Naturehike Aries β Tunnel Tent for All Seasons and Climates

The Naturehike Aries β Tunnel Tent is a luxurious family camping shelter with an advanced design and high quality materials, suitable for all seasons and climates.

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Key features & benefits

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What this is about

I would say that as usual, Naturehike is good in building great tents but it fails in their description and specifications, and you will see more about this here.

The title gives its current official name, but I know that they sometimes change the names for some tents. So, I have no idea what β in the name is supposed to mean. Perhaps it was added just to make it different from their Naturehike Aries 4 Season Dome Tent.

Note that it is on some of their global stores also under the name Naturehike Aries B Tunnel Tent. 

But I know that this is not a tunnel tent. It can be described as an extended dome tent. This means you have the main part under four X-crossed poles, and on one side the tent is extended and supported with an extra loop pole. You can see this from the top picture above and also from the floor plan below.

You might want to know that they also have yet another tent under the name Naturehike Aries Alpha Tunnel Tent, which is indeed a true tunnel tent.

The tent is designed with an inner tent for sleeping, plus a large porch that can be described also as a floorless room. But it comes with a footprint that creates a floor even in the porch area, and it adds an extra layer of protection under the floored inner tent.

The picture below shows view inside so you can get some idea, the footprint is not in use here.

Note also that the tent is remarkably tall, the peak height here is no less than 80.7 inches  (205 cm). This means that in the living area you have a stand-up height for extra comfort.

The doors 

This tent has doors on all its four sides, and all of them are huge, two are visible in the picture below. 

But this is a luxurious design, these gigantic doors, all of them, are true double layer. This means you have separate zippered mesh doors that are paired with zippered panels. 

The inner tent is with two doors, and both of them are also double-layer. Above, you can see how the panel layer can be rolled up and fixed under the roof with toggles.

Awnings

All the doors described above are designed so that you can create awnings on any side of the tent. You can see in the pictures how this can look.

With this you can extend your covered and protected area and create pleasant environment for sitting in the shade, no matter on which side the sun is.

Note that the poles for the awnings are not included.

Materials and elements 

The tent comes with the following items:

• 1 × Rainfly.
• 1 × Inner Tent.
• 5 × Tent Poles.
• 29 × Tent Stakes.
• 5 × Wind Ropes.
• 2 x Connecting Belts.
• 1 × Footprint.
• 1 × Storage Bag.

If you go to their site and check setup, you will realize that they are showing a different tent.

The poles: You have aluminum poles, shock corded and color coded. They attach to the tent’s base through a pin and ring design system. On the roof, they go through long sleeves, and on the sides you have clips.

The fabric: They use a durable material, this is a 210T polyester fabric with a waterproof index of 2000-3000 mm. They claim it provides a sun protection of UPF50+.

If you are curious about T in the fabric specification, this is the number of warp and fill threads in a square inch of fabric. In the case of a lower thread count, you have a loosely woven fabrics. Higher thread counts indicate tightly woven fabrics. The number given here indicates a strong fabric.

Ventilation

Ventilation in this tent is practically optimal. You have already seen about its 6 double-layer doors, so with this you can create as much air circulation as it is possible to have in a tent. 

But when you have to close the shell, you can still keep the doors on the inner tent with mesh. If you have to close even this (when camping in a cold climate), you still have multiple vents, both on the inner tent and on the shell tent.

There are no many tents on the market that could match all what you have here. Please see a bit more in this video:

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Who is the Naturehike Aries β Tunnel Tent for

Regarding the area, if you go to their site you will see that they give numbers that are different from the floor plan and dimensions given above, and those are also in their site.

Remember what I said about the mess in the official description? Indeed, you have double sets of parameters for everything, a real mess.

They describe it both as a 6-person and as a 4-person tent. But clearly, as it is, this is a very luxurious 4-person tent. They do not provide area numbers, so here are my estimates.

The inner floored area is around 71 ft² (6.6 m²), and this would mean 17.7 ft² (1.65 m²) per person. The living (porch) area is huge, you have around 126 ft² (11.7 m²), this is my very rough estimate.

There is no doubt, a family of four has plenty of space here, both in the living and in the sleeping area. 

But if you have more kids, you can easily install a smaller 2-person tent under the porch and have extra sleeping area while being fully protected under the shell tent.

Regarding seasons & climate, the tent is a true double layer, with the inner tent that is a breathable taffeta plus the shell tent.

The inner tent hangs attached to the shell, and the gap between the two layers is huge, so you can have lots of air circulation in between layers to reduce condensation. 

Note that there is a ground skirt on the perimeter all the way around the tent, this is to prevent cold draft when needed. 

Observe that the poles create 5 cross points, see the picture below, and this makes the structure much stronger than a classic tunnel tent. 

Waterproof rating is very good, the poles are aluminum, the tent is fully closable if you feel cold. I have no doubt that this will work great in all seasons and in all weather conditions. 

Regarding the weight, you will see two different sets of numbers, but refer to those in specifications. In any case, the tent is a bit heavy, but it has a lot to offer.

You have seen its size, from this perspective it could be described as a tent with a moderate area/weight ratio. This is a tent for car camping, so the weight should not be a big deal in any case.

The packed size is given below. It looks bulky when packed but here again, bear in mind the overall dimensions of this tent. 

Regarding the price, I would say it is more than fair for such a great tent, an exceptional value for the money.

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Specifications

• Weight: 37.5 lb (17 kg).
• Official capacity: 4 people.
• Dimensions: 254 x 130 in (645 x 330 cm).
• Inner area: 71 ft² (6.6 m²).
• Inner area per person: 17.7 ft² (1.65 m²).
• Porch area: 126 ft² (11.7 m²).
• Total covered area: around 197 ft² (18.3 m²).
• Peak height: 80.7 in (205 cm).
• Packed size: 28.3 x 14.6 x 13 in (72 x 37 x 33 cm).

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Final thoughts, rating, pros & cons

Below you can see how this tent stands against my standard rating criteria that I apply consistently to all of them here in the site so that you can easily compare:

 

BEST PLACEs TO BUY:

Naturehike

For more tents of this capacity please check in the category Tents for 4 people. Let me know if you have questions, there is a comment box below.

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