I sent in my old Commander trainer for repair last month and Emerson knives just sent me the newly redesigned Commander trainer. I must say that it is a MASSIVE improvement over its predecessor. The main problem that I had with the old trainer was that the liner lock was notoriously weak and unreliable. A secondary concern was that the blade was prone to rust even with constant cleaning (Flitz, Corrosion Block, Rust Free, etc). The liner lock on the new trainer is noticably thicker and stronger, and it locks up securely every time. It even passed the kali-stick spine-whack test with flying colors. The weight and feel of the trainer is almost identical to my '99 Commander. My only gripe is that the blade is still as pointy as it ever was (a thrusting problem for those of us who like to spar with metal trainers). Also, I was very impressed with the quality of Emerson's customer service - please keep up the good work. I'll post again in a week or so about the rust-resistance of the new blade.
Take care and train hard,
Fedaykin
Take care and train hard,
Fedaykin
