All Episodes
Previous Next
May 26, 2022 - Health Ranger - Mike Adams
49:32
Dawson Knives blade artisan reveals modern metals SECRETS for edged tools and weapons
| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
Welcome to the Health Ranger Report on Brighton.tv.
I'm Mike Adams, the founder of Brighteon.
And today I have a first time special guest.
His name is John Roy, and he is a craftsman who builds incredible blades, survival knives, katanas, different swords, all kinds of things.
And he's with a company called Dawson Knives, which has been a sponsor of my podcast, although this is not a sponsored interview.
But I wanted to bring him on to talk about made in America, to talk about metals, to talk about corrosion, talk about survival gear.
And what's the difference between a cheap $20 knife on Amazon versus a $300 knife made in America with outstanding metal?
So we're going to talk to John Roy about those questions and maybe so much more here.
So stay with us.
We're going to be right back after this break with this fascinating interview in metallurgy, swords, and much more here on brighteon.tv.
We'll be right back.
Alright, welcome back folks.
As promised, we are joined now by John Roy from Dawson Knives.
The website is DawsonKnives.com and they make not just knives, but much more.
We'll talk about that.
John, welcome to the show.
It's great to have you on.
Thank you very much, Mike.
I'm very happy to be on.
I'm honored, actually.
Yeah, we've been hand-making knives as a family for three generations now and been doing it for almost to 50 years.
Wow!
I didn't even know that.
I was so pleased.
Just as a little backstory, I stumbled across your website one day when I was looking for quality handmade swords.
And then I was your customer.
I just bought one.
And then I was so impressed with it.
I think I mentioned it on a podcast.
And then the reaction was so positive and strong from other people.
And then you reached out to us.
And now here we are doing this.
But I was amazed that what you make is made in America.
It's just extraordinary.
I'm glad you're here.
Thanks for being made in America and doing it right here in America.
Thank you very much, Mike.
Yeah, that's been one of our missions is to not just make it in America, but to use American-made materials.
And that's one reason why we've been able to ride out this supply storm or shortage, because we've always been sourcing our materials for our knives here in America.
Because I just believe that Americans, first off, can make the best products in the world.
And when you have the right material that goes into those products, then you can make something that can last a lifetime, that can be an heirloom piece.
Give us an overview of what all you manufacture that you make available to the public.
We do a lot of hunting knives.
I'm an avid hunter myself, especially my brother-in-law.
He's the one who got me into it.
We also do EDC, so everyday carry.
Little pocket knives that fix blades that go inside your pocket.
We also do bushcraft and survival.
We've done a lot for the military.
Especially during OEF and OIF. We've also done swords, buoys, especially our swords.
So we're very unique.
We've actually had quite a few guys in our field that have actually taken swords to competitions and actually have done quite well, especially with the katanas.
So...
We've done a lot.
We've even done some tomahawks.
So we don't have any right now, but we're working on getting some new designs of tomahawks.
Oh, gosh.
So you just added something to my list of stuff, like must-have stuff.
Now, a tomahawk.
Well, let me show people this.
This is one of the swords that I got from you.
This is a katana-type blade.
I think this is a 22 or 24-inch.
It's just extraordinary, but it's not just...
The craftsmanship that goes into it and the handle and everything and the sheath, which is pretty amazing, it's the metals as well.
So you offer CPM, 3V, and MagnaCut alloys.
Are those the only two you offer and can you explain what those are?
Absolutely.
We've actually worked with a lot of different types of steels.
From our inception, we worked a lot with 440C back then, ATS-34.
We've done work with D2. We've also worked with A2. And then we started getting into the powdered metals.
And the powdered metals are just...
Light years, in my opinion, as far as makeup, consistency, strength, edge resistance, edge wear, over just your regular tool steels.
Using CPM3V, we've really figured that CPM3V holds an amazing edge and has incredible strength.
And in a knife, it needs to be able to be a tool that can really go up and beyond more than just cutting things.
Can you explain to people who aren't familiar with that process, how does this start as powder and what happens from there?
With the powdered steels, what they're doing is they're actually taking these alloys and they're actually uniformly putting them on.
It's almost kind of like 3D printing them.
And so they're heating them up and then getting them evenly dispersed throughout the steel.
And they can also use magnets in order to make sure all the alloys are in the correct place.
Before that, we would just pour the alloys in wherever they fell.
We take a, you know, spot test and see what was going on.
So with the powdered metals, we can actually take this more uniformed grain structured steel And be able to get a lot more.
There's actually a CPM D2, which performs a lot better than just regular D2. So this powdered metal steel is actually made in New York.
So it's American-sourced steel.
We've been able to actually take this steel, CPM3V, and just about bend it to 90 degrees and not have it break, and then keep the same edge resistance.
We're able to cut into, I would say, bracket steel, which has a Rockwell C. So you have different Rockwells.
You've got an A, B, and C scale.
So C is very tough.
So that's where you're going to be mostly cutting to like steels or grading steels on how tough and hard they are.
So tell us what properties matter.
You already mentioned there's resilience or flexibility, ability to hold an edge, and then there's hardness and corrosion resistance, I suppose, would be another one.
Am I missing anything?
You also have impact resistance.
So if you hit the knife on the side or anything, that it doesn't just shatter and come back at you.
Right, but there's also, of course, a trade-off in all of these, right?
So you can have an incredibly hard steel, but it might actually shatter if it's hit the wrong way, correct?
That's absolutely true.
So with our CPMs, what we found out, when you heat treat according to what the companies tell you to heat treat, you're going to end up with a very hard blade, which is awesome.
It's going to cut for a long time.
It's going to be hard to get an edge back on it because it is harder.
I find that you're usually in the Rockwell of about 62 to 63 and you have great edge wear resistance.
That means it's going to cut cardboard in a long period of time.
But the issue is the strength, impact resistance.
When you have to try and correct a blade, you hit it once with a sledgehammer, boom, it's done.
And we were finding out that we wanted something that could actually take that abuse.
When you go to do a bend test, let's say you start prying, just giving a little bit of lateral force, anything more than 15 degrees, we were finding issues with.
So we were coming up with taking ancient Japanese techniques.
So they used a lot of clay in order to make the back of the blade softer.
And that way you have a harder core in the center so you can have the flexibility and strength.
Because a lot of times if you're going sword to sword, let's just say, and you hit someone else's sword, that impact resistance, if your blade isn't tough, it's going to crack and shatter your blade and now you're out of the fight.
So that's done.
So we wanted something that kept you in the fight, that if you had to, especially for the military, abuse that knife, that it would hold up and it can continue to be used as the tool that you intended it to be.
People can go onto Amazon.com and buy a lot of blades, and these are all kind of churned out in Chinese factories and different types of steel.
I don't know what all the types are.
There's a lot of cheap swords out there, so what's wrong with cheap swords?
Just to direct that question to you.
There's a lot of videos that can tell you what's wrong with cheap swords out there.
That's true, yeah.
A lot of these swords are just mass produced in an environment where the steel is in top grade.
The heat treat is minimal at best.
And so the first time you go to cut something, it'll snap, break, bend.
Any type of impact, it's going to be basically worthless.
Some of them don't even keep their edge because they're actually not even heat treated.
Oh yeah, I've seen that.
So you have no guarantees.
Everyone's trying to cut corners, especially today.
So you're just lucky to get anything that functions or performs.
There's also a lot of fantasy swords for decoration, right?
People want to have the sword that looks like the sword in Lord of the Rings or whatever, some sci-fi movie, which is fine, but then to think that that sword is going to be a survival tool, that's a leap.
They're just props.
Props, right.
You'd be surprised.
I mean, there was a couple that would cut.
But they just couldn't perform.
After a couple of cuts, the edge would get dull.
Then you tried to put it back on.
It was very soft.
So it was easy to get an edge, but it would only last a couple of cuts.
If you were cutting rope, it would bind up.
Any type of impact would break the sword.
So it's definitely, you have to realize, you pay for what you get.
Well, okay.
Good point.
So let's talk about MagnaCut then because you and I have had a couple of private conversations about this because, you know, I'm a scientist in food, mass spec elemental analysis, so I'm fascinated by alloys and their characteristics.
And then you were telling me one day about this new thing, MagnaCut, and it...
Because of the uniformity in the composition, it has corrosion resistance that is unheard of for considering the rest of its property.
So give us the overview of MagnaCut.
It's also from CPM, correct?
Yeah, so it's part of the CPM family.
So it's a crucible powdered metal.
The really cool thing about MagnaCut is that it has all these amazing alloys.
So vanadium.
Vanadium gives you excellent wear resistance.
It also gives you a finer grain.
It has nitrogen in it.
So a lot of guys like that.
It gives you a little bit more reformed, again, grain, more toughness.
And the chromium.
So in the world, what it used to be in tool steel, you usually need about 13% to be stainless.
The more chromium you throw into a blade, the more stainless it is, but the harder it is.
So you're not going to be able to get that flex, that impact resistance.
It's going to be harder to sharpen.
Yes, it's good wear resistance, but you're missing all the other attributes that you want in a knife.
This MagnaCut only has 10.7% chromium.
So technically, it's not even considered as stainless in the real world, but what causes blades to rust is those free chromium carbides.
And because of the makeup of the steel, you don't have any of those free chromium carbides, so that actually makes them more rust-resistant than putting 20% into a knife of chromium.
Wow, so it's not just the composition, it's how the molecules interlace.
Yes.
I mean, oxidation, you know, rust, oxidation, right?
It's a chemical reaction process, but the oxygen has to react with something in the metal that's free and available to bind with oxygen.
So what you're saying is they've been able to eliminate the free ions, or I guess they would be ions that the O2 could latch onto.
Right.
That's absolutely true.
And that's a totally different way of thinking about steel.
A lot of times, like I said, they just throw more chromium in it.
And let's just throw more chromium in it, and that way we can make it more stainless.
You're going to lose a lot of these attributes, but if you want stain resistance, that's the way it's got to be.
MagnaCut's the first one to look at it at a whole different angle.
And it's really awesome for us knife guys, because now we can get...
I've been able to, out of CPM MagnaCut, with the way we heat treat, so we have a soft...
A layer all around the blade.
And then we have a hard core in the center.
So when you grind down into that steel, you got that hard core.
That soft layer around it, which is only a Rockwell C of about 14, so it's softer.
But our edges are Rockwell C on MagnaCut at about 60 to 62, just depending if it's a sword or if it's a Skinner.
The cool thing is we can take those blades and we can still bend them to about 60 degrees for a stainless steel blade.
That's crazy!
And we can still get impact resistance so we can straighten these blades even when they're fully hardened.
We can hit it with a sledgehammer, with about a four-pound sledgehammer, repeatedly without breaking it.
And these alloys that they put into MagnaCut is unlike anything that I've ever seen.
The only closest comparison is CPM3V, which is very close to MagnaCut without the stainless property.
So for someone who lives in a more humid area or working, of course, on the seas, someone in a boat, you would absolutely want MagnaCut for that corrosion resistance, right?
right?
It just makes it more reliable.
You don't have to do a lot of maintenance on it.
So that way you just have to focus on using it as a tool and not mommy coddle it or baby it.
Yeah, really good point.
And I would mention, I've described these knives and I've got some of your survival knives as well.
From my point of view, these are like once in a lifetime investments.
They're going to last a lifetime if you take care of them.
Yet, you know, talk us or explain to us how you, do you get MagnaCut as a powder?
It just comes to you as a powder and then you make or you get it in sheets or how do you do that?
What do you do to make the knives?
So it's pretty interesting.
So it actually comes to us as sheets.
So they've already rolled it all out.
They've got it all prepped for us.
They actually come into about two foot by three foot sheets for us.
I see.
So what we do is we cut those up into smaller sheets and then we heat treat.
And that's where our process comes in.
We started first heat treating it the way they wanted us to heat treat it.
And yes, we got it hard, but we didn't have that impact resistance or any of that.
So then we started doing...
Our patented heat treat, which worked out really well.
In fact, there's a little story about that heat treat.
In order to come up with it for CPM3V that we moved to MagnaCut, we had failed on it about 20 times.
It's a very expensive steal.
Yeah.
Right.
It was really costing us a lot.
And we were just getting down to that point where it's like, I just don't think this is going to work.
I don't think we can differentially heat treat MagnaCut or CPM3V. And we finally came up one night.
I prayed about it.
And in the morning I had this, just this idea, and I know it was of the Lord, that I was able to, let's try something totally opposite of everything they tell you about heat treating.
So let's do this opposite thing of heat treating, and we're going to I think it's going to work.
And everybody, even my brother-in-law who does all the heat treating, he looked at me and he's all like, are you crazy?
So we went ahead, we put it through the process.
And at the end of the day, we actually got the hardness that we were supposed to get.
But we were bending those blades to almost 90 degrees.
We had a beautiful hardline, Japanese-style hardline.
And we were able to also have incredible impact resistance.
And it was easier to sharpen, even at a rockwell of 61 or 62.
So this is really remarkable.
Did you say that you have patented your heat treat process?
We're working on that.
Working on it.
Okay.
Putting it together.
Now, there's a danger in that.
So...
Well, that'll make it public once you patent it.
Yes.
And so we've been talking to a good friend of ours that is a patent lawyer, and we're going through those options of what we want to do, but we also don't want...
It's just hard to protect our intellectual property these days, because even if they're protecting the United States overseas, they're not.
And the next thing you know, you have a lot of people taking this idea from you.
Right.
It's in the air, but it's very unique.
No one else is doing it in the industry.
So what's critical about what you just said there, and our audience needs to know this, is that some other company could take the same raw material that you have, the same MagnaCut sheets, but if they don't go through the heat treating process that you go through, they could have a very different resulting product that doesn't have the properties of what you have, but they could both be called MagnaCut steel, correct?
Absolutely.
And you can see that with just CPM3B. Like our CPM3B outperforms a lot of other factory CPM3B because they're just going through the standard heat treat.
The other question is about...
You know, the general public doesn't know much about swords and steel and metallurgy, obviously, and I didn't know that much either until I started looking into this.
But there's an idea in people's heads that, well, oh, the ancient Japanese swords makers, that they would fold it, you know, they would fold the steel 400 times, and then that was the state of the art, and that's the best thing that there is today.
I You know, is that all ancient, obsolete technology?
You know, how does MagnaCut compare to the samurai and their craft?
Which was very advanced for its time, by the way.
I'm not mocking it.
It's very advanced for its time.
But here we are, centuries later.
So we've actually taken some of those ideas on modern steel.
But not every Japanese sword was folded 4,000 times.
You get this idea.
And the Damascus you see today that they call Japanese Damascus is really more Middle Eastern Damascus where you see all the layers and everything.
A lot of the Japanese idea was soft A soft, almost like wrapping, and a hard core in the center.
And so you would fold this steel, and it wasn't very many folds, but you would fold the steel so that way you have the strength and you have this hard core that was solid, that was actually your carbon core.
So...
Today's swords, MagnaCut, would really blow away anything of the ancient Japanese.
There's nothing wrong with them.
We've advanced so much, and our technology is so incredible, and how we are actually manipulating steel and all the different alloys that we put into it, and just this idea of not having any free chromium carbides, and really understanding the science behind it has produced superior steel that creates...
Superior blades, superior swords.
If I were to take my magna-cut sword against a Japanese sword, I'd probably, and in all reality, be able to cut that sword in half because of the Rockwell hardness that we're able to get and our shock resistance over the Japanese swords.
They weren't actually super hard.
So, yeah, if you did that, you know, if two people clashed Japanese sword versus a magna-cut sword and you cut the Japanese sword in half, how much damage would the magna-cut edge sustain?
You know, that's a good question.
So I've actually been...
We can try it.
I would definitely get some chipping, a little bit of chipping, but my sword would perform just fine.
I could continue using it.
It would still be able to continue hacking away.
Actually, you probably won't even notice it.
Yeah, I would imagine.
Okay, so for those watching, I want to remind you, the website is DawsonKnives.com, and the one complaint that all of us have about Dawson Knives is you're always out of inventory because everybody's buying the knives as soon as you make them, as soon as you put them on the website.
Yeah, so we're working over the clock and revamping up production, getting some machines to help with the process, and more of the mundane stuff like flat sanding blades.
Hiring more people.
A lot of us that we have here, some of us are family.
And then we've hired a lot of outside talent.
Some of these guys are amazing.
And we're growing.
But it just takes time.
We just had a couple of machines come in.
It just takes time to get them online.
But things are moving pretty quickly.
And we should be able to get some more inventory, especially on the sword end.
I love swords, so that's one of my focuses.
Well, I do too, and even though I'm highly trained in firearms and self-defense, but I also know bullets run out, you know?
And also, by the way, as someone who's trained in hand-to-hand combat quite extensively, I would much rather go up against someone with a gun at my face than someone with a sword within that space, because a sword is deadly across an entire axis.
You're going to get cut.
You're going to bleed.
A gun, I can deal with.
It only shoots in one direction.
Well, a sword is actually, we've seen demos, and we've talked to SWAT teams, and we do a lot with law enforcement, too, and Sword is, in a close quarter environment, especially urban environment, is really an ultimate weapon, especially if you have just a little bit of training,
because not only can it provide shock value, especially if it's used, that person, if he gets cut, even if he's not hit in a vital area, Just having a limb off just totally disorientates everybody behind him that is part of a SWAT team, and they're trying to work on that shock treatment.
We're going to wrap this up here for Brighteon.tv, but stay with us here, John.
I have more questions for you in the extended interview, but for those of you watching today, I want to thank you for watching here on Brighteon.tv, and the website is DawsonKnives.com.
You'll probably find they have no inventory, but go on there and check them out, see what you want, get on their list, and they are making more all the time.
And thank you for watching today.
All right, John, we're back, and sorry to tease you about that.
We have the same problem.
All our inventory is sold out all the time, too.
Some people think we're never making anything, but we're making things every day.
We get people saying, you know, are you like a front for the mob or something?
Because, like, we have no picture.
I mean, we have pictures, but no product.
And I'm like, no, we're making.
Actually, we release product almost every day.
Yeah, I would imagine.
Well, I remember I found your website actually years ago when I was looking for a blade that you call the Windstorm.
And you never had the windstorm.
It was like the windstorm was always gone.
And I'm so glad that I now have a windstorm that you made because I expressed my concern about not having the windstorm.
But that blade, to me, that is a perfect self-defense combat blade because of the shape and the weight and the length and everything.
When I saw that, I knew this is the blade for me to have.
So thank you for doing that.
It's an extraordinary thing.
I wish I could show the whole thing here.
Well, you're very welcome, Mike.
In fact, we'd like to have more of them, but that blade is actually one of the hardest ones for us to grind.
Well, that explains it.
So there's only two people that can grind them.
That's me and Dennis.
And so...
So why is that?
Is it the curvature or what?
Yeah, we grind everything by hand.
So the curvature on that, especially with our method, we use about a 16-inch grinding wheel.
So it's a hollow grind.
So that way you get a lot of strength, but you get that fine edge.
And just being patient, trying to grind something out by hand.
We do it all by hand, by eye, by sight.
That's amazing.
Yes.
So, yeah, it can be difficult.
I can only imagine.
I mean, I'm looking at the curves of this and, you know, the curve sweep.
You know, it looks like it came out of a CAD program with perfection.
How do you do that by hand?
We have videos up there.
It's just really, it's muscle memory.
In fact, Barry Dawson, our uncle, he's the one who started this.
It was really a lot of discipline and a lot of blades on the wall of shame.
Oh, yeah.
That we got it right, you know?
And then after that, our hands become smarter than we are, and it knows how to drop the blade right when it needs to, when to lift it up and get the tip.
Well, I know that firearms parts retailers, they offer discounts for parts that are blemished, right?
So you'll see, oh, blemished.
And I've bought a lot of that.
There's nothing wrong with it.
It's like, oh, it's got one little scrape.
Maybe you could have a category called completely jacked.
Or we can call from the wall of shame.
Right, right.
It's like, this one is almost free because no one could use this for anything, but it's a conversation piece, basically.
And there's a bunch of those windstorms on that wall, I'll tell you that.
Oh, man.
So basically, now I'm realizing, like, to get one good windstorm, it takes a lot of not-so-good windstorms in the process.
Absolutely, Mike.
Well, that explains a lot.
Now, let's see.
Book of Eli.
That movie, right?
He had a sword...
Denzel Washington.
But that wasn't just a fantasy sword.
That was a really practical combat sword that he had.
Any thoughts about that?
Absolutely.
Actually, that's one of my favorite movies.
All right.
Actually, one of our swords is really close to that.
So when I saw that movie, I was inspired by his sword.
And so we came out with a Filipino-based sword, basically, that looks very similar.
So it has a double-edged, but it's only half on the back end.
And very fast and light.
Everything's about balance.
And that's another thing about our swords is that we balance everything.
So we work really hard, even though it's 3 16ths inch thick or slightly oversized 3 16ths.
We balance everything out.
So when you pick up a sword, you don't really feel the weight of the sword.
And that's the way it should be.
A lot of guys had to use these big pommels.
Well, we don't have to do that.
It's how you grind the blade.
You don't even need a distal taper.
A lot of people talk about that.
You don't even need that.
It's just all about how you grind it, how you do your top level, the material that you use.
And so that Book of Eli sword is so perfectly balanced.
You can actually put it right there where the handle meets the steel, and it's super fast.
I actually have one of those.
Right.
Or, you know, in a book of Eli Mad Max collapse scenario where everybody's run out of ammo and it's for self-defense, and that's what I love about these swords.
I actually have one of your swords that I have on my ranch vehicle now.
That I drive around.
And of course, I have a rifle in the vehicle as well.
But sometimes you don't want a rifle.
Sometimes you need to cut something.
And of course, I have an everyday carry knife as well.
But sometimes the sword is the right tool for the job, especially if something's going on at night and you want to be quiet as well.
Yeah, and just so you can have something.
I mean, you don't even know if you're out on the brush.
I mean, it could be a javelina or maybe it's something else.
That's what we have out here in Arizona.
So you don't know what's coming out at you.
And having something like a sword, it's just good protection and it's the right tool for the job instead of having to shoot it.
Because, you know, once you get adrenaline going, it gets harder to hit what you want to hit.
Well, that's true.
And also, gunfire is really, really loud.
You can suffer a lot of hearing damage in a self-defense scenario, especially if it's in your vehicle, by the way.
I always laugh at Hollywood movies where people are shooting each other in, like, subway tunnels, and they can still hear.
I'm like, you obviously never shot actual guns.
Yeah, and they're talking at a normal volume, too.
Right.
And maybe they're already deaf, and so it doesn't matter to them.
I don't get it, but yeah.
Or even having to shoot in your own house.
Let's say if there was a home invasion and you had to shoot down your hallway, you'd be deaf, you know, or at least temporarily deaf, maybe permanently, too.
I'm not saying that a sword works for everything.
Obviously, a sword only has a certain range.
But it has its place.
Okay, let me ask you this practical question.
So for people who want your blades...
Oh, and let me mention the disclaimer.
So Dawson Knives does sponsor my podcast, but this interview is not sponsored.
We're not being compensated for this.
I want to get you on and talk to you about the metallurgy.
But for people who want your blades, can they get on a list or something?
How do they get in line?
So if you see a knife or a blade that you like on our website, there's a little button, if it's not available, that says, be notified when it's back in stock.
So that way we keep those lists and we send you out an email that lets you know this knife is back in stock, first come, first serve.
If you don't get it, just click on the back in stock again, or we'll just keep the list and just keep sending it to you until eventually it works its way through.
Now you can also check the website.
Like I said, we're listing every day.
Usually Fridays is when we put up more blades.
Okay.
So that way they can check Fridays.
But Monday through Friday, we're always listing up something.
And let us know.
We're people, so let us know.
Hey, I'm looking for this kind of blade.
We'll keep you in mind while we're pushing it through.
Well, what's the name of the Book of Eli blade that you like?
The name of...
Because not everybody's going to want one.
We just call it the Asian sword.
So, like I said, it's based on a Filipino-style sword, and it's very fast, very quick.
Okay, you just call it the Asian sword?
Yes.
And is it available in different lengths?
Right now, it's only available at the 22.
Yes, we used to have it at 1620, but now just the 22 is available.
Okay.
Well, I actually like the.22 length because I own a lot of swords that are much longer and they're really unwieldy.
Yeah.
And they're not that quick when they get really long either.
No, and if you look at ancient cultures, like the Japanese, the wakasashi, which was the shorter blade, which was just a hair, which was, you know, anywhere between 16 to about 23 inches.
That's what they carried all the time.
They didn't carry the katana all the time.
That was just for open field combat.
Okay, good point.
All right, now here's a question about the history of swords.
So if you go back and look at Roman swords, or even later on in the Middle Ages and so on, British swords, they tended to be all straight.
They were just like big, heavy-weighted, straight hacking instruments, I think, is what they were.
And...
I think those of us who are interested in practical swords, we don't like the straight edges.
We like a little bit of curve in it.
Can you talk to us about straight swords versus curved swords like Japan and the Philippines and so on?
Yeah, absolutely.
So my understanding, and just from our little experience and the people we know in the industry, a lot of your European swords are straight.
And that allows you to, first, they're double-edged.
So if you had an edge that was chipping just because of the quality of the steel, that allowed you to flip it to the other side and just keep going.
So it allowed the longevity of that sword.
Plus piercing.
Piercing was a big deal because, I mean, you pierce the guy, he's dead.
Slashing doesn't It'll always work in those ancient cultures.
So we find out also, if you grind the sword right on a double edge, you can actually get some good weight out of it.
So it's not as heavy as a lot of people think and can be balanced pretty well.
They usually had to put in a heavy pommel just to balance it, but it worked out really good and didn't fatigue you when you were fighting.
Now, when you get to the curves, the curve is actually...
Very good, especially if you're on horseback, because it would allow that slicing motion to follow all the way through and you could do a lot of damage with the energy of being on a horse.
And we started figuring that out, especially speed.
So speed became the name of the game over the years.
So you had your rapiers and, you know, you're going down the line.
So everything evolves.
And today we're making swords because of our steel ability, our thickness, and the way we grind them and the idea of balance and material.
We can make really fast swords out of these ancient swords that are tougher, that'll last longer, but will do an excellent job against any zombie you run into.
That's right.
And most zombies are unarmed, so they won't fight back.
Okay.
Flamethrowers are also an option if you get a group of zombies coming at you.
Okay.
So, what else do you have in store?
Now, maybe...
I don't know if I can talk about this publicly, but I'm going to go ahead and say it.
What I would love to see from Dawson Knives one day is a folder of some kind.
Or are there other projects that you might...
Be willing to talk about publicly, or is it all secret right now?
There's always a lot of things, so I think that's one thing that drives my team crazy is all the IT. Yeah, I would imagine.
But folders, yes.
So I sent you a picture of a really rough one.
Today, I've got a way more refined one that actually looks like the folder is finished.
So we are really working hard on folders using the MagnaCut.
Not only that, but using some guys who are doing Damascus MagnaCut, but they're going to be very rare.
So, I mean, that's going to be very rare.
Is it going to be stronger Damascus MagnaCut over MagnaCut?
Salt, steel?
No.
Magna-cut solid steel will perform stronger just because of what's in the Damascus.
But anyways, folders.
We're getting these cool, almost assisted opening folders that are pretty unique, especially in the mechanism of the spring and the liner lock.
So that's going to be very unique and different.
We're also working on kitchenware, so doing kitchen knives.
Whoa, whoa, wait.
Is that something you have available now?
We're getting there.
Okay, okay.
We're getting there to that point.
It's just, like I said, trying to...
We're working on a different manufacturing aspect so that way we can keep going with the other stuff so we can get more availability on that and then have this new product of about five different models of kitchen knives.
All right.
So, see, because I'm...
Personally, I'm thinking, well, this coming Christmas, Christmas 2022, I'm going to buy your kitchen set for everybody.
Yeah.
Right?
So I'll probably blow out your inventory.
I hope you might text me one day.
We have a few, and then, you know, I'll just blow them out, and then my own audience will be angry.
It's like, why did you buy them all first?
I'm sorry.
I bought them for gifts, but kitchen knives are going to be amazing.
No question about that.
On the folder, and yeah, that photo you sent me, I know that was a real rough design.
I'm very interested in that.
I want to say the thing, I haven't seen your liner lock mechanism, but when I'm looking at other folding knives that are survival knives and so on, or combat knives...
Don't skimp on the thickness of the liner lock steel, because that's what I notice out there, is they make that steel like one-eighth inch or something.
I don't know what they're doing.
And it's too thin for a liner lock.
So, it all depends on strength.
Yeah, true.
But we're also going to have a lockback.
So, that lockback is going to catch it, and so you're also going to have the liner.
So, it's actually going to be two different locking mechanisms.
So, once that blade locks, it locks hard.
We're not actually using a detent.
So, we're coming up with a lot of little different things that was available back then that most people didn't know.
And today, everyone's stuck in the same flow.
And so...
You know, I'm looking at...
I'm looking at a liner lock right here right now.
This must be more like 1 16th inch, seriously.
This is crazy.
I mean, it's fine for everyday carry, for opening boxes and things like that, but for combat, you want something that's not going to fold back on your fingers.
Yeah, and that's why we're doing a double lock mechanism.
So having the lock back on the liner, so there's a fail-safe.
So if any one of those mechanisms ever fails, the other one will, you know, take over and you're still fine.
So I like the redundancy.
Plus, the spring is very strong, so that's good.
That'll help.
So when you touch...
The assisted opening, it'll just pop open and you're ready to roll.
So it's all one-handed.
One-handed closing, one-handed opening.
It's not a flipper.
So it's got a lot of strength behind it.
We'll have videos and you'll be able to see the...
We'll run it through impact strength and different things like that, but you'll be able to see what we're doing.
All right.
Well, this is already fascinating.
Is there anything that I've failed to ask you that you think is important for people to know?
I didn't want to share one thing, too.
It was just weird.
We were talking about the apocalypse and everything.
And I had this one weird dream I just wanted to share really quick, not much detail.
But in the dream, my brother lives in California.
I'll just put it that.
He's in Silicon Valley.
And in the dream, he was with me.
And I was looking at a map.
And in the map, I saw California.
And in that...
I saw, like, all the cities.
And there was this big red line around a bunch of cities up to the Sierra Nevadas.
And it came from like LA and out and around, just kind of made like a horseshoe.
And it was interesting because in that line, that was all filled with water.
So places like Fresno was gone.
Some place like Sacramento was gone.
And then I also saw like a bridge that was built between Los Angeles to San Francisco.
And that must have taken a long time to build because it was running over water but there was like a shelf of land that they were able to hit over there.
And it almost created like a gulf but because of that shelf of land you couldn't really run regular ships through.
I share this because I'm a very skeptical person.
It's just my nature.
But I had this dream.
I prayed about it.
And one of the things that the Lord was just telling me, just to share it.
And I knew when Trump wasn't going to get elected, whether or not, you know, politics aside, you know, stole it or not.
And I do believe that they stole it, but still.
Yeah.
I saw that right when he got elected and everything that they were going to use for that.
I just think that everybody's got gifts.
My gifts?
Working with steel.
I love working with steel.
But I think in this day and age, I think the Lord just calls out to a lot of people in a lot of different ways.
And there's a lot more that's going on behind the scenes that people really understand.
And as much as evil is doing, you know what?
The guy who still has the playbook is God.
Yeah.
He knows exactly what's going on.
And I think he shares that with us.
And I think something is coming to California.
I don't know whether it's going to be just like in my dream, the Lake of California, basically, is what they called it.
Wow.
But I really do think that something's going to happen, happen soon.
That's truly fascinating.
And you're right.
I mean, amen to what you said.
God's plan.
You know, we're all just little small witnesses to God's plan playing out.
But, you know, bringing it back to what we talked about today, when we talk about steel, we're talking about atomic elements and the table of elements.
And that was created by God.
And all the properties that we talk about are properties created by the mind of God.
And all the matter in the universe...
Created by the Creator.
And so all we are doing is trying to, I think, kind of discover all the amazing gifts that have been here all this time right in front of us.
I mean, for example, you know, in Roman times, they were making swords out of bronze, right?
Which is not that hard, not that great.
But yet, all the same materials existed on Earth that are used right now to make CPM Magna Cut.
Right?
The Romans just couldn't see it, didn't have the tech, didn't have the science, right?
So think about what else is here on Earth right now, yet to be discovered.
And we don't have to create it, we don't have to synthesize it.
It's been here the whole time, right under our feet.
Or maybe in nature, you know, like I'm into food science and medicinal herbs and molecules, synthesizing molecules through plants.
Think about what discoveries and miracles, so to speak, still await us as we just awaken to what's here right now.
And I agree with you completely, Mike, because when I was trying to find a way to really push the steel, because I just knew that we could do something so much more with the steel, I myself personally failed, like I said, 20 times until I prayed about it.
Because Like you said, he's the one who created it.
And you know what?
He gave me the inspiration of doing everything backwards of what they tell you to do.
There you go.
It came out better than ever.
And it works out really well because he is the source of that knowledge and all we have to do is ask.
I've learned one thing.
He's new every day.
Yeah.
Well said.
Well said.
And by the way, I just want to acknowledge this, that what you are doing in grinding out these blades and doing all the research and making these discoveries, you know, you're helping save people's lives in future events.
You know, your knives are going to save people's lives in things that are yet to come, I believe.
And so just feel good every day that what you're doing It's more than being a craftsman.
It's more than doing retail.
It's more than earning an honest living.
It is putting tools into people's hands that are going to make a life and death difference, I believe, truly.
I really appreciate that, Mike, and that's how we feel.
I come from a military family.
A lot of my...
My great-grandpa, my grandpa, my cousins, my uncles, they've all been in the military.
And not only that, but law enforcement, I have a lot of family that's in law enforcement.
And then just what's coming.
I mean, just the things that are coming today.
And you know what?
I just want to make the best product that I can make.
And I'm always pushing it.
And I'm always pushing it to find something that will just give it a little bit more function, a little bit better edge, a little bit of something so that when your life depends on it, That'll follow through.
That'll perform.
And whether I ever hear about that or see that, I just know.
And just hearing it from you really helps me continue on through that mission.
Well, wonderful.
And just know, too, by the way, when the dollar collapses, people will send you silver coins in exchange.
Like, you have something so valuable, you can continue doing business by asking people to ship us gold and silver, and we'll get you the blades.
You don't even need a dollar.
It's just a metals exchange, actually.
Send us silver, we'll send you MagnaCut.
And that's the thing.
These metals that we work on are just more valuable than a lot of the rare metals, but from that, the first tool man ever invented was a knife.
Something to cut something.
Good point.
Yeah, exactly.
Well, John, it's been a pleasure, not only this conversation, but also to get to know you a little better and the philosophy of what your entire organization does there.
Everybody that I've talked with there is just extraordinary.
You're an extraordinary family and what you're doing is making a huge difference.
So thank you for all that you do.
Thank you very much, Mike.
And thank you for all that you do.
I I've noticed that talking to a lot of my friends that we've been lifelong friends that I never knew, but they were like, hey, I heard you on Mike Adams.
And I'm like, really?
He's like, oh yeah, I listen to that guy all the time.
I mean, he's right on on everything that he says and everything.
I was like, oh, wow.
And so you have a massive following out here, and I really appreciate what you do and what you go through and the courage that it takes to do that, especially against these odds and the dangers.
I mean, there is a lot of danger that goes into bringing out the truth.
Yeah, well said.
That's true.
But just to say, you know, we're trying to pretend that I don't have a massive following because it's Sun Tzu Art of War, okay?
So let's just keep that between us.
It's a tiny following, only like five people.
So, alright.
Keep doing what you're doing.
I'll keep doing what I'm doing.
And hopefully we'll help people make it through all this this coming.
So, yeah.
God bless you, John, and all your family and everything that you do.
And for those of you watching, once again, DawsonKnives.com is the website.
Get on their list because they are going to be sold out seriously because of the very high demand for this kind of solution, this kind of gear, especially after this interview.
So get on their list.
And, of course, you're welcome to share this interview, repost it anywhere you'd like.
And by the way, you know, I've got a lot more interviews and podcasts and so on.
A lot of them are about survival.
And you can find those on my Brighttown.com channel, which is HR Report.
So thank you again, John.
Have a blessed day.
God bless you.
Thank you, Mike.
Take care.
Take care.
In this nearly eight-hour audiobook, you will learn life-saving secrets of how to use food, nutrients, plant molecules, trace minerals, and chemical compounds to save your life, even in a total collapse scenario.
I'm Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, and I'm the author of Survival Nutrition.
I founded and run a multi-million dollar food science laboratory, and I'm the author of the best-selling science book, Food Forensics.
I'm also a prepper, a patriot, and a survivalist.
I can teach you how to survive what's coming by growing your own food, medicine, and antibiotics that can help keep you healthy and alive even during the worst of times.
At survivalnutrition.com, you'll be able to instantly download the full free audiobook as MP3 files.
▲
Export Selection