Ali Express

I bought some stuff from vendors at ali express, and am really pleased with the price and quality.

The weight of this $57 tent with the poles is 2lb 10oz (I weighed it). I am 5'11", and I can very precisely fit in, laying flat, without my head or feet touching the tent. Would be nice if it was a little longer. The width is generous. The packed size is really impressive, because the pole segments are short: 14" x 4.5" diameter.
http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6233874075.html
NatureHike model NH18A095-D

This $163 down sleeping bag (800 fill goose down) packs super small, and fluffs up super big. I don't know how else to describe how incredible it is compared to my synthetic bag.
They make these to order, so in place of a store discount, I asked for an extra 50g of down to the toebox (because my feet are always freezing), and I asked for it in black (although the material is super shiny, so it kind of looks like a trash bag, though it is very tough... I tried pulling apart the material with my hands and couldn't tear it... I would suggest navy blue, but don't know if they have this color).
The compression sack it came with was too delicate, and tore, when I pulled on a strap. However, they are sending me another one that looks tougher (based on the pictures they sent).
http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6205631699.html
Aegismax AEGIS 600 Professional

I am waiting to receive this $13.50 "ultra light" sleeping pad" LOL
http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6233874074.html

I also bought a merino wool base layer, and a light down jacket, if you are curious.

Although it sounds too good to be true, I hope it works out for you. Let us know how the stuff performs after a few seasons.

I would test out both the tent (in back yard with hose) and sleeping bag (sleeping outside in below freezing weather) before relying on either for a wilderness trip. As W_D says, we'd like to know the results!

Is the sleeping bag EN13537 rated?

Ali Express is the retail arm of Alibaba, the Chinese company that just did the huge IPO.

I've purchased a few things through them and it was what I expected for what I paid. I think you probably did good and I'm excited to hear how it works for you.

I've considered buying a few things through Ali Express a few times, but never camping gear. In the end I never pulled the trigger. Their prices are fantastic, but as cheap as I am, I guess I could never bring myself to to be the guinea pig with an unknown product, at least where large purchases are concerned. Let us know if there's any problem with condensation in that tent and how cold you're comfortable in that bag.

I got the new compression sack in the mail, and it was made with thicker materials. However, I sent this message:

"I got the new compression sack, and it is the same weak design. It isn't the thinner materials or straps that caused the original compression sack to tear: it is the design. The strap is sewn to the corner of the fabric, with no reinforcement to this area of the fabric.
To improve on the design, reinforce the attachment of the strap to the fabric, so it is not a single point of attachment. See the following, for example, they extended the strap and added a criss-cross of sewing:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wUgwmn8izeI/UGzYNFkWF6I/AAAAAAAAC8w/YCRBpchvS1s/s1600/IMG_5276.JPG
http://hikinglady.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/REI-Compression-Stuff-Sack.jpg
What you could also do, is extend the straps until they meet in the center of the circle, and sew them together there, so the straps are taking the majority of the force, and not the fabric.
I have a degree in mechanical engineering, however, even better to ask the seamstress!"

The design has three straps, as opposed to the usual 4 that cross at the top as 90 degrees forming a visual +

The sewing on the sleeping bag is fine, as far as I can tell. I read another post on the net that said that when you get a sleeping bag, the compression sack that comes with it is poor. I don't know if this is completely true, but it was in this case. The compression sacks that came with my matching synthetic bags are ok.

I haven't gotten to test anything, because I've been busy on the weekends with contra dancing. It's like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_zVcsHih3U (make sure to increase the video quality)

I will try in the backyard, but it only gets to about 50 at night. I'll have to wait a few weeks or climb a mountain. At least I can try getting the tent wet. Have a tentative backpack for the coming weekend, but I'm taking my non-new two person tent, and my non-new matching synthetic bags. Sorry I'm bad at providing timely gear reviews!!

Another mechanical engineer. Awesome...

Engineer their products, and they'll sell 'em to you cheap! You can be the next new outdoor gear company, and they'll OEM for you! At least stop designing their stuff sacks for free... LOL. ;-)

Just great...another one of those engineers....

I bet you can't guess what the ME stands for in my name finallyME?

Definitely not "monkey ears"... hmm...

Isn't there a saying that "mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets"? (or is it electrical engineers that build weapons?)

It's software engineers.

I got the sleeping pad in the mail. It's really long, I guess so you can roll the end up as a pillow. It only weighs 9oz. Slept on it, and it was comfy. I think it's relatively durable, so I'm going to use it on a backpack. The only downside is that it is hard to deflate completely.

NatureHike model NH18A095-D (review continued)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Gan6rRaVI

pros:
Really nice tent for $60. I am pleased overall.
cons:
1. There is no guy line to stake out the fly at the tent ends, and there isn't even enough overlap to cover the mesh, so if it rains... hey, I will have to fix this myself by sewing in a line. I already "confirm received".
2. There is only a one-line-stitch for the attachment of the loop to stake the fly at the sides of the tent (In an earlier post, I mentioned the sleeping bag compression sack tore because of only one point of attachment... however, the tent fly may never see the same amount of stress, but in really high winds...). In the four corners of the tent, there are 3 lines of stitches! My Eureka 2XTA has 2 lines of stitching for the fly stake-out and tent ends.

Aegismax AEGIS 600 Professional (review continued)

pros:
I slept in it at 43F (6C). I had wool base layer, and wool socks and fleece booties, and a silk balaclava. I was suffocating... way too hot. The loft of the down is awesome. In my synthetic 32F comfort rated bag (Zeus250), I would have been just right.
cons:
Compression sack is useless. I think there are some who believe to do away with the compression sack, and just stuff the sleeping bag into the bottom of the backpack. They did provide a separate, lightweight storage sack. In the future, I would definitely try doing this with a synthetic bag, as mine has lost a lot of loft due to the destruction of the fibers (I've compressed the hell out of the Zeus250, to an 8" lumpy sphere).

Those were my thoughts exactly when I watched your video (with the sound off).

ETA: But, even without coming all the way down, just staking it out will probably go a long way to keeping the inside dry, unless the rain is completely sideways.

I haven't tried sewing on tent material before, and I have to do it before this weekend... yipes!

Looks like I need a subscription to view the links available in this thread:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/...thread_id=40505

But this one is free :-)
http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/jones-tent/

By all means, do sew on guy loops properly, but if you just want to try it out quickly, or you don't have time before your trip, you could always tie a guy line on with a sheet bend. Just pinch the edge of the rain fly where you want to attach the line and fold it into a small bend. Not too much, you don't want to take up too much length, since it's already short to begin with.

I don't think it even needed much more than the stitches along the length of the nylon rope. I'll see how it does, and add more sewing if necessary. If you know otherwise, please say something!

I went backpacking for four days. It only got down to the low 40's. The sleeping pad worked fine. I can see the moisture from my breath building up inside, since it is see through, but that happens with any blow-up mat. Sleeping bag is too hot for the 40's. I keep it mostly unzipped. I bet it would keep me fine in the 20's (with my other mat, that's insulated). The bag is intense. I liked packing it without a compression sack, at the bottom of the pack.

Tent with loops I sewed in works fine. The ground cloth that came with the tent (wasn't even sold seperately!), is the same size as the tent floor, so it can easily overlap the tent: should be smaller than the tent floor. This is a minor complaint though.

My other ali-express purchases:
The wool base layer I got on aliexpress is awesome. Light down jacket I got is comparable to the nicer ones described for the ultralight down jackets on outdoorgearlab.com. However, it showed a slim fit, and it is just a normal US-type fit, so I am warmer after putting on the waist strap, so no air can get in through the bottom.

I just ordered a rain poncho that also fits over the pack. I think it was 210T fabric. I will keep the rain cover that came with the pack at home. Someone in a forum wrote that during a hard rain, water collected at the bottom of their pack cover (because it doesn't cover the pack completely).

I can post links on request.

Nice reviews. Thanks.

Glad to hear the gear is working out for you, and the loop you sewed came out nice.

I'd say you did good!

Thanks Bill! It really is working out well. For the 4 days, all my stuff fits into a 40L pack!

Did I miss where you posted the price including shipping for your gear?