FIF like or not thread

I used to watch the show but some of it got a little ridiculous. The "metal choices" that were given were a little silly.

I always did enjoy the more in depth parts about the different forging methods, etc. It was also good to see the individual shops. From the little metal sheds to the full size buildings. I remember the one guy was forging in a satellite dish.

I do agree with Mark that it has generated more interest in knives. I'm sure many have started to make knives and some have decided to buy knives. That old saying "Any press is good press, just spell my name right...." or something like that.
 
I like the show. I particularly like the first round. Making a knife that won't fail the extreme tests can't be easy given the material and time constraints.

The only thing I'd really like to see, as a maker, is more of each contestants hammer work. Not sure that would make great TV. But they do highlight some stand out technique from time to time.
 
My early misgivings about the show turned out to be wrong. The only effects I have seen personally are that people ask me about knives- who aren’t knife people. It’s been great for me.

The thing to remember about the show is that it’s a contest. They have to find a way to make two people lose, makers who if given adequate time would probably never fail.

At least they have stayed realistic, unlike the food network challenges where they give people pop tarts, fruity pebbles, and vinegar and tell them to make chicken cordon bleu.

I can live with “you have two hours to make a knife from a rusty fender... then we’ll use it to chop a railroad track.”
 
I don't care for Hollywood,,,,they have never captured the true spirit of any reality show inho,,( like axe man and other logging shows, military shows etc).
but I do learn something everytime I watch one, even two and three,,,, times.
Hope they aren't about to jump the shark,,,,keep it real
 
I've never cared for Forged In Fire. However after reading some of the comments here I may give it another shot. I did like the episodes where the makers were allowed to use their own shops and then come back after a certain number of days to make their presentations. That seems more realistic. I've only watched a few episodes so hopefully things will change for the better.
 
John Wilson said:
My early misgivings about the show turned out to be wrong. The only effects I have seen personally are that people ask me about knives- who aren’t knife people. It’s been great for me.

The thing to remember about the show is that it’s a contest. They have to find a way to make two people lose, makers who if given adequate time would probably never fail.

At least they have stayed realistic, unlike the food network challenges where they give people pop tarts, fruity pebbles, and vinegar and tell them to make chicken cordon bleu.

I can live with “you have two hours to make a knife from a rusty fender... then we’ll use it to chop a railroad track.”
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Ya know, I almost made that point about failure. If they only handed everybody a 1/4"x2"x12" chunk of 80CrV2, 3 Corby bolts and some micarta slabs, the guys from the first show might be showing some wear on their blades by now.
 
I like the show with a few reservations but I do watch it and have picked up some knowledge.
Where I personally have a problem is the unreasonable testing by Neilson but I guess he has a reputation to keep. But wailing a blade against rifle barrels or bolts isn’t close to ‘norm’. With that said the other test parameters are cool to watch.
... I feel like the brutal testing aspect takes away from the show.
 
opaul said:
Where I personally have a problem is the unreasonable testing by Neilson but I guess he has a reputation to keep. But wailing a blade against rifle barrels or bolts isn’t close to ‘norm’.
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I agree. I'll spare this platform my opinions on the rest of the show and its impact on our craft, but those violent, abusive 'tests' in the first round coupled with J. Nielson's arrogant, smug "lets see if I can break this" attitude are so far beyond stupid that I don't think there's a strong enough word for it.

It grossly contributes to a massive misrepresentation of knives and their abilities to the general public and further contributes to the already far too prevalent notion that knives need to chop through brick walls, car doors and chain link fence in a zombie apocalypse. Any knife that performs those tasks ceases to become a good knife and is at best, a mediocre axe/hammer/prybar.

I wonder if Nielson would be so arrogant and cocky using his own knives in those 'tests'. If I had piles of disposable income, I'd procure a J. Nielson knife and put it to the 'test'. And I'd probably be inclined to be very loud about it on social media.
 
Sean Jones said:
I've never cared for Forged In Fire. However after reading some of the comments here I may give it another shot. I did like the episodes where the makers were allowed to use their own shops and then come back after a certain number of days to make their presentations. That seems more realistic. I've only watched a few episodes so hopefully things will change for the better.
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That's part of every show, the first two rounds are at the "set" the third round has always been at the home forge. There may be just a couple of exceptions but I haven't seen them.
 
John, Buddy, take a breath.:):D:p Check your blood pressure. The tests are designed to make a knife fail on purpose so that somebody has to go home, right. If you were literally splitting hairs with a knife, it would be really hard to judge.

After having said all that though, I do have to point out that on my episode, both my knife made on rounds one and two, and my weapon performed perfectly though the testing with absolutely no edge damage at all. Some might say I got lucky, some might say I'm just a damn good knife maker. I would say that it took just a little bit of skill to get close enough for luck to take over.

I can't say much but my luck changes a little later on, and that's all will say about that.
 
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Hi Mark....I'm calm....I promise. :D :p :D

But I'll stand by what I said about that aspect of the show. I have a tremendous amount of respect for you as a person AND as a knifemaker. I just don't think that I can be convinced that those abusive, violent tests of a CUTTING/SLICING tool contribute anything positive in any way to our craft and our community.

We all know J. Nielson wouldn't dream of hammering his knives into rocks, steel, concrete etc...and he wouldn't want his buyers doing it either. Yet he willingly does it on t.v. (in a very arrogant, "who cares" manner, IMO) without word one as to why anyone would use a knife for such tasks. I personally have a hard time seeing morally and ethically how that isnt selling out the quality and teaching of your craft for fame and fortune.

I get the contest needs a winner aspect but come on......we all know the mass consensus is "I saw it on t.v., so its true". There has to be a better way. Even in the final challenges, they've come up with much more realistic tests for the weapon and its intended use.

I'm sure not all of us will agree on all that though. And as always, much respect to you.
 
J. Doyle said:
Hi Mark....I'm calm....I promise. :D :p :D

But I'll stand by what I said about that aspect of the show. I have a tremendous amount of respect for you as a person AND as a knifemaker. I just don't think that I can be convinced that those abusive, violent tests of a CUTTING/SLICING tool contribute anything positive in any way to our craft and our community.

We all know J. Nielson wouldn't dream of hammering his knives into rocks, steel, concrete etc...and he wouldn't want his buyers doing it either. Yet he willingly does it on t.v. (in a very arrogant, "who cares" manner, IMO) without word one as to why anyone would use a knife for such tasks. I personally have a hard time seeing morally and ethically how that isnt selling out the quality and teaching of your craft for fame and fortune.

I get the contest needs a winner aspect but come on......we all know the mass consensus is "I saw it on t.v., so its true". There has to be a better way. Even in the final challenges, they've come up with much more realistic tests for the weapon and its intended use.

I'm sure not all of us will agree on all that though. And as always, much respect to you.
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I am with you on point one and part of point two, but you know the show was not created to contribute anything positive to our craft or community, though I think it did and does. It was created to be entertaining and to make money for it's producers. It is and it does.

I vehemently disagree that anyone that went on the show "sold out the quality and teaching of his skill for fame and fortune". I went into it for the fun of it, period. I did not gain in any way from entering it. I was already selling my knives for what I thought they were worth, I already was selling as many as I could make. I already had a five year backlog before I entered, I still do. I could have made the same amount as my prize money had I just stayed home and made knives in the amount of time invested in the show.

How can you say this "I have a tremendous amount of respect for you as a person AND as a knifemaker."? and then say this "I personally have a hard time seeing morally and ethically how that isnt selling out the quality and teaching of your craft for fame and fortune."?

In my opinion, not very many people think that if it was on TV it's true, I think that most people are skeptical of what they see on TV. I am as sure as I can be that most people seeing what they (we) do to knives on the show isn't how you would normally treat a knife.

I get it, you don't like J. Is there another reason for your dislike of him or is it just because of what you saw on TV. I can tell you that he really is a nice guy and he wants people to do well on the show (just my opinion having been there).
 
Just remember it is a tv show for entertainment purposes with lots of drama. If J. Nielson didn't do it someone else would.
 
Mark Knapp said:
I vehemently disagree that anyone that went on the show "sold out the quality and teaching of his skill for fame and fortune". I went into it for the fun of it, period. I did not gain in any way from entering it. I was already selling my knives for what I thought they were worth, I already was selling as many as I could make. I already had a five year backlog before I entered, I still do. I could have made the same amount as my prize money had I just stayed home and made knives in the amount of time invested in the show.

How can you say this "I have a tremendous amount of respect for you as a person AND as a knifemaker."? and then say this "I personally have a hard time seeing morally and ethically how that isnt selling out the quality and teaching of your craft for fame and fortune."?

guy and he wants people to do well on the show (just my opinion having been there).
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Sorry about my lack of clarity. My comments that I selected here from your post were not directed at participants of the show, only towards Mr. Nielson.

That's why I said I personally have a moral and ethical dilemma in regards to J. Nielson and his position. I couldn't sell out my belief that knives are for cutting and slicing appropriate materials, not hacking steel, bricks, blocks, etc.

I don't begrudge anyone wanting to compete on the show for any reason they choose.

I don't know J. Nielson at all. I don't like his seemingly arrogant attitude and delight in trying to break knives on things knives should NEVER be used for and I feel like it would be nice if someone in his position could say "wait a minute....let's attempt to develop some appropriate tests for these knives otherwise I can't be a part of this".

Just wanted to clarify that. I'll probably bow out at this point but I will be happy to clarify my position or answer direct questions to me based on anything I said.

Sorry for any confusion I caused in my posts.
 
J. Doyle said:
Sorry about my lack of clarity. My comments that I selected here from your post were not directed at participants of the show, only towards Mr. Nielson.

That's why I said I personally have a moral and ethical dilemma in regards to J. Nielson and his position. I couldn't sell out my belief that knives are for cutting and slicing appropriate materials, not hacking steel, bricks, blocks, etc.

I don't begrudge anyone wanting to compete on the show for any reason they choose.

I don't know J. Nielson at all. I don't like his seemingly arrogant attitude and delight in trying to break knives on things knives should NEVER be used for and I feel like it would be nice if someone in his position could say "wait a minute....let's attempt to develop some appropriate tests for these knives otherwise I can't be a part of this".

Just wanted to clarify that. I'll probably bow out at this point but I will be happy to clarify my position or answer direct questions to me based on anything I said.

Sorry for any confusion I caused in my posts.
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Got it, it's more clear to me now. I can respect your opinion on this. I was having trouble on the other.
 
I'd love to see J Nielson compete!

I actually emailed FIF with my wish list for future episodes...

Hello,


Just some stuff I'd like to see on FIF!


Longer episodes


more time in the contestants home shop, possibly a brief shop tour


For the take home build have them make their best competition chopper and the testing portion should be performed by a real champion of competition chopping on a real competition chopper course! Then you can finish it off with the destruction test.


Bring back Travis Wuertz and other 2 time champs for a 3 time mega FIF champion. Hell you should rotate Travis in as a judge.


Let's see Jay Nielson in competition!


Let's see our judges compete too, including Will. They could be judged by other FIF champs. For all that talk let's see them back it up.


Also why in the hell would you have 24 hour epoxy on hand for a 3-6 hr competition? Kinda stupid, baiting even!


And what's with the new four day limit of home shop time. It should be 5 days, we want their reasonably best work.
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Mark Knapp said:
That's part of every show, the first two rounds are at the "set" the third round has always been at the home forge. There may be just a couple of exceptions but I haven't seen them.
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I guess I misunderstand the show then, or only saw out takes. I haven't watched it in probably four years or so.

I'll look for the next one and give it another try.
 
The thing most of you guys are missing is FiF is a TV show that is on as ENTERTAINMENT! Most of the people that watch that show have no desire to ever make a knife. People like us know what it takes to make Great Knives. Those of us that do watch the show know that what Nielsen is doing shouldn't be done. I bet if you bought one of his knives and did what he does to it he wouldn't fix it under warranty! There are a lot of talented people on that show, and there are some schmucks too. Drama makes shows interesting. If you watched it recently the time has been cut by an hour too! More drama more Failure more entertainment keep the ratings up. Everyone on here knows sooner or later the show will be off the air. Just watch it for what it is entertainment, because sometime a Cigar is just a Cigar!!
 
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