Do Contestants Get to Keep Their Weapons When They Leave 'Forged in Fire'?

History Channel’s Forged in Fire features a group of four bladesmiths who compete to make the best weapons they can (think: knives and swords), in order to win the competition’s $10,000 cash prize.

Each round, one contestant is sent home, while the remaining bladesmiths continue to refine their craft based on feedback they get from the judges. 

But what exactly happens to all the knives and swords contestants create on the show? Do they get to keep their Forged in Fire weapons, and take home their bladed creations to show off to friends and neighbors? 

Keep reading for everything you need to know.

History Channel’s Forged in Fire is like any other cooking competition on TV, just that instead of serving up tasty treats, contestants must produce different types of blades in the show’s workshop.

For each round of the competition, the four contestants are given certain parameters to use when creating their blades, which are then judged by a panel of judges. 

Then, competitors must refine their blades based on the judges’ feedback and also create a handle in order to transform them into functional weapons. The weapons are then tested by cutting through various objects like coconuts, meat, and wood.

After the work is assessed by experts at the end of each round, one competitor is sadly asked to leave. Fans of the show know the parting words, “Surrender your weapon,” are announced before the challenge's loser walks up to the judges' table and lays their blade down before leaving the show.

But just what happens to the blade, and do competitors really leave their weapons with the show? 

It turns out, after getting eliminated on the show, contestants are required to leave behind any blades and weapons that they were working on. 

This is because the show is filmed in New York, and New York knife laws state that it is illegal for a weapon to be manufactured on television unless that weapon is a prop. So, after each contestant is asked to leave, they must surrender their weapon to the show to be registered as a prop. 

Even if a contestant created something as small as a pocket knife, it would be required to be returned to the show.

However, Reality Blurred reports differently. 

According to their outlet, eliminated contestants must lay down their weapons on the judges' table before leaving, but production only holds on to the weapons up until the episode is aired. After that point, contestants receive those weapons back, they write.

A History Channel spokesperson told Reality Blurred that “as a symbol of our gratitude and out of respect for the amount of work put into the weapon, we return it to the creator.” 

The only person who doesn’t get to keep their blade is actually the winner of the show as “the winning weapon is vaulted and used for display on our ‘winners wall’ and in various other places.”

Forged in Fire airs on the History Channel every Wednesday at 9 p.m.