I found a reddit thread discussing cheap, light, well-made AliExpress tents, but I couldn't find any detailed reviews. I have a weird addiction to bargain backpacking gear, so I decided to order one and see for my self. I ordered this tent a couple weeks ago, and it showed up today.

Advertised as a 730 gram, single person, single layer silynylon tent.

It showed up in the usual epacket tape bundle:



Out of the packaging, it weighed in at 890g.

The break down is: 141g for the stakes and foot pole, 140g for the included shaped footprint, and 611g for the tent body.



Stakes are crap, and will get replaced with some of my many spares.


I tossed it up quickly with the crap stakes, so my pitch is not ideal. It won't be hard to pitch it taut next time.






It's small. I'm 5'7", and I wouldn't want to sleep in it if I was 2 or 3" taller. Vestibule is plenty large enough for my boots and pack. My 6yr old in it for scale:


Seam and inside corner:





All the seams are taped, and any load points seem to be reasonably well reinforced. The zipper goes really high, and doesn't have a flap over it, so I'm interested to see how well it holds out water in a good rain.
I'll get it out in the yard one night when it's not quite so godawful hot.

Anyone want to see any tests or closeups?

Looks like a good buy. Most SilNylon ultralite tents aren't cheap.
I don't like that manufacturers don't add the weight of the footprint into the advertised weight of the tent, especially since it's almost a requirement in order to protect the ultralite tent fabric from abrasion or punctures; but it's a fairly common practice in the industry.

If you've got one of those shower type sprinklers, you might let it "rain" on it for a couple of hours to test the water repellency. I'd be interested to see how it holds up.

What color is that, Fukushima Fallout Yellow?  

890 g, go back to Europe you hippie

But really, that's fricking light.

Txl

Tag cause under 100 sub 2 lb tent is of interest to me.

This is my highly unscientific initial test of waterproofness. Dry so far, after about an hour.

Eta: I just did basically the same test, but with a 41" long piece of 3/4" pvc that I had kicking around, instead of a glass.  Water pressure started to force water up around the rubber bands after about 15 mins, but nothing has actually leaked through the fabric on the end of the pipe.
The fabric at least appears to be genuinely waterproof.

I would be interested to see how badly that condensates after a night of slumber.

Ha, I just responded to your post on Whiteblaze before coming here.
 

I thought there might be some interest over there. I couldn't find a decent review of these things anywhere when I was considering buying one.

Thanks for the thread.  I hadn't ever really looked around on aliexpress before.  I had been contemplating a mytrail ul3 tepee but am kinda liking this:
http://m.aliexpress.com/item/32691157976.html

If I go this route I will post my results.

Interesting design.

I too am curious about condensation, especially in the foot area where I imagine there is contact with the bag/feet.


Poor girl, that thing that happened to her face.

Very interesting.  Taking one for the team.  I mean, I'll try out knock off Chicom gear if it's cheap but probably wouldn't have invested $100.  Anyway thanks and I'm interested to see how it performs.  Especially the seam seal.  Most of my lightweight gear is a few years old and maybe I haven't kept up with the tech, but I don't recall seeing a lot of seam taped sil nylon.  

I am very happy with my (much more expensive) Tarptent though.

Nothing to report. I can't catch a good rainstorm.

I pitched it in the yard last night, but the forecasted thunderstorms never materialized. Covered in a heavy dew this morning, with a light sheen of condensate on the inside walls. Sleeping area is dry.

We seem to be getting either no rain, or torrential pop-up thunderstorms. I haven't been able to get this thing set up to catch a good, sustained rain storm, so I turned a hose on it. I spent several minutes spraying a cone of water against all the seams, from a bunch of different angles. The inside stayed bone dry - no drips and no water weeping through seams, everything just beaded up and ran off the outside.

I know it's not a good test of performance in a long, blowing rainstorm, but it's enough for me to take it out on a warm weekend. First test will probably be in the Cohuttas later this month.

It's advertised as 220cm (86") long on the interior, but you're saying you're 5'7" and think it would be too short for a person at 74"? Is it very narrow at the foot end, where your bag would contact the wall/roof?

I just measured the black floor material: ~82" from end to end. The walls slope inward slightly, so knock off another couple inches for the length at feet and head height. Knock off a couple more for sleeping bag loft.

74" (6'2") is way too tall for this tent, IMHO. I'd just about guarantee near-constant foot or head contact at that height. Someone might be alright at 5'9" or 10".

Thanks!

Any updates?

Not yet. We're just starting to approach temps where backpacking is comfortable. Give me a couple weeks, and I'll have a trip report up.