Possible Panda alternatives

Here are leaf comparisons for 3 housings I have found create tactility that is similar to pandas:

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Great information, the science you do is needed man, as always happy to help when needed so keep hitting me up!

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Smurfy teal and Zealio science when? @Walkerstop

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I love u mr.robocop, please discover more

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So what you’re saying is, is that Resers are the best housing on the cheap for increasing tactility.

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So anyone tried the holy razers then? How do they compare?

That’s the switch in walker’s profile pic, actually.

Well, the issue I ran into with Holy Razers is that the top housing is such a tight fit to the stem that it feels scratchy. I found that by putting on a keycap and then grabbing the switch in one hand and the cap in the other, then actuating the switch a few times while twisting the cap one way and then the other way, I could loosen up the plastic of the top a little bit. If you look at the tops, they are made of a very soft plastic, and the parts that touches the sides of the stems are little rails, so if you apply enough pressure to slightly deform / flatten those rails, the fit gets looser and then the top doesn’t feel so scratchy, and feels more like a Cherry top. I’ll probably populate a keyboard with switches that I have given this treatment.

Or you could just put Cherry, Gateron, or Outemu tops on and get the tactility without worrying about the top being scratchy. But then you lose the meme value of it saying Razer :wink:

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this is great. could prove helpful for others looking to do pandas without the high pricing.

i will personally be giving it a go once the halo trues get released from MD

So Razer tops fits tighter than Outemu Ice tops?

@Walkerstop master of frankestein switches, I don’t know whether to be impressed or to shake my head. Do you truly feel this is a reliable / viable alternative?

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I think I need to test it further. I have not put them into a keyboard and typed on them yet. The problem is I don’t have enough Halo stems to build a keyboard full of these without taking them from my Holy Pandas. I am very reluctant to do that given the current scarcity of Pandas.

The tightness of the tops is also a concern. I think the method I described of breaking them in is fine, but I’m not sure how consistent it is if I were to do a whole keyboard worth of these.

I want to wait for September or whenever the Massdrop Halos ship, then use my new Halos to populate a keyboard with these. Or I might find a better solution by that time, who knows.

I don’t have any qualms about the leaf, I think the leaf is good, I am just a little unsure about the rest of the housing, especially the top.

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You know I’m honestly starting to wonder how much of the extra tactility comes from the leaves & how much comes from the Halo stems mixed with a more traditional spring. I got just a few Halos to play around with right now, but I found putting a Halo stem in a Zealio housing with a Zealio spring creates a much more tactile switch than the Zealio by itself (I tried this with a 78g spring).

On the other hand, I can totally see the Razer (Greetech) leaves being a good bit stiffer than most as I have a few Greetech Greens & they are easily the most clicky stock (i.e. sans any stotle variants) click jacket style MX clicky switch I have tried. Think I’m gonna do some messing around myself once I actually getting moving today to check out some more possibilities with Halo stems. Anyways great post & thanks for the contributions @Walkerstop!

What about the bsun brown switches?
Have you guys tried them with halo stems?

I was thinking about buying some BSUN browns from 1up for the same reason, but after asking the community I was told the BSUNs do not use the same leaves as Pandas so never went through with it. Pretty interested in hearing the results if anyone has tried this also!

I have some around, but I don’t have any halos, waiting for the ones from the massdrop group buy to arrive some day, I don’t remember when the delivery estimation was for that one…

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I have never tried holy pandas though, and I think it’s gonna be difficult to try them here in europe, so I don’t know what makes them so especial…

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AFAIK it’s the actuation leaves that make Pandas special. I could be wrong about this (I don’t got no Pandas either :frowning_face:), but I think the metal used for them is a little bit thicker & the contact legs on them jut out a little bit further than most other MX switches. Which causes them to apply more pressure against the slider & increase the tactility of tactile stems. Combine that with the design of the Halo sliders & it does make for a very unique feeling tactile switch IME.

Thanks for you work in figuring out a good alternative to the elusive Panda’s for making Holy Pandas.
I’m also very interesting in getting a alternative with a clear housing as well. I hear the new Outemu Ice Switches are a valid option as well based on the design on their leaves. However there seems to be some confusion on exactly what switch is what based on the specifications provided my the manufacturer.

@txeni @Rob27shred

@Walkerstop has some BSUN switches on the way from me so he can make that comparison. I’ve done it and it doesn’t feel as tactile (have a couple of holy panda boards and some sunnny Pandelios)

But I can’t do the analysis that Walker is. So fingers crossed in a few days he will get the switches and be able to post his findings

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