NEMO Aurora 2 Review

This is a sturdy tent, and we know of kids' summer camps that use it for their backpacking trips. The kids complain about the weight, but the tent survives. It comes standard with a footprint, which you could leave behind to save 7.3 ounces. Or you could go in the other direction and purchase an additional "Pawprotector", which snaps to the floor to protect the tent from hyperactive outdoor dogs.

Performance Comparison

Comfort

To judge each tent's comfort, we considered the size of the living area, its shape, and the height of the ceiling. We also checked out the storage space provided by pockets and vestibules and assessed the ventilation features, as it's nice to have a little air flowing when you want to rest on a hot day or hunker down in a storm.

The Aurora 2 really shines in this metric. At its peak height, it is 44 inches tall, and its floor measures 84 inches long by 52 inches wide. That equals over 30 square feet of floor space, and you can sit up in almost all of it. That alone gives this tent the feeling of the backpacker's version of a cabin. The vestibules provide another 18.4 square feet of storage space out of the elements, though far less than that is truly usable due to the angle of the rainfly.

Inside the tent, two pockets hang loose and low on either wall. They are on opposing sides of the tent, facilitating head-to-toe sleeping arrangements, and are 9.5 inches across and about 9 inches deep. Overhead, two 12.5-inch wide panel pockets, one at the head and one at the foot, give you a surprising amount of space to stuff extra layers. Two loops, one on either end of the tent, let you string a line through for extra organization if you're so inclined.

With the strutted vents in the rainfly open, you can get a nice, open-air feeling, even in the rain. If it's nice out, you can unzip both sides of the fly completely, allowing you to have a roof and two narrow sidewalls as a light shade cover. In fact, since the tent comes with a footprint, you can use it to set the rainfly up without the tent, creating a sunshade or light-weight shelter, as long as bugs aren't an issue where you are heading.

Weather Resistance

We tested this tent in a three-day rain storm and assessed its wind readiness. We also measured the internal temperature on a hot day and shook the tent around to see how sturdy it felt under pressure.

The Aurora stayed almost completely dry, even when we pitched the tent on rain-soaked grass, with one exception. At the head and the foot of the tent, there is a loop at the bottom of the rainfly, but no guyline is attached to stake it out and away from the tent wall. At the end of the second day of our rain test, a few small pools of moisture were beaded by the head of the tent. We assume that the water worked through the tent wall where the rainfly was lying against it. We tied some of the paracord provided in the kit and staked the fly out on either end. That solved the issue. The footprint is a bit large for the tent, and you do need to make sure it doesn't funnel water under your tent and turn it into an unintentional waterbed.

The Aurora is less well prepared for heavy winds. Though the poles seem sturdy, there are only four loops to attach guylines to the fly, and the guylines do not arrive attached, so you have to remember to do that ahead of time or have paracord with you.

We also left the tent out in the sun for an hour on a day when the temperature was 86 degrees Fahrenheit but felt about 10 degrees hotter due to humidity. This tent registered some of the lowest internal temperatures in the test, though that was still 96 to 99 degrees at its peak.

Space to Weight Ratio

The Aurora 2 weighs 5.51 pounds. That is a lot for a backpacking tent, so you'll want to consider if that weight is worth it. For this metric, we measure the total square feet of floor space and how much of it gives you enough headroom to sit up, then we divide both numbers by the weight.

Though this is a generously sized tent, when you factor in how heavy it is, it only earns average scores in this metric, offering 5.5 square feet of floor space per pound. It does better when you only look at the amount of headroom per pound, which is 4.6 square feet. That's one of the best results in the test.

Ease of Use

We time how long it takes us to set each tent up and tear it down, what it's like to use on a daily basis, and if its features are intuitive or obscure.

The tent poles, tent body, and tarp are all symmetrical, making it especially easy to set up the Aurora since you can't accidentally turn it the wrong way. There are two poles, one that is loosely shaped like a double-end "Y" with two connecting hubs and one long crossbar. The larger, multi-pronged pole can feel unwieldy, but you get used to it quickly.

Once you place the ends into the metal grommets on the tent body, you just need to snap the tent into place. If you are using the footprint, it is a little too large for the tent, and it's harder to get the poles to attach to it.

It took us an average amount of time to get this tent up and rolling and to break it back down. It's also pretty easy to use day to day. The fly door unzips easily. The elongated inner door does as well, but you do need two hands to navigate the sharp turn. Instead of a toggle to hold the mesh door out of the way, it leaves a very narrow attachment point, so the fabric just falls into the tent, or you can stuff it into the pocket by the door. Either way, it's easy.

Construction Quality

The Aurora 2 seems to be one of the sturdier backpacking tents we tested, which probably accounts for some of that extra weight.

We scraped the tent mesh and body, the fly, and the seams with the end of a paperclip to see if they frayed or scratched. Though the seams were loose enough to easily slide the clip beneath them, they didn't pull. The 8.5mm aluminum poles seem heavier and sturdier than some of the competition, and the old-school, hooked metal steaks would be hard to break.

Should You Buy the Nemo Aurora 2?

If you want a comfortable, mid-priced backpacking tent that's built to last and you usually hike with a partner who can help you shoulder the burden, this could be the tent for you. It's also a good option for kids and should survive all that youthful exuberance.

What Other Backpacking Tent Should You Consider?

If you want a budget starter tent, the REI Co-op Trailmade 2 weighs the same amount and gives you a similar amount of floor space but much less headroom. The North Face Stormbreak 2 has the same airy feel as the Aurora and more options for door configurations, but some of the fabric was fraying on our test tent. If you want the headroom and floor space but not the weight, you'll have to pay extra for something like the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL3.