Panda Poles- your impressions please...

[gaijin]

I'm intrigued with the feel of bamboo. I hate the vibration of composites. I love Scott's Series 4 Aluminum and grip- have used that pole for decades.

Tell me about your panda poles compared to others. Weight? Swing weight? Durability? Grips?

Yes, this is a thread about poles.

[SiSt]

I got a pair of old bamboo poles for $3 at the Thrift Shop a month ago. I hate the old baskets/picks and the old grips leave a lot to be desired.

I think the price is a little high for the new style bamboo ones. But I do like the look and feel of bamboo. They are also biodegradable and made from something that reduces greenhouse gasses.

And they are a lot safer to hike with during electrical storms in the mountains (zzzaaaappp!)

I found a pair of similar ones in my garage/outhouse. Old-school XC poles with leather grips and straps, plastic/leather baskets and metal tips. Think I´ll try to hack something together once the alu ones i have are toast and can donate their grips.

Late fifties bamboo poles -> so hot right now.

[abraham]

That type is too flexy for me. I have an old pair from my parents that I used for mellow xc skiing. They typically are too skinny to be very useful.
I think the panda poles are twice as thick or more than the old bamboo poles I had. Haven't done anything more than handle a few pairs in a store while getting some boot work done though.

[SiSt]

That type is too flexy for me. I have an old pair from my parents that I used for mellow xc skiing. They typically are too skinny to be very useful.
I think the panda poles are twice as thick or more than the old bamboo poles I had. Haven't done anything more than handle a few pairs in a store while getting some boot work done though.

The ones I found seem decently stiff, so as I´ll chop them down to about 125cm, they´ll be plenty stiff enough for skiing. Whenever I ski somewhere that involves long traverses/uphills/poling I´ll bring my adjustable ones.

[verbier61]

Apart from how they look ($!) the swing is their best. They have a nice weight distribution. Cannot comment on durability as I have reveived them few months ago

[oftpiste]

I've got a pair I picked up used and enjoy skiing with them. They're kinda my travel poles. I don't really notice much difference in swing weight from the z-bends that are my main pair.

The cone-shaped basket is a little deep. The tip will sometimes slip on very hard snow when planted at an angle or they can be hard to make stand up when planted in the snow. I've had a couple of Panda aficionados tell me they make the basket a few mm shallower by trimming the plastic.

Plus they're just fun, manufacturers are good peeps, solidly built, good conversation starters and gaper-quote generators. They get 4.5 stars from me.

[nickwm21]

I actually emailed the guys a few weeks ago. Really like the idea and business model. I think the choice of grips and baskets kicks ass. Will definitely support these guys when my poles snap or if they go on sale.

Here was my email chain:

to tansnowman

Boo - Raw vs Toasted
Hey there.

Have you noticed any durability differences between the two types? Or, is it just aesthetics?

Thanks,

Nick

to me

Hey Nick! Thanks for your stoke in Panda Poles! We generally have fewer warranties with the toasted, and being that it's a little bit lighter weight, it's definitely worth the extra money. The color is also a much richer hue. But the Ra is great as well. Let me know if you have any other questions, and we look forward to getting some Pandas in your paws ASAP!

Thanks again for your stoke! Talk soon.

TanSnowMan
Chief

[jmedslc]

I thought they were a little heavy for me as far as swing wt goes and i questioned the durability. Warranty and cust service seems good, so it could be worth a try.

[rob stokes]

Every pair (only a couple) I have seen have split.

[BCMtnHound]

Yup, maintenance is key. Without regular treatment to seal the material, bamboo (like most wood fibre) will not do well in conditions that are highly variable in moisture/humidity & temperature. That said, for their weight the amount of energy that bamboo can store and dissipate is quite remarkable.

[auvgeek]

Maybe I'm missing something, but you guys can seriously feel vibrations from your poles??

Personally, I go through poles fairly quickly -- land on them, etc -- so I've never considered a pair that spendy. Plus, they don't really bend do they? Just snap? They are cool looking though.

[DJSapp]

The one pair I've seen in action looked rather large and was considerably heavier than my heavy poles (indestructable Arno Adam poles). Price tag is pretty steep for a consumable piece of ski gear.

[BCMtnHound]

From DB Magazine, kN/cm2 for tension strength and bending strength of bamboo is 14.8-38.4 & 7.6-27.6 respectively. For steel(St37) it is 16 & 14 respectively. And about the same compressive strength as Aluminum.

[creaky fossil]

oh cool, enginerd data. that'll come in handy when you fall on a Panda Pole and it snaps, and in the meantime it helps you feel better about the Panda Poles being 5x heavier than a decent-but-cheap alu pole.

[BCMtnHound]

With you Creaky, I feel nothing.

FWIW, I have a set of old bamboo poles that I can't even remember where they came from. They look nice, but not worth the weight or care as compared to my aluminum poles (that last 2 or 3 seasons on average). I have never seen a bamboo pole 'snap' under tension, but have seen them crack & split. They will shear under much the same force as aluminum however.

[XXX-er]

Maybe I'm missing something, but you guys can seriously feel vibrations from your poles?? .

No, i can't feel any difference

For BC I like the BD flicklocks with the short aluminium upper/carbon lower, pretty bomber, I forgot em last month so I just grabbed a couple of pieces of Bamboo from a snow fence and used em to ski a big line

The toughest part was getting up a shitty skin track with no baskets


The bamboo was all split when I got back to the P-lot.

A buddy of mine broke his Panda poles in maybe 1 season

[Hugh Conway]

Maybe I'm missing something, but you guys can seriously feel vibrations from your poles??

Dude, when you are standing at the top of butterfly or easy rabbit quaking in fear you need something with a resonant frequency different than your hand shakes. Or if you've the DTs in the liftline, again, different resonant frequency or you'll explode.

[Banquo]

I got my 1st pair 3 years and love them! Only problem has been the teeth on the basket breaking off but that was when they were crushed under a ton of gear in Chile last summer. I have the toasted version and don't mind the weight. Powder basket gives good support in deep snow. Not much if any flex but I like them that way. I just picked up a 2nd pair - 2" longer than suggested with the samurai grip (gives more "adjustability" when skinning) toasted, medium basket and adjustable strap.

[PNWbrit]

I've got a pair I picked up used and enjoy skiing with them. They're kinda my travel poles. I don't really notice much difference in swing weight from the z-bends that are my main pair.

The cone-shaped basket is a little deep. The tip will sometimes slip on very hard snow when planted at an angle or they can be hard to make stand up when planted in the snow. I've had a couple of Panda aficionados tell me they make the basket a few mm shallower by trimming the plastic.

Plus they're just fun, manufacturers are good peeps, solidly built, good conversation starters and gaper-quote generators. They get 4.5 stars from me.

Oft you're such a pole afficionado .

You should start a blog.

The z-bends do make you look faster though

[creaky fossil]

With you Creaky, I feel nothing.

FWIW, I have a set of old bamboo poles that I can't even remember where they came from. They look nice, but not worth the weight or care as compared to my aluminum poles (that last 2 or 3 seasons on average). I have never seen a bamboo pole 'snap' under tension, but have seen them crack & split. They will shear under much the same force as aluminum however.

I don't recall technically describing "snap" as tantamount to "shear," and I seem to have misplaced the part of my post where I was talking about "under tension" -- maybe you could quote it for me.

I'm sure the "stoke" you get from using a "core" pole designed by a coupla trustafari getting rich off idiots, well that outweighs your misleading recharacterization of my earlier comment.

since weight is irrelevant, and since, apparently, "shear" and "snap" are the criteria, I'm gonna start me a pole company making poles from rebar. I'll get some rich douchenozzle kid with puddles of money to fund the venture, and another vulture who knows how to lie for moving product's sake, and PROFIT.

of course a bamboo pole is worth $100/pr. bamboo is a finicky plant that requires perfect hothouse growing conditions, why it's more sensitive than cannabis on that score, and so the costs growing bamboo warrant the high price. as does the clever marketing. yep, I dig it. completely. sign me up for 10 pair. check's in the mail.

[Mofro261]

Swing weighted vibrations.

[PNWbrit]

I'm gonna start me a pole company making poles from rebar. I'll get some rich douchenozzle kid with puddles of money to fund the venture, and another vulture who knows how to lie for moving product's sake, and PROFIT.

Will there be a maggot hook up price?

[abraham]

Since weight is irrelevant, and since, apparently, "shear" and "snap" are the criteria, I'm gonna start me a pole company making poles from rebar. I'll get some rich douchenozzle kid with puddles of money to fund the venture, and another vulture who knows how to lie for moving product's sake, and PROFIT.

I had that idea once after snapping 3 poles in a week. Or maybe it was to use metal pipe. Either way I decided the solution was to start paying attention and stop running into trees.

I think to sell rebar poles you have to have a variety of grips and fluorescent colors, ideally enough options that everyone can be unique

[oftpiste]

Oft you're such a pole afficionado .

You should start a blog.

The z-bends do make you look faster though

well, I have had one for many years so do consider myself an aficionado for sure. I'm studying it as we speak.

you mean the pandas make me look slower? shit. that's the end of that.

to the rest of you, always remember that in the skiing world, poles are probably the most important piece of equipment you'll ever have. as for the pandas, I just got them 'cuz I like them. and they were cheap. and I like them.

[PNWbrit]

you mean the pandas make me look slower?

I've been meaning to kidnap them and wrap them in that faux carbon fiber tape that ricers cover the interiors of their '97 Honda Civics with.

Carbonboo Inc. "Our poles look quick when going slow"