In 2017, after years of playing Evony and Battle Pirates online and watching the walking dead on TV I stumbled across season 3 of Forged in Fire. I had always been intrigued watching blacksmiths at ren-faires. I really needed to get out of the recliner and start doing something. I was nearing 400 lbs and starting to have the typical overweight issues. BP , cholesterol and diabetes. TWD really made an impression on me. The old “how long would I last in the apocalypse” argument. It prompted me to get up and get out. FIF then gave me a direction. Knifemaking is the perfect trade for the apocalypse so I started by ordering a lansky knife sharpening kit and sharpened everything I owned. Then on July 4th 2017 I picked up a 1x30 grinder at harbor freight and a couple of propane torches and ordered some 1095. I asked a few questions online and Jim McGuinn answered and invited me over. He gave me a couple of firebricks. From there I built a 3 burner propane coffee can forge and was off to the races. That 1095 knife broke because at first it didn’t harden so I quenched it in water the 2nd time then tried to straighten it in a 3 point jig. Ok so quite possibly the most disastrous start in knifemaking history but it was the process that pulled me in and has kept me going. The next goal was to be on the show Forged in Fire and there was one big limiting factor. My stamina and health. I’m not sure I would survive it. Over and over I would see contestants needing medical attention and at that point I imagined I would be in the same boat so in October 2018 I decided to seriously attempt weight loss. I noticed that a teammate in battle pirates had lost over 100 lbs on a program called Optavia so I went all in on it and lost nearly 175 lbs. I got down to 225 at one point. I applied for season 8 and got nowhere then I applied for season 9 and in November of 2021 I got a call to show up for filming on December 2nd for filming. Now I’m ready for the apocalypse!
Today in my 600 sq.ft. shop, my life has been transformed, I am a Maker and I have the pleasure of transforming steel and wood into an heirloom that can be handed down for generations. And IF the zombies come, I am ready!