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
Expandable collar (which can be lighter material) for the first day or two with larger food loads and for fluffy winter clothing.
No hip belt. I know I'm in the minority here (although I used to be in the minority about low-cut, lightweight shoes and now, 40 years later, everyone else has caught on). If you get your pack weight down enough, who needs a hip belt? Your middle schooler carries more weight in their book bag with no hip belt than you need for a 3-4 night backpacking trip.
Ready storage on the shoulder straps or at least attach points for that. Sunscreen, whistle, phone, InReach, 100-calorie snack, bear spray, .357 - different people want different things at the ready, but almost everyone wants something immediately available. .
Side mesh pockets for water bottles. With maybe a button/snap divider so it can hold Smart water bottles for the Swayer Squeeze folks, Gatorade bottles for the SteriPen crowd and 2-liter pop bottles for desert hikers.
Hydration bags are for day hikers and weekend warriors, IMO. They are hard to keep clean for weeks at a time and much harder to use with chemical, UV or filtration water treatment than water bottles are.