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
The straps are glorious. So soft, very easy to adjust, and stay in place when in use. I almost want to make underwear out of the material. Basket options are nice - there are 4" powder baskets (14g), 2" trekking baskets (6g), a 1 3/8" "well, I guess we should put something on the bottom" baskets (4g). The rubber feet look nice, but we'll see. (10g)
I put some weight on them. They flex smoothly and the twist locks don't slip when tightened properly. Of course, they're brand new, so they better not. There's a little gap between the sections at both joints, so dirt may get in. Looking at the lock mechanism, first thing I notice is that it's captive. You can't accidentally screw it off and lose it in the pole. I've done that with Lekis before.
Annodization appears to scratch easily, but looks nice otherwise. Foam grips are comfy with just enough give to be soft but firm. There are some plastic burrs around the strap pin hole that may irritate hands. easy fix though.
The poles say 158g on them. Poles actually weigh 172 and 170g on our scale. Are they 158g when you remove the straps, maybe? I tried to get them off. Couldn't figure it out.
The blue is really nice. Ours are red. They also say "World's Lightest" on them. World's lightest aluminum? Definitely not world's lightest overall.