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
How is a grind so hollow you can't harden the very nice steel to it's potential without worrying about chipping in any way heavy duty?
How is using a locking mechanism with a tiny Omega spring that WILL break eventually in any way "forever".
If you want this to be heavy duty, give it a flat grind, harden it to 61 and ditch the axis lock (or at least include a bag o' Omega springs)
If you want to make a super slicer with softer steel, and a really narrow hollow grind, put this thing on a diet, use cheaper steel (why waste money on premium steel if you're going to half ass the heat treat), thinner stock and drop the price. Or keep the price same and make it look interesting, fancy machining isn't cheap. Just don't call it heavy duty or a "forever knife".
Either of those is preferable to a big boring slab of a knife that is kinda heavy and expensive but needs frequent sharpening if used as intended but doesn't really slice that well either because the stock is so thick.
I really wish they could've figured out what they wanted this knife to be. I'd love to buy an American made (by millit no less) axis lock knife without having to play Benchmade QC roulette. Maybe next time.
I hope it turns out amazing and I feel like an idiot for not getting in on it sooner. Wouldn't be the first time.
I hope you are wrong, cuz I am diving in instead of waiting :)