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
I tested it head-to-head against my Sierra Designs Backcountry blanket 700 which has an EN lower limit of 27 F and comfort limit of 37 F. I used it in my garage on a very cold night with the Klymit insulated lite and a mid-weight baselayer top and bottom. The ground was below freezing (pushing the limits of the Klymit) but I would guess the air temperature was mid- or upper 30s. The EE blanket was adequate in these conditions and when I switched in the night to the Sierra Designs I would it was comparable and maybe a bit warmer than the EE blanket.
In the end I decided it wasn't worth the hassle of dealing with a return or repair. Massdrop support continued to disappoint when they emailed me again on March 9 to let me know there had been an update about the quilts and provided a link to Danny's mid-January post. I used it on the "O" circuit in Torres del Paine but I don't think the temp was ever below 40F. Fortunately I sleep warm but I am pretty convinced that the quilt I got was more of a 30 degree than a 20 degree.
Here are my take-home thoughts and advice based on my experience: -To future Massdrop customers interested in this quilt: Temper your expectations. I was expecting a premium outdoor product for a 20% discount. A subgroup of people may have gotten this but I think many people were happy because they weren't expecting as much from the quilt as I was. If you think you tend to have high expectations just spend the extra money to get it direct from EE. -To Massdrop: If you do this drop again please set up some quality tolerances. Now there shouldn't be any questions about the weight of the stitching, etc. I don't know what is appropriate but I would say having a short/reg quilt come in 0.6 ounces below is outside an acceptable tolerance. -To Enlightened Equipment: I would think twice before doing this again, especially if you and Massdrop can't come up with a better QC process. It's hard to put a price on your brand's reputation. A decent number of people were unhappy enough with what they got to post some pretty critical stuff on here and I'm sure what they told their friends was as bad or worse.