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I was hoping someone else would tackle this one. Since no one has I'll take a stab at it. First of all, if you've seen the drag on any Abel Big Game or Super Series model, you've seen the Seamaster drag. As far as the functioning of the dual-mode I can say this much: I've used both the original design created by Cap'n Mack and the newer version modified by Robbie, the Captain's grandson. The original version had a tendency to get caught between the direct drive and the anti-reverse modes into what I've termed the "chatter mode." It sounds horrible, and I've heard of people losing fish while the reel was in this mode, although it never happened to me when I got between modes. One needs to backcrank the handle a couple of millimeters in order to avoid this, but it took many of us quite a bit of use time to get the hang of backcranking every time a fish took line. Robbie added a spring into the handle so that if you let go of the handle when a fish took line the backcrank would then happen automatically. This works very well as long as you let loose of the handle completely. Otherwise you still have to backcrank. In use, and I've used three of the Seamasters for everything from bonefish to tarpon and sailfish over the years, I'd still say if I were choosing a dual-mode today I'd choose the Henshel. There is no doubt that the Henschel isn't nearly as sexy looking as a Seamaster and it is close to being as expensive, but the dual-mode feature on the Henschel is friction-based and not cam-based, so it cannot get caught in a chatter mode. It truly is seamless. I've landed a couple of tarpon with one and over two dozen sailfish with a larger Henschel, and I cannot believe how easy it is to use. Both reels have incredibly durable finishes and outstanding drags. The Henschel drag and clutch are also sealed.