Forged in Fire: Knife or Death

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What do you think ?

Cutting competitions for TV

removed (naughty, Count... tsk tsk tsk.)

Travis Wuertz makes an appearance

The chick is Nathan the Machinist's wife Jo
 
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No comment on the show, but I highly doubt linking to a torrent of the show is going to be allowed here.
 
It was fun to watch. Before the 2nd competitor made it through "knife fight" I was drawing the blade I would make to bring to the competition. I will admit much shadenfreude at seeing the traditional katana wrap itself around the ice block.

Not something I care to watch week after week, season after season without some change to the focus of the programming. Don't understand the necessity to the part Travis played inspecting all the knives (nothing against him, if anything I'd rather see him host the thing, the guy's a hoot) but personally I would want to see a little more about the blades, and a little less commentary from the hosts. Maybe some parameters for classes of blades as it seems absurd to me to see a katana vs. an 8" bowie vs. a kukri/parang thing. On the other hand, that's pretty cool too.

Hats off to all the competitors, dealing with foggy goggles and cold weather while I'm sure the entire time they were being told to hurry up and wait for the next false start or monologue take. :D
 
kuraki said:
It was fun to watch. Before the 2nd competitor made it through "knife fight" I was drawing the blade I would make to bring to the competition. I will admit much shadenfreude at seeing the traditional katana wrap itself around the ice block.

Not something I care to watch week after week, season after season without some change to the focus of the programming. Don't understand the necessity to the part Travis played inspecting all the knives (nothing against him, if anything I'd rather see him host the thing, the guy's a hoot) but personally I would want to see a little more about the blades, and a little less commentary from the hosts. Maybe some parameters for classes of blades as it seems absurd to me to see a katana vs. an 8" bowie vs. a kukri/parang thing. On the other hand, that's pretty cool too.

Hats off to all the competitors, dealing with foggy goggles and cold weather while I'm sure the entire time they were being told to hurry up and wait for the next false start or monologue take. :D
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Haha, same here. Started designing my competition blade almost right away. :D

I liked it. After all, it's a show with a lot of knives. And I think it's a nice complement to the FiF show.

Also, it's really fun to see people hacking away at stuff. Especially since they are allowed to pick their weapon of choice. I mean, the blade types were pretty broad ranging. :thumbsup:
 
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kuraki said:
It was fun to watch. Before the 2nd competitor made it through "knife fight" I was drawing the blade I would make to bring to the competition. I will admit much shadenfreude at seeing the traditional katana wrap itself around the ice block.

Not something I care to watch week after week, season after season without some change to the focus of the programming. Don't understand the necessity to the part Travis played inspecting all the knives (nothing against him, if anything I'd rather see him host the thing, the guy's a hoot) but personally I would want to see a little more about the blades, and a little less commentary from the hosts. Maybe some parameters for classes of blades as it seems absurd to me to see a katana vs. an 8" bowie vs. a kukri/parang thing. On the other hand, that's pretty cool too.

Hats off to all the competitors, dealing with foggy goggles and cold weather while I'm sure the entire time they were being told to hurry up and wait for the next false start or monologue take. :D
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I challenge you sir! Heck, I think I can do better than that rat tale Bowie knife. That guy had heart, but lacked the hardware.
 
Stromberg Knives said:
Haha, same here. Started designing my competition blade almost right away. :D

I liked it. After all, it's a show with a lot of knives. And I think it's a nice complement to the FiF show.

Also, it's really fun to see people hacking away on stuff. Especially since they are allowed to choose their weapon of choice. I mean, the blade types was pretty broad ranging. :thumbsup:
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Kevin McGovern said:
I challenge you sir! Heck, I think I can do better than that rat tale Bowie knife. That guy had heart, but lacked the hardware.
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Lets make this the Knife or Death competition knife design thread. I'll post my idea tonight. I'm going to make it, though I doubt I'll have the chance to use it on the show, sometimes I get an idea stuck in my head and that's the only way to get it out.
 
You don't have to be the one who uses the knife. I say we design and build some great knives and get Charles' ( Atlas Forge) son Graham to test them ouyt and pick one to do the competition. He is a young beast who competes in strongman competitions.

My friend Dave Catoe, who was on FIF, was asked to participate in FIF KorD. He was interested, as his main field is long choppers and short swords. Once he was briefed more on the type of challenges he said No, Thanks. He told me he is way too old for that type of competition.
 
I was a bit skeptical, but will admit that I burst out laughing at least three times and will likely watch again next week.
I too was imagining that my big 3V chopper would do better than most of the blades we saw.
 
The pails were interesting rubbery - tough- hard to get a bite on.


I think they knew what they were doing when they put that fish there. No slicing sharpness left to do that.

It definitely had a physical component, Miss Jo and the short guy were at a real disadvantage when the targets started going up out of reach.
You could see them all breathing hard.
 
Ok here it is. My Knife or Death Competition Parang. 22 inches of murder and hate and 0.300 thick CPM 3V. I have no experience in cutting competitions though I don't believe this is a typical cutting competition, so I've tried to design something optimized for the challenges I saw.

upload_2018-4-18_17-57-59.png

The handle is a hand and a half. Get two hands on it and pop the hips like Barry Bonds when you need to. Choke up and 1 hand it when you don't. Recurve gives the blade a biting point for getting into the corner of boxes or buckets. Fuller and full flat grind with distal taper to reduce the weight and try to limit fatigue. Twine wrap handle, if you have to wear gloves, lets be grippy. Height of the blade should stand up to a baseball swing into the ice, the hollow grind should be protected from the majority of the worst damage to save an edge for any finesse cutting. If I get a chance I'll try and do a 3d model and figure out what she'd weigh.
 
As corny as this show is, I must admit i enjoyed watching it. And will watch more, looks like its only 6 episodes for this first season though. Show has some really good points and dull ones though(puntastic!)

Things they did right:

▪ I LOVE the aspect of the contestants getting to bring their own blade of choice. This really gives an edge(get it?) to those who pick the right blade design for the tasks, and that is best suited for them to wield. Also makes it so steel, handle construction, edge geometry, and hardness choices become vital. We all saw what happened with the guy with the cheapo hidden tang that looked like a budk knife.

▪With that in mind, i think over time if this show stays around, its going to really let people see how big of a difference there is between a quality blade, and a cheapy. Nothing but good for custom knifemaking with that.

▪The courses were actually well done i thought, making it so its not just the blade, and hand/eye coordination but requires some endurance as well. This show would be boring as hell if it was all just the normal cutting competition guys whom half of woulda had a coronary event on this show.

Things they did poorly:

▪the hosts.... why is some wrestler with an annoying voice hosting this? Anytime he opens his mouth my ears hurt, and i feel my iq dropping. this guy should be on commercials selling mountain dew, not hosting a show. And the special forces guy, ok great, you can fight, and shoot guns, he seemed to be completly out of his element when it comes to blades though. They shoulda had someone charismatic from like the SCA, or one of a plethora of blade sport related events hosting. And poor travis, what are they doing with him? Pretty much the only guy there with the right to be, and they are using him as a prop who they barely use.
 
Well, the cheese factor is certainly off the rails, and the commentating is definitely a bit excessive at (most) times, but overall, I really enjoyed the first episode. Whoever designed the course did a great job in my opinion. Not only was it very creative, but definitely nuanced. Nice to see that it's more than having a good knife, but having some critical thinking skills as well as coordination and physical endurance.

Nice to see Travis on the show, though I think he should be sitting with the other commentators and giving some knife related commentary. I'd liked to have heard less about "dropping those legs!" and more about why a stubby stick tanged bowie (made in Pakistan was it?) is a terrible choice for a cutting competition, or why a Katana isn't the end all be all either.

I highly doubt this show will have the longevity of the original Forged in Fire, though I wouldn't mind being wrong. I think it definitely offers some things the other doesn't, and it was fun to watch.
 
The knife parameters we were given was a 10" blade minimum. That was it.
They wanted the knife to be a custom/handmade piece.
It was a lot of fun with some challenging aspects as well.
There was also a lot of "hurry up and wait".

The episode that aired last night was the first episode/group of people that filmed.
Next weeks episode was the second to last one filmed.
I am sure that there were some bugs on the first go around and were ironed out as the week went on.

There is a lot of interview and interaction footage that was not included, especially stuff with Travis.
The number of competitors will probably be less if it is picked up for another season.

All the competitors are very excited that they are getting it on air before Blade Show.
 
kuraki said:
Ok here it is. My Knife or Death Competition Parang. 22 inches of murder and hate and 0.300 thick CPM 3V. I have no experience in cutting competitions though I don't believe this is a typical cutting competition, so I've tried to design something optimized for the challenges I saw.

View attachment 890285

The handle is a hand and a half. Get two hands on it and pop the hips like Barry Bonds when you need to. Choke up and 1 hand it when you don't. Recurve gives the blade a biting point for getting into the corner of boxes or buckets. Fuller and full flat grind with distal taper to reduce the weight and try to limit fatigue. Twine wrap handle, if you have to wear gloves, lets be grippy. Height of the blade should stand up to a baseball swing into the ice, the hollow grind should be protected from the majority of the worst damage to save an edge for any finesse cutting. If I get a chance I'll try and do a 3d model and figure out what she'd weigh.
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That's awesome. I don't see why that thing wouldn't excel in the challenges shown. You might get a little tired of swinging it, but then again, you shouldn't have to swing it much! ;)
 
kuraki said:
Ok here it is. My Knife or Death Competition Parang. 22 inches of murder and hate and 0.300 thick CPM 3V. I have no experience in cutting competitions though I don't believe this is a typical cutting competition, so I've tried to design something optimized for the challenges I saw.

View attachment 890285

The handle is a hand and a half. Get two hands on it and pop the hips like Barry Bonds when you need to. Choke up and 1 hand it when you don't. Recurve gives the blade a biting point for getting into the corner of boxes or buckets. Fuller and full flat grind with distal taper to reduce the weight and try to limit fatigue. Twine wrap handle, if you have to wear gloves, lets be grippy. Height of the blade should stand up to a baseball swing into the ice, the hollow grind should be protected from the majority of the worst damage to save an edge for any finesse cutting. If I get a chance I'll try and do a 3d model and figure out what she'd weigh.
Click to expand...
Thats close to what I had in mind watching the show. A bolo type profile, or maybe a chopper but longer. Can you use two hands? ( I missed the katana guys run)
 
kuraki said:
Ok here it is. My Knife or Death Competition Parang. 22 inches of murder and hate and 0.300 thick CPM 3V. I have no experience in cutting competitions though I don't believe this is a typical cutting competition, so I've tried to design something optimized for the challenges I saw.

View attachment 890285

The handle is a hand and a half. Get two hands on it and pop the hips like Barry Bonds when you need to. Choke up and 1 hand it when you don't. Recurve gives the blade a biting point for getting into the corner of boxes or buckets. Fuller and full flat grind with distal taper to reduce the weight and try to limit fatigue. Twine wrap handle, if you have to wear gloves, lets be grippy. Height of the blade should stand up to a baseball swing into the ice, the hollow grind should be protected from the majority of the worst damage to save an edge for any finesse cutting. If I get a chance I'll try and do a 3d model and figure out what she'd weigh.
Click to expand...

Awesome looking profile whether you go on the show or not!
 
Kevin McGovern said:
Thats close to what I had in mind watching the show. A bolo type profile, or maybe a chopper but longer. Can you use two hands? ( I missed the katana guys run)
Click to expand...
You missed a good one... :D
Dude got winded pretty bad by the time he was at the ice block. At one point, his blade took about a 30 degree bend. They showed him straighten it out with his foot.
I figured he’d make it farther than he did, but he over-exerted himself and got sloppy.

Personally, I’m waiting to see a guy with a Scottish Claymore go blowing down the course.
 
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