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
Hikin' Jim's blog is one of the best around, though obviously his scope is narrow. Will Reitveld is one of the most respected reviewers, though I wish he write more these days: http://ultralightinsights.blogspot.com/search/label/Gear%20Reviews
Like Ken, I think the people who are out using the gear intensely, like thru-hiking, are pretty reliable. I like Walking with Wired and Adventure Alan. Stick used to do good reviews, but he is no longer active. John Abela at HikeLighter has a ton of experience. He has his biases, but not in a commercial way. It's more like he has a strong opinion about what he likes and works directly with some manufacturers to co-design gear, so he has some deeper involvement in the products he reviews. But again, I don't think it affects his thoughts on a products. It's actually the reverse, his opinion affects the products themselves. Section Hiker is fairly good - he is super active, always testing gear, gives fairly balances reviews, and is explicit about his relationship with the manufacturer. My guess is if a product is terrible he won't review it, but I think there is actually a need for honest reviews of bad products.
I am very interested to hear what other sources people use. @jerkyken?