Tents

To add to/ditto what others have said about tunnel tents, my experience with them has been limited to the Hilleberg Nallo GT. Really strong design and thus far I haven't really come across anything that beats the "space to weight" ratio - for what it weighs and how much space it offers, its unbelievable. I suspect the above 2 points also have a lot do with Hilleberg in particular. Yes they are expensive tents but will survive very serious mountain weather and last a long time. Mine is 13 years old and counting, and has been used a lot.

They are rather noisy in wind, to agree with others. And yes, small camp spots and rocky ground can be a challenge - for example small spots among the boulders in river beds at the base of a Berg Pass, and on steep rocky terrain in general - depending on the trip I mayprefer to take my geodesic type tent. Tunnel tents need a lot of good pegs and mine in particular is a rather long tent. To get the tension perfect can also get rather fiddly. I carry nylon rope extensions for the guy ropes so that I can sling them around bigger rocks and boulders if I can't get pegs in. In thick snow conditions its easy to build a proper platform, even on steep slopes and the added bonus is that you can dig out the vestibule section for more space and for easier sitting and cooking (not really a scenario for South Africa however).