panda bear

bad medicine · 05-24-2006, 08:12 PM

is anyone familiar with the fred bear bow cal the PANDA.my grampa gave me an old one that says its "glass powered"as if its some new technology.
its green glass on the front and yellow on the back.it looks as if its only 2 layers of wood.

Arthur P · 05-25-2006, 07:03 AM

I browsed thru my Bear catalog cd and here's what I found out... I only foundthe Pandain the '64 and '65 catalogs. It seems to have replaced the Bear Cub for those two years, but the Cub was back in '66. Honestly, I didn't see much difference between the Panda and the Cub.

Both were semi-recurve designs, with natural maple risers. The bow listed for $19.95 or came in a kit with target, tab, arm guard and a few target arrows for $24.95.

Bear bows said 'Glass Powered' for many years. It was one of Bear's trademarks.

Length is 60". Recommended brace height is 7-8". Drawweight is measured at 26".

BobCo19-65 · 05-25-2006, 07:22 AM

Here is a picture of my son shooting my mother's old bear cub. It's 25# at 28". It is an excellent target bow. Off the top of my head, I believe it is 66" though for some reason.
It also says glass powered.

Arthur P · 05-25-2006, 08:18 AM

Bob, are you sure that's a Cub? It looks morelike a Bearcat or Polar, and at 66" it sounds like one of those as well. I can't find any Cub that's longer than 60".

BobCo19-65 · 05-25-2006, 08:19 AM

I think you're right Art, I think it's a Bearcat. I'll take a look when I get home tonight. It has yellow glass on the back and belly, from the early-mid 60's. Mom shot and won a bunch of tournaments with it.

bad medicine · 05-25-2006, 04:58 PM

whats it say about draw weight?i would like to hunt dear but minumum weight is 40# here.it says that its 35#.but it almost lookd like its written with a caligraphy pen or something.and yet it has thelook ofstock writing too.that is nothing like my bow in thepicture.my riser ismuch smaller.(im new to the parts of a bow;im assuming the riser is the part that is just above and belowthe handle)but 60" is right on the money.

Arthur P · 05-26-2006, 07:12 AM

The riser is the part between the limbs, including the handle.

Your Panda:

Edit: I was afraid of that. I can't copy the picture from my 'puter to post.

Anyway, it says draw weight ranged from 15-35 lbs in 5 lb increments, measured at 26". Figure the draw weight increases 1.75 lbs per inch for a bow that's 35 lbs at 26", you'd have to draw right at 29" for it to get up to 40 pounds.

Bear, like most other bowyers, always marked their bows with caligraphy pen, so it's original. Whatever it says the weight is, that's it.

bad medicine · 06-01-2006, 05:46 PM

ill have to look up how to figure out my draw weight.hopefully it'll work.thanks