Been using this one for the past couple of weeks and am very impressed with it. Fit of all parts and the finish of everything is top nptch. Durwood, don't know about the first model of which you speak, but any problems must have been worked out when they got to this pattern. Been using the pen blade mostly for letters, boxes, and the such. The biggest use though has been to sharpen pencils at school. Seems my pencil sharpner has gone on the blink in my classroom and I guess I've sharpened about 100 different pevcils over the past several days and the edge is still going strong.
This knife is a perfect fit and a perfect carry to go along with my large redwood burl Sebbie!