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
Packed Sizes Folded the Exped and the Klymit are basically the same. Both were folded lengthwise in thirds, then rolled. Note that this is not the way the Klymit was delivered. Out of the box the Klymit was folded in quarters which made the Exped and Klymit basically the same size when rolled. That's why the Klmit appears longer in the rolled image below. It's also thinner rolled.
Unfolded Compare The Klymit is very long -- longer than the stated measure. So at some point I will be shortening it.
Head Bumps My wide-long pad has the bump at the head end. Without a pillow it's mildly noticeable. With a pillow, it's not noticeable.
Loft The pad does seem very thin. In particular when compared to a Exped Winterlite. This will affects insulation properties, but how much is not yet clear. In living room tests I don't bottom out on the Klymit, even when lying sideways. It's close though.
Width and Weight Extra width is nice. Weight is just under spec at 716g. This in comparison to the smaller 533g of the Exped. Removing a few baffles to get to the same length as the Exped would probably bring the weight to something very close to the Exped.
Valves In terms of the valve the single valve system on the Exped seems better as it allows for finer tuning of air pressure. Opening the outlet on the Klymit basically expels a huge volume of air, with very little finesse. The Exped Schnozzle is supposed to fit the Klymit but does not. The Klymit valve is a millimeter or so too large.
Grippy Dots The grippy dots are a good idea, but a large number of the dots fall on the gaps between baffles, and so don't make any contact. There are also very few dots at the foot end, which is likely to allow the bottom to move around.
Conclusion I do find that there is less air movement with the Klymit. On the Exped you kind of float around. You can feel the air bouncing side to side when you move even a little. The Klymit is more stable. My opinion is that this is simply due to there being almost half the loft of the Exped -- but perhaps it's the baffles. Overall I think the Klymit is a good pad, and will work better for me in terms of side-sleeping.