I'd like to hear your opinion about the swords that they built...
I liked the 200 layer khukri that Chris (the winner) made. His actually looked like a khukri. It performed well and I'm sure he could have refined it if he had more time. The others just looked like garbage. The blade (can't even call it a khukri) made by Jimmy, the other finalist, looked like an L-bracket.
Felt sorry for the OG (TJ) who had to withdraw due to heat exhaustion. Not the 1st time I've seen that happen. 4 forges going full blast must generate some extreme heat on the set but, since they (the producers) know this already, you'd think they'd try to "do" something about it.
BTW, I thought it was funny how the 4 competitors came up w/2 different ways to come up w/200 layers -- 1 simple in 3 steps and the other more complicated in 4 steps. The 4 step guys didn't make it to the finals. Math (like reading) is fundamental.
Don't understand why they even let Mike who only made a 60 layer blade move on to the 2nd round, except that TJ withdrew and they needed at least 3 so they could still eliminate him later.
The "200" 3 hole mosaics they all made must have been awful because they didn't even show them after the knives were completed.
I thought that Jimmy's Darb Sri Gun Chai in the finals "looked" better (loved the damascus pattern and the woodwork) but Chris' obviously performed better. Why do they even make them make swords in the finals anyway? How many bladesmiths actually make/sell swords? Probably very, very few.
I'm not a "smith" or a "sword" guy but, just once, I'd love to be able able cut a full sized pig/boar in 1/2 w/a sword myself.
What's a full pig/boar carcass cost, anyway? Probably at least $500-$1k, based on wt. I wonder what they do w/the meat after the show; donate it somewhere, I assume. It truly would be a waste to throw all that good meat away. IMO, they should give a carcass to each of the finalists
And, lastly, who wishes that Will Willis was still hosting the show instead of Grady Powell???? Powell just seems like he's going thru the motions while Willis actually seemed engaged but apparently that was just "good acting."
It's not clear if Willis got fired or quit but, from the following article, it sounds like he quit because he considered filming the show "the slowest, most boring process in the world." Oh well . . . guess he just didn't think it was worth the $ he was being paid to stay on the show.
I should be so lucky, LOL!
See:
What happened to Forged in Fire host Will Willis?
