I'm liking the new one. I have one of the old ones that was more expensive, and didn't look as cool. It just has a plain heavy barrel with a small thread protector(not the knurled one), and the two piece base, and the little round bolt knob. My wife likes the newer ones too. I'm thinking about selling my old one to buy a new one and just let her have it. Any clue as to how much the older one would go for?