Forged In Fire - General Discussion

[Gothish520]

So another contestant gets eliminated without being able to complete the challenges - seems to be happening a lot this season.

But I'm glad Drew won, he came across as a nice kid, and he's got some skills. Plus, he reminds me a lot of one of my nephews. :)

J looked like he was having fun this ep. 

Edited May 3, 2018 by Gothish520

[DEL901]

Another show tidbit I read:

For the first challenge, Jay/J/Ben, whichever is 1st chair - they do the challenge first.

For the final, take-home, challenge, David Baker forges the weapon that's displayed.

[Quilt Fairy]

18 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Another show tidbit I read:

For the first challenge, Jay/J/Ben, whichever is 1st chair - they do the challenge first.

For the final, take-home, challenge, David Baker forges the weapon that's displayed.

Now that is fascinating!  (And totally makes sense.)  Do you have a link to where you read it?

[DEL901]

Here's the link.  BTW, the secrets aren't very shocking, LOL, but generally are interesting.

 

https://screenrant.com/forged-in-fire-dark-secrets-shocking-trivia-facts-history/

Edited May 4, 2018 by DEL901

[Destiny74]

Anyone still watching Knife or Death?  I know it got some hate further up on the forum but it has grown on me.  I like seeing what they can do with their knives.  And I love it when their knife bends or breaks if they come in with a "I had this made specifically for me". Yeah, but did you have it made for this challenge?  Oops.  Square one.

I thought the woman with the big sword was gonna biff but she made it all the way through!  Just not fast enough.  

As for FIF... The guy last night who, if he won, was gonna fix his teeth!  ?

[Quilt Fairy]

Knife or Death has grown on me a little bit now that I've learned to DVR it so I can FF through everything but the knife runs.  What's gotten boring, though, it that the 2 runs are exactly the same on every episode.  I wish they'd change it up a bit like American Ninja Warrior does in the city auditions, where they test the same kind of skills but the actual tricks are different in every city.  Also, even I - whose last encounter with a really sharp knife sent me to the ER - can't understand why the contestants aren't 1) taking a couple of breaths before they tackle Lifeline, and 2) don't adjust themselves so they go at the fish spine first.  Time after time they slice belly-first, which I think pushes the fish further away and gives a poorer angle and less power to get through the spine.

[DEL901]

Knife or Death has grown on me too.  And I liked seeing that young guy win (he also recently one Forged in Fire).  Goldberg seems to be dialing it back a bit.  And nice seeing Travis, from FiF doing the weapons tests.  At first, I was pleasantly surprised by the $20,000 prize (twice the mothership prize) and then realized that only the end of season winner gets that.  

[sourpickles]

Maybe I need to try harder....I've watched a few epis of Knife or Death and I honestly could not stand it, but I'll give it one more shot.  The whole fast fwd. thing does have some appeal.  I've missed a lot of the more recent Forged In Fire, mainly because when I couldn't stand Ink Master anymore I missed FIF too, because I would just go to bed!  Same night and all that.  I'll have to apply myself, since the few newer epis I've seen on rerun were very, very good.

[johntfs]

I will say that I did like this week's episode of FiF because we got the full array of weapons tests.

[Gothish520]

On 5/16/2018 at 12:47 PM, Destiny74 said:

Anyone still watching Knife or Death?  I know it got some hate further up on the forum but it has grown on me.  I like seeing what they can do with their knives.  And I love it when their knife bends or breaks if they come in with a "I had this made specifically for me". Yeah, but did you have it made for this challenge?  Oops.  Square one.

I thought the woman with the big sword was gonna biff but she made it all the way through!  Just not fast enough. 

I stuck with Knife or Death too and I enjoyed it and thought the  finale was pretty cool. I got used to Goldberg's hyperbolic style LOL. I liked Tu Lam as cohost and Travis from FiF checking out the knives. 

I really enjoyed this week's episode of FiF, those two-handed swords both came out nice. Ben is really growing on me as a judge.

[Maelstrom]

I kinda wanted Ed to win just because of the cat shirts (Doug really loved making all those cat puns) but Jonathan‘s sword was pretty impressive. Though I’m just happy the most recent episodes seem to have finally broken the streak of catastrophic failures determining the winner.

[Quilt Fairy]

Doug slicing motorcycle seat cushions had to be the most inane and boring sharpness test ever.  He looked to be putting so much effort into it that I was worried he'd re-injure his arm.

Did anyone else catch that next week's show is on Monday? 

[Schnickelfritz]

5 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Did anyone else catch that next week's show is on Monday? 

There is a military themed episode on Memorial Day and a regular episode at it's regular timeslot on Tuesday. Double the  "It will Ke-ill" goodness next week.

[whydoiwatchtv]

I did not catch that Monday had a new one so thanks to those who mentioned it. A few comments on this season: 

The first one this season with the amateurs was interesting because after watching almost all the FIF episodes, I feel like I can forge a simple blade without any training (not really, just an armchair, watch till you’re an expert joke).  After seeing that one, I realize that I most assuredly could not without a few years of practice! I’d be lucky with a chunk hammered a few times and no injuries.

I’m still enjoying the episodes and I hope they continue to come up with good, new ideas. The new judge has grown on me and I’m hoping Doug is fully recovered soon. 

The FIF Knife or Death is not really working for me. I keep trying to like it but I laugh at the over the top judges. The chicken slice is gross because there is chcken juice flying all over and I can only think of the hot lights and salmonella flinging everywhere. The slow motion of that test is hysterical. 

All in all, love the show and all the judges. Didn’t like Wil at first because I thought he was trying to be Jeff Probst, but after reading his background and seeing  his sense of humor, I look forward to him and his comments.

[Destiny74]

10 hours ago, whydoiwatchtv said:

I did not catch that Monday had a new one so thanks to those who mentioned it. A few comments on this season: 

The first one this season with the amateurs was interesting because after watching almost all the FIF episodes, I feel like I can forge a simple blade without any training (not really, just an armchair, watch till you’re an expert joke).  After seeing that one, I realize that I most assuredly could not without a few years of practice! I’d be lucky with a chunk hammered a few times and no injuries.

I’m still enjoying the episodes and I hope they continue to come up with good, new ideas. The new judge has grown on me and I’m hoping Doug is fully recovered soon. 

The FIF Knife or Death is not really working for me. I keep trying to like it but I laugh at the over the top judges. The chicken slice is gross because there is chcken juice flying all over and I can only think of the hot lights and salmonella flinging everywhere. The slow motion of that test is hysterical. 

All in all, love the show and all the judges. Didn’t like Wil at first because I thought he was trying to be Jeff Probst, but after reading his background and seeing  his sense of humor, I look forward to him and his comments.

The chicken juice was gross.  I watched while cringing each time they sliced it.  Ewww.  Also, for the life of me, could not understand why the competitors wouldn't attack the fish from the spine.  That's what I would've done, seems senisible to me.

But I did like Knife or Death.  I was enjoying watching what these knife competitions we're about.  I'd never heard of knife comps before FIF and had no freaking clue what they meant when they refrenced a "competition chopper".  The finale was actually great.  Very close and I was in it to the end.  

Edited May 26, 2018 by Destiny74

[Quilt Fairy]

I did enjoy the finale of Knife or Death, but primarily the show made me appreciate how FiF manages to come up with different and imaginative challenges each week. 

I think Ben is finding his groove as a judge, he practically shouted out in dismay when that guy decided to do a water quench straight from the forge.

[WildPlum]

Watched two episodes of Knife or Death and the main host is everything I dislike in reality TV - a shouting, rude jerk. He might as well just beat on his chest and grunt while standing in front of a large bonfire instead of speak. I remember the "knife judge" from FiF, where he was amusing, he continues to be so here and seems like he is a genuinely nice guy, even when he is rejecting a weapon (has that happened often?).

Several of the competitors seems grossly unprepared for what they are about to do, but that was fairly true on the first season of FiF as well, until people had watched a season and had an idea of what they would be doing - I'd guess that fewer people will show up with the very short knives in future (assuming the show gets another season).

[Quilt Fairy]

21 hours ago, WildPlum said:

I remember the "knife judge" from FiF, where he was amusing, he continues to be so here and seems like he is a genuinely nice guy, even when he is rejecting a weapon (has that happened often?).

Travis has rejected one or two, but basically his role was superfluous.  Any testing that a knife was capable of running the course could have been done off-screen IMO.

[Destiny74]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Travis has rejected one or two, but basically his role was superfluous.  Any testing that a knife was capable of running the course could have been done off-screen IMO.

I  thought so too.  I thinks he's just there to tie the two shows together in more than just concept.  But, I like Travis.  Wish he had a larger part.

[WildPlum]

I guess the difference between the two shows, to me, is that on FiF something is created, hand-made, and the judges are fairly supportive and friendly and you can feel that they want the contestants to do well. On the other it is just shouting and posturing (from the judges and often the contestants, although I suspect they are all told to play that up). It just screams "faux reality show." Some people like those and  I am clearly not one of them, lol.

[Gothish520]

30 minutes ago, WildPlum said:

I guess the difference between the two shows, to me, is that on FiF something is created, hand-made, and the judges are fairly supportive and friendly and you can feel that they want the contestants to do well. On the other it is just shouting and posturing (from the judges and often the contestants, although I suspect they are all told to play that up). It just screams "faux reality show." Some people like those and  I am clearly not one of them, lol.

I could do without all the histrionics, but since the core of the show is basically "let's see how well these contestants and their knives perform", I was willing to slog through the silliness to see eclectic contestants use some cool knives to try and get through some pretty rough obstacles. 

I completely agree though that one of the main things I love about FiF is how relatively chill everyone is, and how the judges are supportive and provide constructive criticism. Thankfully, none of them are arseholes, which just goes to show that people don't have to belittle others and act like tools to make for interesting tv. 

[Destiny74]

On 5/27/2018 at 10:17 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

Travis has rejected one or two, but basically his role was superfluous.  Any testing that a knife was capable of running the course could have been done off-screen IMO.

I  thought so too.  I thinks he's just there to tie the two shows together in more than just concept.  But, I like Travis.  Wish he had a larger part.

[Destiny74]

The thing about the finale of KOD was Goldberg and Turn (I think that was his name) commenting that the conr Stanton got through said obstacle faster in the elimanation round.  Yeah, I thought that was the point, the finale round was harder obstacles.  Right?

[johntfs]

I never watched more than a couple seconds of KoD, so maybe it was better than it seemed.  It seemed to me to be something that borrowed the Forged in Fire name but removed all the niceness, skill and basic decency of Forged in Fire.  KoD felt like, "Hey, let's do FiF but with only the good parts - the tests!"  The thing is that the reason the tests are "the good parts" of FiF is that we see the contestants making their blades.  We see them pour their blood (often), sweat (it be hot in the forge) and tears (sometimes) into making these weapons, so the tests are the climax of that process - the icing on the cake.  But icing without cake is just empty and leads to diabetes.

[johntfs]

I still think the "bullet test" is stupid and useless.  Every blade ever tested with it has been "bullet proof."  That said, Wil Willis can fucking shoot!  I'm glad the guy who won actually won.  As for the other guy, maybe his ass should have spent the other three days working on his handle instead of playing with his mutt.

[Gothish520]

3 hours ago, johntfs said:

I still think the "bullet test" is stupid and useless.  Every blade ever tested with it has been "bullet proof."  That said, Wil Willis can fucking shoot!  I'm glad the guy who won actually won.  As for the other guy, maybe his ass should have spent the other three days working on his handle instead of playing with his mutt.

Exactly...often the judging comes down to the smaller details. How could he not have noticed how big his handle was? If he spent more time wielding the sword and testing it, he might've noticed it was uncomfortable and could've made adjustments. 

[johntfs]

6 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

Exactly...often the judging comes down to the smaller details. How could he not have noticed how big his handle was? If he spent more time wielding the sword and testing it, he might've noticed it was uncomfortable and could've made adjustments. 

This episode put me in the mind of the Panabas episode with Josh Weston and Roy Kirk.  I recall in that the weapons tested evenly with Roy's blade being slightly superior in the "Kill test" (it cut through a pig carcass in one blow whereas it took two blows for Josh's weapon).  Josh still won based on "artistic design" or somesuch.  Josh busted his ass for all five days while Roy was done in three and spent his last couple of days playing with his dogs and drinking coffee.  This time, the loser was done in two days and the other guy worked all five.  I think if you get done super early, the judged will look for a reason to give it to your opponent.  They won't be blatant or cheat or anything but if all else is equal, the person who spends the most time and effort on their weapon is more than likely going to be the winner.

[Eliza422]

So many times the winner has come down to who had the better handle. I knew that the marine was a goner after the first comment about how giant it was.

It's not like it fit his own hand any better than the judge's either.

[Maelstrom]

Sweet Jeebus the filming schedule for this show is nuts. Last night’s ep must have been filmed quite awhile back if Doug’s arm was fine during the in-forge segment but barely healed for the final testing. I can’t figure it.

Ouch, watching that ax head fly off during J’s final swing was just painful. Alex’s ax was definitely worthy of winning, but I still felt for Mike. That had to hurt. Also, the first wonrounds had some of the roughest looking knives I think i’ve ever seen on this show. Yeesh.

I can’t believe the finalist in the Memorial Day ep actually just called it good after two days! For a $10,000 challenge you think you’d want to use every working second to make a perfect piece. Personally I’m not a fan of guns in the least, but Wil shooting those swords edge-on was some impressive shooting.

I always enjoy the banter between the judges and Wil, and how invested they get in the contestants’ work. This show (and Face Off) are the cream of the crop when it comes to reality shows.

[Omeletsmom]

This winning-by-default stuff is getting old.  How many final rounds have actually been competitive this season?  Maybe two?  

[clytierising]

I'd be curious to know how the level of experience of contestants this season compares to previous seasons.  I also wonder if 5 days to construct the final weapon isn't realistic for some of these very esoteric pieces.  And I'm wondering if the combination of these two issues is giving us so many 'did not finish' results. It really is disappointing not to see the competition play out to the end.

[sourpickles]

7 minutes ago, clytierising said:

It really is disappointing not to see the competition play out to the end.

It sure doesn't seem to be winning over any new fans............

[Quilt Fairy]

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 2:02 PM, clytierising said:

I'd be curious to know how the level of experience of contestants this season compares to previous seasons. 

I'm pretty sure we didn't see "3 years experience" or "2 years experience" in previous seasons.   Even the apprentices in the "Masters & Apprentices" episode had more experience.  I'm wondering if we're reaching Face-off territory here: the pool of potential contestants isn't that big to begin with and the popularity of the show has meant that all the really talented people have already appeared.

I also don't think that people with this little experience can deal with the kind of curveballs the show has taken to throwing lately.

[johntfs]

We've seen some people like that.  I recall Neil forging a winning Cinquedea with only 18 months of experience.

[hkit]

On 6/9/2018 at 2:21 AM, Quilt Fairy said:

I also don't think that people with this little experience can deal with the kind of curveballs the show has taken to throwing lately.

I think this is really the crux of the issue. The final weapons are becoming more and more esoteric, featuring many different elements. The really talented people at the beginning made a signature knife without weird twists using commonly available steel. They progress, they got a saber, which they are probably familiar with and have knowledge of making something similar, even if they had never tried before. Now contestants have to make hatchets, using less commonly available steel, in difficult to manipulate shapes. Those who survived (barely), get a bizarre lions spear, which is part axe, part blade , and almost certainly something they wouldn't have been familiar with. 

I'd like to see the challenges go back to the first seasons, even if it means repeating. Only then can we really compare the skill levels. 

[Maelstrom]

I’m so glad Tim won, even though it was due to yet another catastrophic failure. I enjoyed watching all three of the round two contestants, and would love to see any of them come back in the future. Tim’s kelawang really was gorgeous.

I think the only person happier than Doug when he’s sticking his fingers in ballistics’ dummies guts is Wil when he’s shouting numbers at people. Hee.

Am I the only one who gets a kick out of the little animated splurts of blood when they show the overview of the final weapon? Like, gee, I wouldn’t have known what would happen when someone runs a boar spear through another person’s guts, thanks for clearing that up!

[qtpye]

I love this show, including the host and the judge. Probably have a legitimate crush on Doug and David Baker looked like Ernest Hemingway in the Memorial Day episode where he wore a cable knit sweater. However, the fact that a guy with 1.5 years experience (who seemed like a really great person) makes it into the finale means there is a problem.

[johntfs]

15 hours ago, qtpye said:

However, the fact that a guy with 1.5 years experience (who seemed like a really great person) makes it into the finale means there is a problem.

No, it doesn't.  Once again, Neil, who won the final challenge with his Cinquedea, had only 18 months (aka 1.5 years) of experience when he did that.  He also came in second in the last Champion of Champions competition last season.  The amount of experience a smith has is helpful on this show, but it certainly isn't a done deal.  This was actually one of the better episodes, I thought.  There was a similar spread of experience (lowest 1.5 to highest at 3) without crap like "Steve has been forging for 50 years while Jess started last month."  The nuts-and-bolts canister challenge was tough but clearly doable as was the final challenge.  The weapons got through all the various challenges during all stages.  This was a good episode, hands down.  Plus Doug and R. J. play slap-fighting was kind of adorable.

Edited June 21, 2018 by johntfs

[Maelstrom]

5 hours ago, johntfs said:

Plus Doug and R. J. play slap-fighting was kind of adorable.

It was, wasn’t it? Especially knowing that either of them could kill you five times over in about three seconds.

[johntfs]

I admit I picked Nick to win right at the start because he had 25 years of experience - more than his three competitors combined.  Still it certainly wasn't a blowout and when Nick's weapon took damage in the Kill test, I thought he'd lost right there.

[Maelstrom]

I don’t know which was more entertaining during the paint can chop - watching Doug and Wil do the Roxbury Guys headbop or J splattered in red paint looking like a serial killer. It was nice to have a final challenge without a catastrophic failure for once.

[johntfs]

I felt bad for the guy who got yanked so he wouldn't potentially die, but I'm not sure who Wil thinks he's fooling with that "none of the rest of you are safe" speech.  Anyone watching this show regularly has seen episodes when more than one blade has failed to meet parameters.  Even so, the person who somehow failed worse goes home while the other(s) continue forward.  Just once I'd like to see them pull the trigger on that, sending two people home and moving straight to the final challenge.

[Destiny74]

6 hours ago, johntfs said:

I felt bad for the guy who got yanked so he wouldn't potentially die, but I'm not sure who Wil thinks he's fooling with that "none of the rest of you are safe" speech.  Anyone watching this show regularly has seen episodes when more than one blade has failed to meet parameters.  Even so, the person who somehow failed worse goes home while the other(s) continue forward.  Just once I'd like to see them pull the trigger on that, sending two people home and moving straight to the final challenge.

My husband said the same thing while watching last night.  

[Eliza422]

13 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

I don’t know which was more entertaining during the paint can chop - watching Doug and Wil do the Roxbury Guys headbop or J splattered in red paint looking like a serial killer. It was nice to have a final challenge without a catastrophic failure for once.

You can really see over the seasons how much this group of guys has really bonded and they have lots of fun together - I feel like it would be interesting to see the judges and Wil do some kind of thing together.

 

I'm also glad that the final choice was about the weapons and their performance rather than splintering handles and exploding blades.

[Gothish520]

On 6/27/2018 at 12:30 AM, Maelstrom said:

I don’t know which was more entertaining during the paint can chop - watching Doug and Wil do the Roxbury Guys headbop or J splattered in red paint looking like a serial killer. It was nice to have a final challenge without a catastrophic failure for once.

Watching Wil and the judges' reactions is always entertaining. These guys are great.

Hate to be a girly-girl here, but I kind of wish they'd go back to the blue dye for the ballistics dummies and other liquid-y challenges. The red is just too realistic, but I suppose that's the point. 

[Maelstrom]

At this point I’m just happy when they use ballistics dummies and not carcasses. I just can’t with the animal carcasses.

[Gothish520]

On 6/30/2018 at 2:42 PM, Maelstrom said:

At this point I’m just happy when they use ballistics dummies and not carcasses. I just can’t with the animal carcasses.

Agree, I'm not crazy about them either!

[johntfs]

13 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

Agree, I'm not crazy about them either!

I kind of like the carcasses, though my mom doesn't (we watch together when possible).  My thing we the dummies is when Doug says "It lacerated here.  Dug in deeply here and did this other thing here,"  I'm like, "If you say so, Doug.  It all looks like bones in Jell-o to me."  With the carcasses I can actually see the damage the cuts inflicted (or failed to inflict).

Edited July 5, 2018 by johntfs

[Eliza422]

26 minutes ago, johntfs said:

I kind of like the carcasses, though my mom doesn't (we watch together when possible).  My thing we the dummies is when Doug says "It lacerated here.  Dug in deeply here and did this other thing here,"  I'm like, "If you say so, Doug.  It all looks like bones in Jell-o to me."  With the carcasses I can actual see the damage the cuts inflicted (or failed to inflict).

I like the carcasses - one thing the ballistic gel dummies don't replicate is the effect of hair/fur and skin. Plus I think it looks cool, especially when they slice one in half with one cut!

[johntfs]

On the subject of the most recent episode, I felt really bad for the guy who lost in the final challenge.  It seemed like his weapon outperformed the winner's in every test to at least some degree.  It cut the deer carcass in two.  It destroyed the horse skull.  It took less time to saw the rope as well.  I get it with the sharp spot on the handle, but my thing is just wear a fucking glove.  The sword was baddass.