Also, I heard back earlier today from Bessey N.A.'s VP of Marketing regarding what I am considering to be the rather odd roll-out of the new Revolution clamps. I'd been in touch with Bessey several times over the last few months in regards to wanting more info about where the new clamps were going to be manufactured and when and how they would be made available. The original release date was supposed to be on March 1st. Then it was delayed until April 1st. The second date stuck but retailers have been slow to make the product available and/or provide info about (or even know about) the updated clamps. From my own research, none of the retailers that have the new clamps (HD and Amazon are the only outlets I've found so far) are discounting the older version. It's as if the plan by retailers (at least those that are aware that new clamps are available) has been to wait until all of their old stock is gone and then quietly update their websites to reflect the improved clamps while keeping consumers in the dark about the entire thing. The last time I checked HD's site they actually had both the new and old fixed-head clamps available at the same time and for the same price (which corroborates [member=67964]Tammy[/member]'s experience).
The email from Bessey did indicate that they are trying to light a fire under retailers to make the transition faster. But, that said, Bessey still hasn't updated its own website to reflect the changeover to the new clamp version. Their main
site still only details the older version while the
special website they created to feature the new version is already outdated in that it doesn't include any details about
where to buy the new clamps.
On a related note, back in the middle of March, when I online-chatted with reps from Woodcraft & Rockler to request info about when the new clamps would be available, none of the reps I spoke with had any idea what I was talking about.
To be clear, I am personally interested solely in the Vario (moveable head) version of the new k-body clamps. To that end, and since at present no one in N.A. (in terms of online retailers) overtly offers the KREV Vario version, Bessey actually offered to process a direct order with me just so I can get my hands on them. This, more than a month after the official roll-out. So, there have obviously been some hiccups in the process.