The Alibaba Angler

On a trip to the Arctic Circle, we gave AliExpress camping products a try with satisfying results.

Mountain Cattle? That’s the tent brand.

Everything is made in China. Well, a lot of stuff, anyway. My friend Siim has made a hobby of scouring AliExpress for camping gear that he believes is made in the same factories as the stuff we pay hundreds of euros for.

He claims most of the stuff is absolutely identical to the name brands, though the Ali stuff carries brand names like Toaks, Wide Sea, or Fire Maple. We’ve extensively debated whether the English names are randomly selected from a dictionary, but Siim is bound to the theory that Ali uses Google translations of terms that hold profound meaning in the original Chinese.

Here are a few of the things we’ve used and are willing to vouch for:

Tundra tents — Found under the name Knot Gear, these tents held up in 15 meter-per-second winds and heavy rain. Siim’s model is under two kilos, including stakes and pole. They aren’t suitable for every climate, though you can make them so by adding a ground cloth and mosquito net, either your own or those that Ali sells. I can’t locate the tents we use on Ali at the moment, but these Mountain Cattle (stifled laughter here) tents appear similar.

Mosquito net (sold separately) recommended.

Titanium cookware — Lixada isn’t the sexiest name, but for under 20 euros for a cup with cover you can’t go wrong. The similar brand Toaks also has a presence on Amazon and REI at roughly the same prices.

Two princesses with their Lixada titanium dinnerware.

Sleeping pads — We’ve used the Wide Sea and NatureHike brands, which, at 30 euros, are a bargain compared to a 160-euro Therm-a-rest. All the Ali mattresses we’ve tried have held up three seasons on the tundra.

In this photo, most everything but the sleeping bags is from AliExpress.

Cooking stoves — Marketed under the Fire Maple name, you can’t go wrong for 40 euros. Compare to Primus’ stove at 100 euros.

Anti heats stones on a Fire Maple stove. He likes to dry his boots by putting the hot rocks inside.

Fly holder — No flykeeper on your 1,000-euro Vision XO? It’s a problem solved for 83 cents.

Read the extended saga of my recent arctic adventure.

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