YOK Trash Pandas

https://novelkeys.xyz/collections/switches/products/yok-trash-pandas

Just saw these pop up today and had to order some to see what all the hype about YOKs are about.

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Nice, thanks for the heads up! Just ordered 100 of these myself, I think between these & the leftover Red YOKs I got I can do something really cool with the switch layout on my red E6.5 when I get it. I plan on pairing it with GMK Jamon, so maybe even throw in a few of the Holy Pandas I got coming from Drop(ped the first part of our name :face_with_raised_eyebrow:) & go really ham with the switches. :thinking:

As long as these are the same as the YOK Red Pandas (also GSUS switches), with a Halo stem they feel virtually identical to OG Holy Pandas. I did hear some grumblings about the YOK Mint Pandas not being as tactile as the Red Pandas, but I didn’t get any of them & only seen a few complaints so I think these should be the same.

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Picked up 70 as these are going to be perfect for a manuform build being plate mount switches :smiley:

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Nice! Pretty psyched to try these out to get a preview of the Holy Pandas coming in. Plus honestly couldn’t say no to them because they were called “Trash Pandas”

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I’m happy to see Panda housings continue to be available although I have a stash of YOK Red Panda housings as spares. Halo stems should last a long time but Panda housings are subject to wear and tear, a tad more than other switches. Difficulty of removing lube also calls for keeping a healthy stash of these housings.

UPDATE: I found YOK housing a bit less prone to breakage than Gsus housing. Also note that combination of hot-swappable PCB and tight fit of Panda housing increases wear and tear. I now ritually sand down notches on the housings as all of my Holy Panda boards are now hot-swappable.

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It seems to me that the different color housings change the sound slightly. Has anyone else noticed this?

Gsus are MORE fragile? Jeeeeez.

It seems to me that the different color housings change the sound slightly. Has anyone else noticed this?

I did notice that. Still sounds nice though. :slight_smile:

Gsus are MORE fragile? Jeeeeez.

Gsus housing top seemed less elastic than YOK so, when its 4 latches get over bent, they stay bent. And the thin strip of plastic on the LED side can break apart if you squeeze too hard with switch puller (easy to do since Panda housing fits very tightly). So far I broke around 5 Gsus housings while only 2 YOK housings broke.

So, I got my Trash Pandas in today and swapped my halo true stem into it. How close are these Yok housings + Halo stems to OG holy pandas?

I was expecting to be blown away, but I think in all honestly I have a pretty solid preference for V2 Zealios in tactiles after trying these.

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Give a week or two. Holy Panda will grow on you while Zealios V2 stays pretty much the same. Don’t know why, frankly.

They have to be in a board to get the full experience IME. My Red YOKs + Halo stems didn’t seem extremely tactile at first when I put them together, but once I got them in my Redscarf it was a completely different story. They ended being much more tactile than they felt loose. Not sure if this the same for OG HPs or not, but a lot of people who have used both say GSUS/YOKs feel pretty much the same as OG HPs. I believe this to be the case also, but I never had a board with OG HPs. Just got to try them at a meetup.

Also comparing them to V2 Zealios is gonna end up with a negative view on even OG HPs. Zeal has them beat in tactility & refinement for sure, but the Holy Trash Pandas will grow on you like @donpark said. I kinda felt the same way as you after putting Holy Red Pandas in my Redscarf, I did find myself preferring the 78g V2 Zealios in my Clueboard. Then after using the Redscarf some more I found my preference shifting over to the Satanic Pandas (I still like that name best for the red Yok + Halo stem combo LOL). So much so that I decided that I’ll be building my E6.5 with a mix of the Holy Trash & Red Pandas instead of V2 Zealios like I was originally gonna go with.

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I might be crazy, but I’m thinking about just using these switches as plain old linears. I really like the housing color and still seems pretty low wobble. Smoother than the retooled black housings I have too when they’re both lubed the same and using the same spring weight.

I’ll likely swap in the retooled black stems I have, do my normal “drown it in 3204” lube approach, and plop in some 72g springs.

If I end up liking this setup, I may do the same exact thing with the Massdrop Holy pandas I have coming in to convert them to the linears I use for the Zenfox build. I guess I’ll call them “Heretical Pandas”.

Edit: Yep, this was a cool idea… Retooled black stem hits the housing in Yok Pandas. Scratch plan A.

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From what I’ve heard the GSUS & YOK switches make for much better linears than the original Invyr Pandas. Smoother yet still decently low wobble. With some nice re-tooled black stems, good springs, & some 3204 I bet they are pretty nice! :+1:

Edit: I still strongly suggest you give the Trash Pandas with Halo stems or MD Holy Pandas a fair try in a board though. They really do grow on you & end up being some of the best tactile switches I have tried. If you end up linearizing the MD HPs you get let me know, I’ll take the Halo stems off your hands. :grinning:

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Ha, I may actually have a bag of Halo true stems ready to go already sitting on my desk. Still deciding if I’m going to end up doing anything with them. If I end up deciding to get rid of them, I’ll give you a holler.

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Thanks, sounds good! :sunglasses: I’d be willing to outright buy them or maybe trade for other switch parts or something. Anyways just let me know if you decide not to use them in the future & we can work something out if you want to get rid of them. :+1:

Anyone tried Zealio stems in these over holy :panda_face:s? Are these worth the switch? Worth switching some unused Zealio stems into?

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Not really IME. I swapped V2 Zealio stems into YOK Red Pandas, which ended up with a slightly less smooth V2 Zealio feel, better off sticking with the real deal V2s IMO. I then tried with a V1 Zealio stem & that felt more in line in what you would expect with Holy YOKs/GSUS/Pandas because of the slight pre travel before the tactile event starts. Although with V1 Zealio stems the tactility was sorely lacking compared to using Halo stems. Also you lose arguably the best part of Holy Pandas by using any type of Zealio stems, the unique sound of the bottom of the stem hitting the bottom of the bottom housing. You gotta remember kaihl stems are a few mm longer than most other manufacturers stems causing the signature Holy Panda sound.

However that said, Zealio V1 stems will feel a decent bit more tactile in YOK housings vs their stock housings, albeit a bit more scratchy. So if you got both extra V1 Zealio stems & YOK housings laying around there is nothing wrong with combining them for an extra tactile switch (lubing strongly recommended). I just couldn’t in good faith recommend you buying a batch of Zealios & YOKs to combine as the results are underwhelming to say the least. Especially compared to YOK housings with Halo stems. :+1:

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Not gonna lie; I kinda want to try these with Zilent stems.

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just tried it with v2 zilent stems. Felt promising out of a board, but I stuck some in a hotswap and found to to be not all that great. Pretty much the same feel as the zilent stem in the original housing with a tiny bit more wobble and worse sound signature.

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