Fif s3

Matthew Gregory said:
Which real world situations involving a Scottish Claymore are we talking about, do you think?
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Zombie pigs walking on 2 feet?

That was a really impressive cut...

On another forum, a member who does a lot of wild pig hunting with a spear (he stalks them barefoot in rice paddies at night, not kidding) did some testing on carcasses with one of his swords, to see if it would be a viable alternative to the spear, at least once. He could barely get through the hair and was stopped by the vertebrae in every case if I remember correctly. He declared it not viable, ethically and maybe more importantly, (paraphrasing) because he didn't want a ticked off sow crawling up his leg and gnawing his jewels. :D
 
Matthew Gregory said:
Which real world situations involving a Scottish Claymore are we talking about, do you think? :D

The human element is what this entire show is all about. It's HARDLY a test of bladesmithing prowess. Any one of these guys does stupendous work, and a 'failure' on this show doesn't determine anything quantifiable. Why should the judging necessarily be any different? The whole point here is to generate interest and increase viewing. I'd say they're doing an admirable job, as this IS season three that's being discussed...

I think the most important part for these guys is the exposure and the grace which they hold themselves with, win or lose. It's about the only element that CAN be controlled by the makers.


Kudos, btw, to you, Salem. How you present yourself on these shows demonstrates exactly what I'm getting at.:thumbup:
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I agree with you in principle but when one of the judges, an "edged weapon fighting expert" at that, who continually hits his target with the broad side of the swords he's testing, then maybe something should be re-evaluated.
 
Spoiler ALERT***** Don't read this if you haven't seen the show *********

I think Doug is bad for the show. I've seen several occasions where he didn't give a good test. He always picks up the knife/sword and waves it around, but when it comes time to actually use the item he seems very awkward with them. This week, it made no sense to me that David Baker goes through the horse legs and makes a comment about it went through so easily, but then the same sword barely scratches the pig. I feel mechanical tests would be much more fair. I also know some swordsman that watched the very first episode said Doug didn't look like he knew what to do with the katana. I'm no sword expert, so I won't comment, but I know swords cut better when you hit the target with the edge instead of the broadside.
 
bodog said:
I agree with you in principle but when one of the judges, an "edged weapon fighting expert" at that, who continually hits his target with the broad side of the swords he's testing, then maybe something should be re-evaluated.
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I agree with you for the same reason, however it then starts to call a whole bunch of other TV silliness into question, and I guess that's my point - when does it end, and when does it just get accepted as TV silliness?
 
Ha, sorry I probably didn't phrase it right.
I was still speaking about Doug Marcaida and his hand to hand combat. I have watched his videos before on youtube and he seemed to be quite good with small weapons and hand to hand combat.

And I trim my hedges with a claymore thank you very much.:D
 
Matthew Gregory said:
I agree with you for the same reason, however it then starts to call a whole bunch of other TV silliness into question, and I guess that's my point - when does it end, and when does it just get accepted as TV silliness?
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For me, it ends when the time and investment at the chance for a monetary prize is dependent on whether one of the key metrics used to determine the winner is actually measured or not, seemingly randomly.

I have to think there is a net expense to participating for all but the winner. And if two participants are all but equal in tests up to the point where one blade is struck on the flat and bends/breaks and the other is struck on the edge and whether it cuts or not, wins, that's aggravating to me just as a viewer. I can't imagine the heartbreak it would cause a participant.

I'm still glad the show exists even in the form it's in. It's enjoyable to watch and as a newbie even though they gloss over a lot of the details I still learn something every time I watch and am entertained at the same time.
 
TV silliness like Wil Willis catching a crack that Jay Nielson didn't see.:rolleyes:

Still I love the show. I also like seeing the contestants' shops when they go home to do their challenge.
 
I enjoyed the show. Congrats to all the competitors. I know it's far from perfect, but a pretty good show in my opinion.
 
So funny, my girlfriend cannot stand the " Eeet weel keel". We slow mo-ed the deal, and we both saw the edge hit the carcass first, then the blade went haywire. That took a lot for her to admit. Just my two cents.
 
It looked to me as if the edge hit, and stopped, and immediately the blade buckled from the momentum.
 
Give a human three swings with each sword, and you'll get three different results. Swinging the sword through/at a carcass is lot hitting a golfball. Hit it just right and it will slice the carcass, just a little off and it will flatten out and not cut. That's why golf club makers use the Bobby Jones robot to test them.
 
I'd like to add my kudos to Salem for his great effort against stiff competition.

Also, not sure everyone is aware that Salem is a new father, his first, a boy named...are you ready? Fire Spirit Straub. Perfect. Congratulations to Salem and Heather.
 
Congratulations to all who were on the show. I think they were all winners.
I would really like to examine the edge geometry on the two broad swords. The winning sword was amazing.
 
Thanks, boys! Phil, good to see you posting! BTW it is Fire Heart Straub, darn near the same thing though. Have to make sure we nurture him so that his fire is cleansing and illuminating, rather than angry and destructive.:eek:
Watching Ben's sword shear through that pig was most satisfying. That's what a claymore was meant to do. Well, humans not pigs...
 
Just saw first show of third season. I was delighted. First two seasons showed many poorly made knives and reflected badly on our craft. This show demonstrated good quality under severe time constraints. It showed what good knifemakers can do, even if under extreme pressure. It highlighted how good we can be and how awesome our products can be. Made me proud.
 
Damn that first episode was a great one!
Once Burt walked out I said to my brother, "There is your winner." But then Salem came out and I had to retract my statement and say, "It's one of those guy's to win, it will be close, no question."
When they both got DQ'ed I couldn't believe it, just goes to show there are a million variables that go into making a blade and sometimes just that one minor error ends up being a critical flaw.
Great job by all the contestants, this is shaping up to be the best season yet. I remember last year we were talking about how they should have some of the old champs back to face off and that worked really well.
 
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