ARB Esperance V2 vs Ironman 4x4 Ursa 1300

The ARB Esperance V2 and the Ironman 4x4 Ursa 1300 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. ARB and Ironman 4x4 take noticeably different approaches to the same problem.

By the numbers, the ARB Esperance V2 brings 58 kg, 2.85 m² of floor, 113 cm of headroom and sleeps 2. The Ironman 4x4 Ursa 1300 counters with 3.28 m² of floor, 133.1 cm of headroom and sleeps 3.

Inside, the Ursa 1300 gives 3.28 m² of sleeping floor against 2.85 m², about 15 percent more, and it sleeps 3 to the Esperance V2's 2. Headroom separates them further: 133.1 cm in the Ursa 1300 against 113 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 Esperance V2 is a clamshell and the Ursa 1300 a fold-out. 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 Esperance V2 uses heat-treated ABS; the Ursa 1300 uses ABS hardshell with aluminium honeycomb base. Canvas differs too: 200GSM poly-cotton canvas (fire retardant); 210D silver-coated oxford rainfly against 420D polyester Oxford fly; 320gsm ripstop nylon mesh.