 I want to by a two man tent, capable to take on a winter in the Brecon Beacons, yet also light enough for solo trekking and big enough to take me and a mate - preferably with a porch big enough to take a rucksac or two..........
Terra Nova seem to have the perfect tent - the 'Laser Large 1' but in a recent 'Trail Magazine' review it was said to be less resiliant in tough conditions. I've also looked at Mountain equipments 'Dragonfly' and although looks great and I know does the business, seems too heavy for one.
Any suggestions would be very helpful
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 Ed - I couldn't comment on the particular tents you suggest, but I would recommend (if you haven't already tried) having a look through the search facility above. I use it all the time and you pick up some great advice about kit.
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 I like the look of the Dragonfly and I'd consider buying one. But which Dragonfly model were you lookin at Ed? The one reviewed in Trail and currently on display in Cotswold at Keswick is the 'XT' model with extra pole for the extended porch.
They also do the Dragonfly without the extra pole and extended porch, weighing only 2.1kg, which is reasonable weight for a two-person tent in my opinion:
http://www.mountain-equipment.co.uk/tents/dragonfly.html
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 You could trya a sunaders spacepacker or spacepaker plus. the spacepacker is 1.9kg and has two large porches. The plus version is a little bigger and weighs 2.2kg. I have used the plus version for solo backpacking and for two it is pretty light. Not cheap but good tents. they do cheaper mk2 versions of both of the above but they are slightly heavier. I've used mine in the mountains in three seasons and for winter valley camping and it's pretty resilient.
http://www.robertsaunders.co.uk/pages/frame.html
sorry no idea how to do links here
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 I've got TN Solar, predecessor of Laser series tents and have had no worries at all with the robustness.
It's stood up to some decent strentgh winds. Though I always try to find a sheltered spot.
The next bigger model, two pole Solar 2 was designed to stand up better to weather extremes, though penalty would be extra weight.
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ed, i'm afraid that you're unlikely to find the larger of the new TN laser tents to be remotely big enough for winter use.
for two people to live in any form of comfort during the winter (sleeping mats, big sleeping bags, loads of extra clothing and gear, boots in the tent so they don't freeze, cooking in the tent vestibules, getting dreesed in the tent and doing all you admin and planning in the tent) you need something along the size of the quasar or trango.
as for stability and resiliance, if winter camping is something you enjoy then go for broke and get the best 4 season tent you possibly can (insert advert for TN Quasar), if you by a 3-4 season model that 'should be ok' you find yourself down the shops in a year spending the best part of £400 replacing a tent that cost you £250 and while fine for most things, doesn't quite do the job in winter.
buy cheap, buy twice.
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 I've got the Dragonfly without the extended porch. It's definitely 2.1kg (I weighed it at home) and I don't anticipate a problem carrying it solo. I'm about to take it on a 2 weeks backpack :-)
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 I'm looking to buy a 2 man tent sometime this year. but, some of the camping that I will be doing may be solo. Billy No Mates. So, I want a two man tent but one that will be light enough and more importanty one that can fit into a 65-70l rucsack along with my other camping essentials.
Maybe I should have started this as a new thread but I'd only get told to look in the gear review section.
Oh and budget up to around £300.
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See the ME Dragonfly, both standard and extended porch versions.
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i think - having just perused the new ellis brigham catalogue - that i may have confused the large laser with the laserlite/laser series of one man tents.
arse.
not sure they'll stand up to much punishment though...
kevin, i think i'd give you the same advice - unless you can be absolutely certain that you will never ever camp out in grotty conditions - go for a four season tent. terra nova's voyager and quasar, and crux's offering are all at or below the 4 kilo mark and pack up quite small.
i can put all my gear for a winter weekend (TN quasar, rab ladakh 1100, thermarest, MSR stove + 1 ltr fuel bottle + 2 ltr pan, food, rock+ice gear, spare clothes and a paperback in a POD cragsac 47 + 12 ltr rucksac.
terra nova tents tend to reach silly prices on ebay so don't pin your hope on that, however terra nova have a factory shop on their website which sells used/demo models for daft prices. while i got my quasar from a shop i bought a W/C monsoon for the family, it was about half price, turned up next day and was in perfect condition.
when i come to replace my quasar - in about 10 years - i will buy from the factory shop without hesitation.
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