Tents

Just received mine yesterday, very impressed with the quality so far. I am going to the Berg end of March and can't wait to use it.

Nice, please post a review once you've used it

Will do.

I have looked through the thread, but have not seen a consensus on the requirement for a 4 season tent.  Many of the tents posted on the thread are 3, while some are 4 season.  My group has a number of really good 3 season tents (in anticipation of the question, we have a MSR Hubba Hubba and a Hilleberg Anjan GT).  We are looking at a number of 4 season options now, including that First Ascent Helio posted a few pages back, but before committing we would appreciate the forum's insight on 3 vs 4 season? (trekking period end March, mid April).  Khristian
 

4 season tents are by their very nature a bit heavier, but offers better protection. The old question of weight vs additional protection. Generally the main reason why I opted for a 4 season tent is protection against high winds, but in 99% of cases most decent 3 season tents will be fine in the Berg, especially in March to April. Mid winter is generally windier (my experience). That being said, the Berg creates its own weather and can throw anything at you, any time of the year - so check the weather reports before you start your mini traverse.

Note that while a 3 season tent will be sufficient for 99% of the time, that 1% when the Berg gets really angry it can destroy your tent. In the end its a combination of risk vs weight vs cost ratio that you need to be comfortable with. I'd be happy with a 3 season tent for myself, but whenever my wive comes along I pack the 4 season tent. That is, until I got both of us bivvies

Papa Dragon wrote: Nice, please post a review once you've used it

Here is my review, actually not really a review just my experience with the First Ascent Helio tent. I did not plan to buy this specific tent…I was planning on buying the First Ascent Lunar 2 tent. I went out a couple of times to go and buy it but never did, there was just something about the Lunar that I did not like. My hiking trip was coming up and I needed to get a tent because my old one just was not right for the berg. So I fooled around online and came across the Helio on First ascent’s web page.Immediately the tent interested me and I just decided to buy it online without even seeing it in person. After a few days my tent arrived, I did not waste time, I pitched it in my back yard and was very impressed with the quality. So I waited until I could use it in the Drakensberg before I could give my opinion: I am not going to give any dimensions/specs as it can be found on their site.There are 15 aluminum pegs that looks like funny darts, I just love them! They are also nicely coloured in red so very easy to see when dropped in grass. Around the tent there is six guy ropes to secure the tent for those windy nights. The vestibule I found is big enough to store two packs and your wet dirty boots ext. (not in SA they will be gone in the morning). The tent has only one entrance which I find better for my needs.Tent poles is the usual aluminum poles but all is attached making it one piece and is very easy and fast to construct. The tent has side walls and is roughly the height of my shoulders when I sit inside the tent and from there it has mesh going to the roof for ventilation/air. The tent part also attaches to the poles by clips and not the way whereby you slide the poles through sleeves. I again prefer this method as it is much easier and faster to set up. The floor of the tent is well manufactured and feels and looks like it will last quite a while. Inside the tent there is only one pocket to store something but this does not bother me as I don’t use them. The flysheet attaches to the 4 corners of the tent as usual with straps and has two small windows, one at the back and one at the front. The flysheet is then attached by means of pegs and guy ropes to the ground. A very sturdy tent when pitched and tied down. I only slept one night in the tent, It did not rain but the wind did blow a bit during the night and it was cold. I was impressed with the tent, It was very easy and fast to erect and I really like the shape and sturdiness of the tent. It looks like it will stand up well in windy situations. The tent is a 2 man tent…but you will be sleeping close to each other. I had more than enough space for my pack, boots, sleeping mat and myself inside the tent. There was condensation on the inside of the vestibule and when I was packing up the tent I noticed the inside of the flysheet had a bit of condensation as well. Not once during the night was this an issue, no drips on my face. The walls and roof on the inside of the tent was bone dry and that was awesome!I would have liked to test it out a bit longer but so far so good. 

Glad you like it. Quite a bit of time, testing and design changes went into this one. The challenge was to make it strong yet affordable. 

A strong tent and of good design, stood firm in the wind and bone dry in big rain. This is a one man tent and can be used by two in emergencies as there is not enough room for two hikers + backpacks + cooking.
The air vents on either side at the apex worked well and the bullet tent pegs are the best.
 

Nice picture Richard!

Think I need to do Fangs pass again, really enjoyed it last time. Question: Why did you pitch your tent on this spot, rather than closer to the waterfall? 

@ Riaang…..the waterfall you can see on the right is the Mbundini Pass waterfall. The famous Fangs waterfall is hidden in this picture and it is where that  big rock is sticking up, just ahead of the tent and no decent places to pitch a  tent.

This is the famous Fangs waterfall:

Hi Richard,

For a nice level and flat spot close to the Fangs waterfall you can go here:
In your image above, basically walk about 30 paces or so in a "2 O' clock" position when standing at the waterfall (i.e. about 5m foreward from where you took the photo. You will start immediately on the right of the waterfall on the black, wet rock). You will then get onto a sort of low terrace after climbing over a bunch of soccer ball sized boulders (tricky to negotiate at night). Once upon the terrace, turn to your right another couple of paces (again about 20 or so) and you will find a couple of flat, open, sandy spots to pitch tents. This section is slightly downhill from the terrace. We put up 2 tents comfortably in this area. You can't see this spot when standing at Fangs waterfall.

Another spot where a whole group of hikers can camp is immediately to the right of the bottom of the ridge that you climb up when going towards Fangs pass, basically on the level with the Mbundini watefall. There used to be a dagga field on this large flat spot so the ground is nice and level, but just a bit too far from water to make it a good spot for a small group.

Enjoy!!!