Forged in Fire

               I have inherited my mother’s fascination with watching how things are made.  That’s probably why I can watch the same episodes of Forged in Fire over and over again without any problems.  No matter how many times I see the same episode, I always seem to spot something new.

                Forged in Fire is a competition show where the contestants create weapons.  In the first round, the four contestants make a knife of their own design.  They are each given specific length specifications, and sometimes even a non-traditional material or not commonly used technique.  Other than that, the contestants are given pretty much free rein to design what they like.  After the allotted time is up, the knives are inspected by the judges, one contestant is eliminated, and it’s off to round two.

                In round two the remaining contestants must create a handle for their knives, as well as clean up anything wrong that was spotted during the first round of judging.  Once the time to work is up, the knives are put through strength and sharpness tests.  After the strength test, the knives are examined to see if any damage has been done to the knife while it was being hit against a hard object, usually some form of wood.  The sharpness test looks to see how well the knife will cut.  What is cut can range from a burlap bag filled with sand to apples.  Sometimes the damage caused in the strength test affects the sharpness test, but not always.  As is to be expected, once these tests are done, the contestants are narrowed down to two.

                The last two contestants are sent home to work in their own forges for five days.  What they will make there is a specific weapon from history.  It could be a weapon from any part of history and from any part of the world.  Anything could be under the cloth when host Wil Willis pulls it off. 

                Once the five days are up, the contestants return to the show's forge to see how well their weapons will do in a series of tests.  The tests change depending on what type of weapon has been created, but no matter what, there is always a “kill” test, very often with some sort of meat.  In fact, one of the highlights of the competition for the contestants is when Doug Marcaida, the edged-weapons specialist judge, announces, with a grin on his face, that a contestant’s weapon “will kill”.  Every time he says this; the contestants get such a thrill.

                After all the tests are done, the judges come together and determine a winner.  The contestants stand before the judges, and one of them is declared Forged in Fire champion.

                As I brought up before, I find it absolutely fascinating to watch how these weapons are made.  Not only do I get to watch how they are made, but I also learn what to and what not do to if I were to make my own.  While the contestants work, the judges explain what the contestants are doing wrong, and what they’re doing right.  The judge that seems to instigate this analysis the most is David Baker, a weapons history expert.  He also has a penchant for puns.

                The third judge is different depending on what season is airing.  J. Neilson, a Master Smith, is the one usually there, but he has twice had someone stand in for him for a length of time.  The first time it was Master Smith Jason Knight.  The other time it was the two-time Forged in Fire champion Ben Abbott.  Each of these men definitely have their own distinct style, making the dynamic slightly different depending on who is there in that particular episode.

                As much as I enjoy this show, I do have to wonder how long it can go on.  I’m not saying the quality of the show is lessening.  It is not by any means.  The reason I’m wondering this is because I don’t know how many bladesmiths there are in this country.  Might it be possible the show could run out of contestants?  I don’t know.  They could always repeat contestants.  That is something that has been done before.  I just don’t know how often the show would want to do that.

                Something else I wonder about is how many more new weapons they can come up with for contestants to create.  It would seem that they would run out, but I guess with all of history and the world to work with, there will always be another weapon to discover.