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
https://www.bladehq.com/item--Opinel-Knives-No-8-Beech-Stainless--20516 2) The grind is a bit chunky; It's a hollow grind on a short, fairly thick blade. I carry the Bowie listed above, I use for for food prep on a regular basis to justify my spending as much as I did on it, and because I enjoy using it. What I can say is that it wedges like a son of a bagel on hard foods. It's using a flat grind on a blade that's longer (better distal taper) and not much thicker then the Chapter. The Chapter would probably do fine for small stuff like opening boxes, cutting herbs, cutting string as that's where a hollow grind shines, but it'll fail once you start to reach the top of that hollow on any kind of hard object like a potato or apple if you decide to use it as something more then a fancy box cutter. The Opinel #8 above is a slicing monster, and as you can see it's about half the thickness of the Chapter while being quite a bit longer. 3) The steel is garbage. It's D2 steel. It's been used on kabars and the ilk for decades at this point, it's a fine serviceable steel. At 100 bucks or less. At 250 bucks from a no name, non storied manufacturer I would expect some form of powder metallurgy steel such as M390. There are manufacturers who go full retard and somehow sell knives using D2 at ridiculous prices (Such as Medford) but that's a rare exception. One of the key things you pay for in a knife is the steel, and this knife isn't providing any value. Beyond that they call it semi-stainless, which is laughable. D2 will rust if you don't care for it, or leave it somewhere it doesn't like. Sure it's SEMI stainless, but most of the chrome content goes to carbide production so it isn't as stain proof as the composition would make you think. Them calling it corrosion resistant is basically preying on people with more dollars then cents who want a pretty art piece. 3) Handle design. It looks pretty abysmal in terms of ergonomics, it looks like it would fit in your hand like a brick, it would kill your hand if you were in a situation where using the knife is the best solution (E.g going to a tinder matches date for dinner, finding they cut everything on ceramic plates instead of their cutting boards so using a knife is like cutting with a computer mouse so you whip out your razorsharp knife to blow their minds. ) 4) What's it running on? Another huge question when it comes to knives. Even BladeHQ has no idea whether it's on washers or bearings, and that's a pretty bad sign. 5) The pocket clip. Good god the pocketclip. Right side, tip down carry only? On a knife of this price that's a pretty solid indication that you're paying for a fashion accessory here, not a tool. No shame in that, but be aware of that fact and don't expect it to perform like other $250 knives you see. Personally I would pass. Far too many negatives and questions for an interesting design. As for it's little brother, it looks more ergonomic for sure ,but the steel is atrocious at that price. BD1 would be pretty close to AUS8 and that class of steels, which might be worth 30-40 bucks, certainly not worth 100ish. That's my two cents, as I said though designs a powerful thing and if it speaks to you no issues with materials or quality will sway you so best of luck in your quest!
https://www.victorinox.com/ch/en/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Large-Pocket-Knives/Swiss-Soldiers-Knife-08/p/0.8461.MWCH It's a good knife but it lost its sharpness rather quickly.
https://www.knivesandtools.de/de/pt/-wuesthof-kochkoffer-bestueckt2.htm?gclid=CjwKCAiAy-_iBRAaEiwAYhSlA1-yd524JyN2Aho9JOcTuCrl5mCjKdwVP2K2aGEOTfIb4WHxHfwiqhoCpJkQAvD_BwE They are made of X50CrMoV15 Steel. I'm pretty happy how they hold up after more than five years and sharpening it with the sharpening steel.
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cEtIxKXR I've ordered a whetstone 1000/3000 grit and will try to work the knives with it.