23Zero Kabari Superfly vs Smittybilt Aluminum Pop-up

The 23Zero Kabari Superfly and the Smittybilt Aluminum Pop-up are both hardshell tents in the same part of the market, which makes them a genuine head-to-head rather than a comparison across categories. 23Zero and Smittybilt take noticeably different approaches to the same problem.

By the numbers, the 23Zero Kabari Superfly brings 48 kg, 2.38 m² of floor, 142 cm of headroom and sleeps 2. The Smittybilt Aluminum Pop-up counters with 3.02 m² of floor, 114.05 cm of headroom and sleeps 3.

Inside, the Aluminum Pop-up gives 3.02 m² of sleeping floor against 2.38 m², about 27 percent more, and it sleeps 3 to the Kabari Superfly's 2. Headroom separates them further: 142 cm in the Kabari Superfly against 114.05 cm, which is the difference between sitting up to dress and doing it lying down. Their list prices are within a few percent of each other, so price is unlikely to decide this one.

They open differently: the Kabari Superfly is a clamshell and the Aluminum Pop-up a pop-up. That is not cosmetic — it decides whether headroom is even across the tent or tapers towards one end, and how much of the roof the tent occupies when closed. The Kabari Superfly uses semi-hardshell: waterproof PVC top on an aluminium frame; the Aluminum Pop-up uses aluminum.