Tents

ghaznavid wrote: The 2 man is rather small, but i believe the 3 man is pretty good.

On GT i was sharing it with a 6ft tall individual and it was mostly big enough.

thanks

And the waterhead rating for the base and the fly? i cant seem to find any information on the interwebs

No clue - but those stats aren't usually comparable anyway. Most companies have different techniques of evaluating the waterhead of different items.

Only once has water ever come into the tent, it was when the tent was pitched on that 30 degree slope on Bollard Pass - and that is not what any tent was built to do (I guess you do get porta-ledge tents, but that is besides the point)...

Oh man... a near impossible task this! ...just chatting to my sis and it looks like space is a bit tight to bring over a tent...so it looks like i'm back to buying locally- gonna get my boet to go check out drifters in cape town and see what options they have there

Try out the Cool mountain tent at Outdoor Warehouse, not sure if they still have stock. If you're 6 foot tall, its too small for you. A three man would only be a bit wider not longer

Stretch
I spent a few months looking at lightweight 3-man tents suitable for Berg conditions, as I also hope to hike with my sons sometime and I like some space. I really like the BlackDiamond Oasis & BD Vista as well as the MSR Elixir 3 3-person tents, but eventually logic and economics ruled and I bought a 360deg Cool Mountain II 2-person tent from Outdoor Warehouse as advocated by Ghaznavid (and Sabine). Most of my hiking will be 1-2 persons per tent, and for the price of the name-brand imported tents I can buy 3 Cool Mountain II’s. It is fairly light (2.6kg as supplied edit: 2.91kg see details below) and according to Ghaz, if it is pitched well (with some additional guy-ropes and pegs) can withstand most of what the Berg can throw at it.
I have used a CM II for one night at the top of Namahadi Pass in September 2014, carried it, pitched it and slept in it alone and had a great night’s sleep, despite the fact that my waterbottle in the vestibule was frozen-over in the morning. I am 1.86 (6'2"ish) and slept diagonally, because I could. I have not tried it yet with two people, but agree with Sabine and Ghaz that it'll be a tight fit with two adults and their packs.
I don't see the CM II as a compromise except in terms of space. And maybe a bit of weight.
Hope this helps.

Edit: ok, so I weighed the various parts as supplied on a digital kitchen scale as follows: poles 556g (234+232+90), upper+groundsheet 942g, flysheet (only 2 guy ropes) 1145g, pegs (8 off) 123g, bags (tent, poles & pegs) 144g, Total: 2910g plus 86g miscellaneous spares in a bag. So well over the 2.6kg I posted originally. My apologies for confusing the issue.
Interesting to see how heavy the flysheet is compared to other parts.

It seems I might be trending towards the cool mountain 2 then....but it must be able to accommodate me and 1 other at least though - otherwise its a pointless exercise. I'm exactly 6ft. Andrew..you say you sleep diagonally - is that by choice? or by the fact that you have to because you wouldn't fit otherwise.

Also gonna go and see what my local camping shop has to offer..the advantage is they are knowledgeable and know what they are talking about...so i could still be swayed in another direction!

@Stretch: Just an alternative view on the matter. If you're a side sleeper then the length of the tent is pretty much a non-issue. The width then becomes important so a 3-person tent becomes important and the 2-person tent serves your needs as a single sleeper. I use my 3-person TNF Rock 32 if I'm sharing or any of my 2-person tents as a rather spacious single sleeper, as I'm sure many others do. I currently do not own a 360deg CM 2, but in my opinion it is probably the best locally available tent and offers good value. It seems suited to high berg conditions when the weather gets rough.

I heard that Outdoor Warehouse were not going to sell 360 degree tents in the future. The guy I spoke to said they were being supplied by First Ascent instead. Is 360 degree a manufacturer that supplies specifically to Outdoor Warehouse/Sportsman's Warehouse? I have always thought so. If true, it might be a good idea to snap up some remaining 360 degrees.

I wish cadac would bring back the isodome! My old one has even lived through being blown over the escarpment while we were breaking camp (which involved a slight 3km detour to retrieve it). I know what its been through and I wouldn't even hesitate to buy it again