[kronckew]

yes, and swords and knives made in a race of 3 hrs under pressure in an excessively hot room, from weird and unknown materials are designed by them, like the originals to cut thru dried out cow thigh bones or elk antlers without chipping, bending or rolling the edge, and must be able to then cut thru a car in one swipe and punch holes in an abrams m1a2 tank. watching the 'tests' in slow motion reveal the expert edge alignment to hit the targets at the wrong angle is also instructive.

the tests are obviously designed to mimic conditions that edged weapons are used under in history and current life. (NOT)

i am surprised that some actually get thru the tests. you at least get doug occasionally commenting about the idiocy of the test, tho without actually condemning them. they are designed for entertaining the masses, not to test the blades. as a reasonably good martial artist, doug must be embarrassed at the stuff he has to spout from the script. he did at one point on the one i watched last night, refer to the elk antler chopping test of the west african ida swords they'd made as 'abuse'. the guy whose sword had a thicker profile and didn't slice as well and bent a bit won because the sharper one that cut stretched bungee cord better but chipped on the antler was a failure of the 'functional' tests.

i much prefer the 'iron and fire' show that appears here just after the comedy version called 'forged in fire'. he makes real knives, tomahawks and historically accurate black powder firearms, old school. and blows things up.