All About Pocket Knives

I’ve not been watching this television show much but this sounds interesting. From what I understand they’re having a series of contests to replicate historic military knives, including the Special Forces V-42 Stiletto and the Air Force survival bolo machete. https://caseknives.com/blogs/news/case- ... anchBattle

I’ll be setting the DVR for this.

Ken

I like this show...it's on my DVR list.

It is about the only show I watch consistently. I'm looking forward to this 3 week series with all forgers being military. Great show.

I would really like to see how they do both as they're some of my favorite blades. My great-great uncle was issued a V-42, but the knife was stolen in the '70s. I really don't watch it, as I find it a bit over the top; but I will. My biggest problems when they use parts from item "x"; I often question the materials salvaged from that item as being usable for knife blades.

Ought to interesting to see how they forge the thumbprint in the V-42. Although I like the idea of a TV show about knifemaking I wish they would lose the "fake drama" that seems to pervade a lot of shows now.JMHO.

I enjoy Forged in Fire. Real TV with real people getting their hands dirty and working with their skills or lack thereof through challenges. Watching someone work who is skilled is always fascinating.

At a knife show a few years ago I met 2 of the winning contestants... I asked them about their experience and it became clear the show is like many of the game shows on TV... both noted it was just a matter of creating a knife in a short period of time and not anything like their technique in their own shop... ie, no time to be a perfectionist but a time limited exercise in creating a knife to meet the criteria - sharpness, durability (heat treating) and comfort of use...

eh, I'm holding out for 'The Real Teen Mother Housewives of Possum Kingdom, Tx Forge a Swiss Army Knife in Fire'.

I find the show both entertaining and educational. If I didn't have a bad back and a bum shoulder, the show would have had me building a forge out back a long time ago. I still get the itch, but I'm trying to be practical about it.

The entertaining part - watching folks compete, the mistakes they make and how they overcome them. Yes, there is fake drama and fake tension. But it is "uncensored" in that they just bleep over the cuss words. I mean, how many of us would not be dropping a few bad words when we encounter a flaw or mistake in a project? Is everything shown on the show "accurate". Nope. Things are cut out, or left to the imagination because there is just "X" amount of time and lots of stuff is cut to make a show fit the time frame. They frequently mention in stage 2 "Now that your blades have been tempered....." and they might display a definition of tempering, they never show the process. I mean, really, how many people would want to watch a show about people sitting around and oven "baking" steel?

The educational part - the comments by the judges about what a particular contestant is doing - have taught me a lot about what should or should not be done. I have also learned a lot about historical weapons because I'm interested in learning more about the weapons being made in the final competition that the little tidbits dropped during the final weapon introduction. I was watching a rerun of a season 3 show last night and learned about "when" to file test for hardness, as one of the judges made a comment that led to temps being dropped in the conversation.

Is the show the only source a novice smith should use as a basis for learning the craft/art? Again, nope. But it's a start, a lure, an enticement for new folks to give it a try. They just need to make sure they don't emulate the idiot in NJ who set his house on fire.

I love the show!

I find it interesting that David Baker makes about all the example knives and swords.

I read where the round 1/2 challenge is performed by the master smith judge of the show to verify that the challenge is doable and that David makes the Final Challenge weapons that are displayed on the table as an example of what is to be made.

zzyzzogeton wrote:I read where the round 1/2 challenge is performed by the master smith judge of the show to verify that the challenge is doable

That I knew.

zzyzzogeton wrote:and that David makes the Final Challenge weapons that are displayed on the table as an example of what is to be made.

That I didn't know. Cool.

It is Tv entertainment and some of the contestants are pretty talented, a couple of things I don't agree with is you never see them temper or draw back a hardened blade. If you try chopping a block of ice or log with a non tempered blade, 99% of them would break. I suppose it is a time issue, because it takes me 2 or 3 times in a elec. oven at a hour at least each time to temper a hardened blade.(depending on the steel) The other problem I have is they don't know what steel alloy they are using, each alloy requires a different heat treatment. But it is fun to watch, Terry

I hope this statement doesn't require a *Spoiler Alert* for anyone watching.


I enjoyed last night's V-42 challenge with Army veteran forgers. I was sad that what I thought was the best looking example of a V-42 ended up failing. But that's why they have a torture tests to determine who's blade is best. No one wants a Cadillac with a Chevette engine.

The funniest part of this good show is......."This will definitely kill." Given our PC culture I get a kick out of this.

From ---> https://screenrant.com/forged-in-fire-d ... s-history/

Forged in Fire is, above all, a family show. At least, that's what Doug Marcaida believes. You may recognize his catch phrase "it will kill." He utters this upon disemboweling test dummies. Pay attention though, because that's not actually what he says. At least, not anymore.

What he actually says is "it will KEAL." This acronym, which Marcaida came up with himself, stands for "Keep Everyone Alive." Marcaida knows there are kids watching. He wants them to know that the violent weaponry they're being marketed actually saves lives. He's never explicitly stated any of this in the show, though. So all it really amounts to is little parrots running around spouting "it will kill!"