The New and Improved Commander - Feburay 2002
EKI has made several changes to their ever popular Commander line. Some may remember when EKI made changes to the Commander in mid 1999. The thinner the scales, switched from .062 liners to .050 liners. Went from water jet cutting to laser cutting. Added a secondary detent into the non locking liner. Added more traction areas on the spine of the body and changed the tip grind slightly (a change that lasted until about mid 2000, then they went back to the original).
Looking at the new Commander design, one doesnt immediately see the changes. The first thing to catch the eye will probably be the markings. EKI has added the Wave patent number above the logo and serialized them, much the same way the Mini-Commander is. The word Commander appears under the left side leg of the logo.
The next thing to catch the eye will be the traction grooves on the body. They have added the Third Generation style traction grooves. Meaning that unlike the older versions of the Commander where the traction grooves were cut into the Titanium alone, the new ones are thicker and catch both the Titanium and the G10 ala PSARK and Mini-Commander.
Looking inside we find that EKI added the thicker stop pin that has been incorporated into all the newer designed knives. Nice touch.
In talking to Shawn, EKIs Production Manager, he says that the blade grind was changed slightly and that the body was changed just a hair. While I didnt have a second generation Commander handy to compare the two, honestly, I couldnt eyeball a difference.
The thumb ramp blade serrations are more rounded. Thier about halfway between the original water cut serrations and the second generation squared off ones.
Next Id point out the screw locations.
One subtle change that I missed entirely was the backspacer. The body actually felt more solid then the second generation Commanders. Looking inside I was that the liners had remained .050 and that the scales didnt appear any thicker. It was about this point that Shawn pointed out that the backspacer had been changed. Its actually longer now and fills more of the area that would flex when the knife is really squeezed. Very cool touch!
I guess the next question is "When". Well, I have one in my pocket right now and you can too! Mary tells me that they actually started shipping to dealers last week. Many may not even know there was a change, if your inquiring, remember the word "Commander" right on the blade.
