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
Some people always camp in similar spots with the same conditions ie. Flat soft ground so they always take a tent or always good trees to hang from so they take a hammock.
Sometimes you go somewhere and you don't know if there's going to be flat ground, or if there's going to be trees. So you want something that can do both. Lawson Hammock is a popular choice for this versatility, but weighs in at 4.25 lbs.
The OR bivy is nice and has quick no fuss deployment. But you can't hang in it.
The tarp on sale with this hammock is quite heavy, you can invest in a much lighter one for a higher price tag elsewhere. And you can use a tarp for both hammock and bivy use. Or even just to eat under in the rain.
As a side note. I'm a long time tent user (Tarptent Rainbow) but I want to try hammocks for the first time. I'm finding that inside the tent on the slightest incline I wake up too frequently from sliding around or my equilibrium is upset from the angle and makes me sleep nervously half awake. So because you can level out a hammock during setup on un even or slanted ground, I'm hoping for a better night's sleep outdoors.