Hello Larry,
I own a ferrino Svalbard - Named after some island near norway within the polar circle, which suggests it can take some wind. However, I think that assumption to be a bit optimistic.
that said, the ferrino's are of good quality and craftsmenship (good stitches, quality fabric etc) and outclass most South African made options.
On Ferrino's website you can find an (Italian) pdf for the tent:
http://www.ferrino.it/upload.2009//pdf/SYNCRO.pdf . Essentially it looks like just a dome tentwith a extra hoop at the front, much like the svalbard. Compare the layout of the poles with that of a full geodesic design like for instance the Crux bomb X2, and you will understand why a full geodesic is more wind resistant. There is a big difference between 4 season tents and high mountain tents. Getting a true high mountain tent that weighs in under 3.5 kg's becomes vary rare and expensive. Basically you are in South Africa very limited in choice, what most shops stock as high quality I do not have much respect for. seven summits / mountainmailorder stock the MSR Fury, which is one that you can bank on, but pricy. Other options would include the likes of Crux bomb/storm or the Hilleberg Tarra, very lightweight and robust.
I've camped in a Hilleberg Nallo 2 GT that has a good reputation as a 4 season tent, but on Helvellyn in the lakes district it came down in a very wet night in winds of less than 100km/h. I have also a TNF Westwind, which funnily enough is a tunnel design, cleverly profiled and on top of Slioch in Scotland it withstood polar winds in excess of 160km/h. It is not very good for keeping out snow, one aspect where the Ferrino's Hillebergs are exceedingly good.
The important thing is to cleverly choose your site to pitch, that is probably the best measure. Look at the vegitation and prevailing conditions to determine where the wind may blow from and pitch accordingly. Also pitch the tent so that the smallest elevation surface is exposed to the wind direction If the wind becomes bad or if bad wind is expected, build a stone wall WITH LOTS OF HOLES next to the tent. This way the wind hits the wall, the airflow is reduced in speed and this creates a much better effect than a solid wall, wich forces the wind over at full speed. By allowing some wind to pass through it creates some high/low pressure (not sure exactly how it works, but it works very good) behind the wall that is very effective in reducing the force on the tent. Also, in the d-bergs you usually can pitch where it is not that exposed and thus you do not need to rely on a wind stealth technology tent. I believe the Syncro3 should be sufficient for most conditions encountered in South Africa and it looks fairly roomy too.
To sum up, if you don't want the Ferrino I'll buy it off you
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