There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Green Scimitar arrived today. Another well built bestech, with some praise and some complaints
Pros: -Finally there's a D shaped cutout in the opposite liner to catch the D shaped pivot pin and keep it straight! -This knife is super comfortable in the hand -the deep carry clip is a very nice change from the other Bestechs I have -I like the standoffs on this one, as opposed to the backspacer option. Either are fine, but I like the looks of this option on this knife -blade centers perfectly, action is smooth, practically drops shut after cleaning and re-oiling (with a caveat to be discussed in the complaints below) -shaving sharp out of the box, nice even grinds
Cons: -spine on this one is very sharp, especially at the points of the groove, gonna need to hit it with some sandpaper -sharp edges on the G10 too, towards the inside of the knife. Not a big deal, but you can feel it on your finger tip when you push the flipper. Might ease that a bit too -we're back to the plastic cages for the bearings again. I really think their metal caged ones move a bit smoother. -the liners on this one are made of some cheap ass metal, nothing like the thick, polished stainless on the Swordfish and the Thorn. Makes sense, saves money, since these liners are hidden on this one....but feels cheaper for the lock portion Interesting side note, not sure if it makes a difference one way or another, but with the thinner liners the bearings are actually recessed into the blade on this one, instead of into the liners like on the others (see disassembly pic below) -Detent is WEAK on this one :( Strong enough that the flipper works fine, but weak enough to easily shake open...which is a problem for carrying around here. Could this be related to the weaker steel liner/lockbar? Or is this purely a function of the detent ball/hole? Anyone know? I tried bending the lockbar out a bit, but didn't seem to make a difference.
Disassembled :
All in all, it's a nice knife, and I'm glad to own it, but more than a little disappointed that I finally have a bestech with a nice deep carry clip, but I can't legally carry it with the "gravity assist" laws here :( P. S.
Is there any rhyme or reason behind which drops have options for reviews and such only have discussions still?
-the machining on the G10 is a bit toooo good. Handle is a bit slippery -and same complaint I had with the Swordfish, no chamfering on the lanyard hole, just super sharp edges. Not a huge deal for me, I don't pin tails on my knives, but something to be aware of for those who do -the jimping on the lock release is a bit rough on the thumb. I'm going to end up knocking the edges of that too -and going to reiterate my complaint about the weak detent. As I mentioned the blade just about drops shut on its own, but anything more than the gentlest of shakes to help it a along and it ends up bouncing back open instead of snapping shut
The detent ball appears to be fully seated, no light gets through around it, so it seems the losckbar is fully against the blade when shut, detent ball completely in the hole. To double check this I even removed the stop pin and reassembled, allowing some overtravel when closing the blade, in case it was stopping before the ball fully reached its spot. Same results. Definitely fully in the hole, could even feel a tiny bit of wiggle room in there if i pushed it past the natural stop, and still shakes open.
I'd say that's telling me the issue isn't with the placement or depth of the hole. And the lockbar tension can't be increased any further...... So, I'm at a loss 😞