98 comander customized

[Clayton]

i was thinking about customizing my comander, but i heard that the new ones arent made as well as the 98 models. what are the differences in the models, i heard that the scales werent as thick but that problem was solved.
any difference in the blades?
ill probly buy a newer one and have that fixed up, i love my old faithful. and have reserves about changing it.
thanks for the help ahead of time
-clayton

 

[John Hollister]

Clayton,

This question comes up fairly often. Here's the canned responce.

The '98 Commanaders were the First Generation. (point of reference only)

In mid 1999 EKI made several changes to the Commander line:

• *Thinned the liners a hair
  *Thinner the scales
  *Added a second detent to the non-lock liner side
  *Changed to point grind to keep more blade thickness out toward the point
  *Changed from water cutting the blades to laser cutting
  *Serrated the liners (traction grooves) behind the thumb ramp

In late 2000, the blade grind seems to have gone back to the original style.

Most of the changes have been well recieved. However, the overall thinning of the body has met with some . . . grumbling. I too prefer the thicker feel of the First Generation Commanders and would like to see the "widened". ("Wider is better!") I would be willing to put money down that the change was made in the first place to satify customer requests.

I've had several First Gen (aka "'98 Commanders") customized. I've also had severa Second Gen ones worked over too. Either way, knock your self out, just show us pictures.