- All right, smiths, welcome to our strength test.
Now what I'm going to do is take each of your daggers
and very violently stab them into these steel fuel cans.
Now I don't really care what your daggers do to the cans.
I want to see what the cans are going to do to your daggers.
Jason, you're up first.
You ready?
Let's get to it.
Damn right.
Please, please, let this thing not break.
[rock music playing]
Jason, the big thing is you picked up a bend in your blade.
The handle is also very large.
It's kind of hard to hold onto.
And even with the glove thrusting in,
I can feel those edges.
But, overall you survived. Good job.
Thank you.
Daniel, what you thinking?
You ready? - Go for it.
I'm hoping I don't pick up a warp,
and I hope my handle doesn't break.
[rock music playing]
All right, Daniel, we got a couple problems here.
Your blade and your dagger picked up a bend.
And also, there's a lot of chipping
on both sides of the knife.
And the other thing, your handle is very, very lean, very little
to hold onto.
But overall, your dagger survived.
Good job.
Thank you.
Drew, what you thinking?
Let's make some holes.
[rock music playing]
All right, Drew, you did get a little bit
of a roll on your tip.
And you picked up a little chip right there.
Your handle is really slim.
And the fluting doesn't even make
a quarter rotation, really.
So it's really just ridges I'm holding onto.
It's not the most comfortable handle in the world.
But overall, your dagger survived.
Good job. - Thank you.
Bladesmiths, to see how sharp your blades are,
I will stab this fish, I will slice this fish.
Unlike the strength test, this is all about what
your knife will do to the fish.
Jason, you're up first.
You ready for this?
Let's go.
[rock music playing]
All right, Jason, let's talk about your dagger right here.
First up, your inside edge, once you penetrate into the fish,
your edge is sharp enough to slash off.
Now in a motion where you're slashing away from the fish,
this edge cut cleanly on the bottom.
But the other cuts pretty much bounced off the fish.
But overall, it will cut.
Thank you.
Dan, you're up next.
You ready?
Let's make sushi.
Absolutely.
[rock music playing]
All right, Dan. Let's talk about your blade.
One of your edges cuts clean.
When you penetrate into the fish, lacerates all the way.
But the area that has a little bit of a chip
does show a little bit of some jagged cuts over the fish.
But the important thing is, it will cut.
Thank you.
All right, Drew, you ready?
Let's do this.
[rock music playing]
Well, young man, your dagger has
a great symmetry in here that it penetrates deep for the thrust.
And it lacerates cleanly on your drag coming down.
The big issue is your handle.
It's on the slim side.
And your fluting did not provide a very good grip.
So it started to rotate a little bit,
especially because of all the slam
it's getting from the fish.
But your edges will cut.
That's all I needed to hear.
Bladesmiths, the judges have completed their deliberation.
They've made a final decision.
It's time for one of you to leave the forge.
Daniel, your blade didn't make the cut.
Daniel, during the strength test,
you lost chunks of your edge on both sides of the dagger.
And you had a failure on the handle, too.
And that pull, that's punched through
into where the tang is sitting.
That's why we're going to let you go.
Daniel, please surrender your blade.
I agree with the judge's decisions.
The chips in the handle were just too much to get past.
I had a heck of a good time.
It was a great personal accomplishment.