4 mins
• Awning pack-away time 1.0 min
• What you have to buy 2 upright poles, 4 guylines, 4 stakesNEMO provides none of it, and there are no dedicated grommets either

It isn’t big, but it throws enough shade for 2 packable camp chairs and a table.

Front Vestibule

Zip the awning shut and it’s a vestibule again. There’s one of these at each end of the tent.

• Front vestibule 24.4 sq ft
• Size 62 x 118 x 39inShort length, long length, then width
• Standing height None
• Zipper tracks 22 zippers and 3 Velcro closures on each

Here are the different configurations:

• Configuration #1 Middle openStake the outer loops, then bunch the middle up at the top
• Configuration #2 Sides openStake the inner loops, then tie both sides back
• Configuration #3 All openUn-stake the vestibule and tie the whole thing away

The toggles have a tensioner built in. You can bunch the fabric up less neatly when you’re in a hurry and still pull it tight.

Tying the sides back uses what NEMO calls GateKeeper clips. They’re half-loops rather than the whole loops you’d find on a typical tent, but I didn’t find them as secure.

As for the zipping experience, the only place mine snagged was the awning flap at the front, and that’s only when I zipped it one-handed. So, use both hands:

Back Vestibule

I measured the back vestibule too, and it came in at exactly the same size, but with one zip instead of two.

• Back vestibule 24.4 sq ftThe same dimensions as the front
• Configurations 1Tied back with regular clips and toggles instead of GateKeepers
• Velcro closures 3On the zip, same as the front
• Total base area 128.3 sq ftInner tent plus both vestibules

Front Door

There’s a door under each vestibule, and the front one is enormous.

• Front door 84 x 54inLength, then width
• Ground to the top of the door 61.75in
• Stowing the fabric Door pocketBig enough that the fabric stuffs straight in

It’s still shorter than me, so I had to duck a little getting in and out. The zippers were surprisingly snag-free though, even zipping the whole thing up.

It also has two separate sets of zippers, so you can make this 1 big door turn into 2 half-doors.

• Half door 36 x 49inLength, then width
• Tying it back Whole loops and tensioner togglesOn the middle section

Back Door

There’s only a half-door at the back, which is why the back vestibule has just the one zip.

• Back door 41 x 50.5inLength, then width
• Ground to the top of the door 59.0in
• Zippers 2
• Tying it back Whole loops and a tensioner toggle

It’s slightly bigger than each half of the front door, but it sits lower.

Windows

Unhook the toggle from the circle loops at the top corners and bunch the fabric up with the bottom tensioner toggle.

• Windows 2One on each width
• Window size 46.5 x 16inLength, then width

The ridge poles give you a vertical wall right where the windows are, so my head didn’t touch the sides lying down.

• Mesh No-see-umFine enough to keep out no-see-ums
• Closing them Cinch, no zipHeld tight against the mesh outside

Storage

• Pockets 7
  • Triangle pockets 15 x 15in
  • Bottom pockets 14 x 6in

• Loops 95 at the top center, then 2 on each width
• Nightlight Pocket 1Meant to turn a headlamp into a lantern, but I don’t think it works very well

Most of the loops are closed felt loops, but the one at the peak is open for more versatility.

Rainfly Length

The rainfly doesn’t reach all the way down the two widths of the tent.

• Rainfly coverage Partial coverage on the widths
• Vents 2The gaps it leaves on each width double as vents in the rain

Rain Protection

• Tub floor None
• Floor seams TapedFloor edges, corners, and the seam running across the flooring
• Rainfly seams Taped
• Uncovered tent walls TapedEverything the partial fly leaves exposed

Then came 1.5 hours of heavy rain to test all of it.

Nothing leaked. Here’s everything I checked afterwards:

• Corner seams
• Floor seams
• Flooring
• Tent walls the fly doesn’t cover
• Top mesh panel
• Windows
• Inside of the rainfly

• Result No leaks anywhere

The window fabric does get wet on the outside though, so be careful not to let rain drip into the tent when you open it.

Quality

• Flooring 150D polyester1,500mm waterproof coating
• Rainfly 68D polyester1,200mm waterproof coating
• Tent body 68D polyesterNo coating
• Mesh No-see-um

• Poles Aluminum
• Main pole diameter 15mm
• Ridge pole diameter 12mm

The guylines are regular shockcord with an easy-to-use tensioner, the stakes are the usual shepherd hooks, and the stitching is good all around the tent.

• Zippers Unbranded #8
• Guylines 4
• Warranty Lifetime
• Made in South KoreaDesigned in the US, sewn in Vietnam

It meets all the flammability requirements, and there aren’t any flame-retardant coatings.

Mesh

The rainfly comes off completely, which is what you’d want on a hot night. If you want mesh you can zip shut again, the Snow Peak Alpha Breeze is the one that does it.

• Mesh 25-30%Across the whole inner tent

Portability

• Weight 17.6 lbsEverything in the carry bag
• Packed size 27.25 x 13.5 x 8.5in
• Ease of carry Shoulder straps

Pros, Cons, Recommendations

I put the NEMO Aurora Highrise 6 up against the average of three popular 6-person tents in the same price range: the REI Base Camp 6, the REI Wonderland 6 and The North Face Wawona 6.

Test	Aurora Highrise 6	Average 6P tent
Setup	✓ 13 mins	19 mins
Pack away	✓ 11 mins	15 mins
Awning	✓ Yes	No
Peak height	77.75in	77in
Vertical walls	✓ 2	0-2
Inner area	79.5 sq. ft.	80.2 sq. ft.
Vestibule area	48.8 sq. ft.	51.7 sq. ft.
Standing in vestibule	✗ No	No-Yes
Total base area	128.3 sq. ft.	131.9 sq. ft.
Doors	2	2
Tall doors	✗ 0	0-2
Vents	2	2-4
Pockets	✗ 7	10.3
Loops	✗ 9	11.7
Zippers	✗ No-brand	YKK/SBS
Flooring	150D Polyester	150D Polyester
Canopy	✗ 68D Polyester	75D Polyester
Rainfly	✗ 68D Polyester	75D Polyester
Poles	✗ Aluminum	Aluminum/DAC
Guylines	✗ 4	10.3
Weight	✓ 17.6lbs.	21.2lbs.

Easy to setup and pack away

• Aurora Highrise 6: 13 mins up, 11 mins down
• Average 6P tent: 19 mins up, 15 mins down

Nice awning

• Aurora Highrise 6: A vestibule that opens into an awning
• Average 6P tent: No awning

Quite good livable space

• Aurora Highrise 6: 2 vertical walls
• Average 6P tent: 0-2 vertical walls

The Base Camp doesn’t have any vertical walls, the Wawona has one at the front, and the Wonderland has two.

Not very feature-rich

• Aurora Highrise 6: 7 pockets, 9 loops, 0 tall doors
• Average 6P tent: 10.3 pockets, 11.7 loops, 1 tall door

Quality not as good as the average tent

• Aurora Highrise 6: 68D canopy and fly, unbranded zippers, 4 guylines
• Average 6P tent: 75D canopy and fly, YKK or SBS zippers, 10.3 guylines

Bonus – MUST Read!

Every figure above is from my own testing — measured by hand, bought with my own money.