Joe Rogan Experience #1168 — Mareko Maumasi Transcript

Transcript

0:00 two four three two one boom the lost art of knife making it's still alive how are you man And that was made by my shopmate, Peter Swartzberg. You just got to find the ones. Hey, bro, found some space junk. Fuck yeah, dude. It definitely is slipping away. hands and so like you know even this whole like uh farm to table movement or people even growing

3:45 or handmade bag like it's like there's something about things that are made by hand that people and maybe I taught a class on how to make a knife and it looks like a fucking turd, Just like human beings in our current form, there's a deep connection to making things, physical things. antler and elk antler right right at the top and the moose at the bottom so and I

6:19 So essentially it's been sunken in a bog. where people were, their job was raising logs out of the swamps down in Louisiana and in the south and making use of that wood for table projects and craft projects like this. shafts out of it. There's something about there son super polished up though it looks cool are those dungeons and dragon nerds dice sort of

8:06 It's just a different iteration of chess, really. Really good guy. So there must be a community of you people, these knife-making people. And that was all about the forged blade and kind of the mission to retain that knowledge and that history and the skills that go into actually taking a piece of metal and forging a blade out of it. They don't know how fucking hot it is getting.

10:11 Yeah, it's just another layer of it. and I didn't really have much of a direction in my life. You kind of feel like you're lost. But anyways, she's like, you know, I think you guys would hit it off. I think, you know, maybe That was going to really like blow his shit up. So he just took you on as an apprentice. man i'd always had knives you know like pocket knives you know right and i always like kind of

13:31 You reached out to me on email, and I was like, Joe Rogan. Yeah, yeah. Oh, you had seen my email in one of the previous conversations. Oh, actually. Not sure. I think it was an email. Email? Either way. Probably from your website. Yeah, yeah. That sounds like me and i was like holy shit i think this actually might be joe rogan this All of it is. Now, this is what I've always wanted to know.

15:14 He's like 20. It's stuck? Oh, the touchpad. Don't get stuck again. I'm a, Yeah. Yeah. that makes them through a computerized process, It's not the same thing. It trips me out every time. the skills i got and got I think there's And he's a really interesting guy to talk to. And that that's probably one of the reasons why people don't want to buy a He's like as fucking straight-laced across the board, no bullshit as it gets.

20:33 And just walking through cemeteries, like sometimes I would even do it on Halloween to try to trip my ass out. But the thing about cemeteries is they're already dead when they get in there. British biologist, Yeah, I think that's part of it. like say if you have a pattern interaction with those chimpanzees at all yeah yeah yeah very strange that's like fucking

23:02 Yeah. But Rupert was a really fascinating guy. abraham and they um they did these series of talks and uh this is one of the things that came up Bam. I don't know. Was it pre-internet? This is all about memory and things. Yeah, that sounds very interesting. Reading Joseph Campbell and just like, I don't know, just absorbing it and trying to figure And just the way he explained it for me, it was the first time it ever made sense how meditation should work.

27:13 When you hear a really deep thinker like him, So they were very unique and original. Do you have headphones? listen at a lower volume so you're not like blowing out your ears to be able to hear Fuck, it is so loud. I don't know if that's possible to get your hearing back or whatever. I wonder if that's the case. maybe since it's quieter all day. Have they figured out

30:37 They haven't synthetically Huey Lewis. It just happened to him. gone deaf. Oh, Jesus. Really? she has over everything whatever kind of instrument instrument she's playing, it's an awesome documentary. Right, right, right. God, I'm gonna forget that. what the fuck was happening to me dude Dude, CTE is no joke. I'm sure. rides for free i think you get hit in the head enough, you got some brain damage. I got hit in the head on a regular basis for most of my younger years,

33:58 That's when you really start showing damage. I've never been like crazy into sports, knowing all the stats and every stuff. Snowboarders wipe out all the time and crack their head open. Judo, maybe? Is there a school There's crazy stories, too. a buffer look like for people don't know put up like what what would you call it maybe like a make me nervous

37:36 I worked in restaurants back at house, like, for seven years collectively. to hurt you or kill you the second you're not paying attention. Because the second you're not Terrible stuff. too bro angus young says that he lost a little bit but his quote says that he never really had ACDC? But whatever genes that make you more susceptible and more likely to get CTE from concussions.

39:48 Like is there chemical ingestion or smells in the air or anything like that because you're dipping things and you've got all this stuff that you're using? Does it work? Now, how the fuck do you create those patterns? Like that. it actually referred to the steel that like the type of steel that your knife this knife the can even actually do it by hand but you have to do kind of a smaller billet to create the patterns

42:33 And so it's kind of the same fucking thing, you want as little oxygen in there as possible because the oxygen creates carbon, or not carbon, but iron oxide that is detrimental to creating solid weld bonds. And so that steel is traditionally used in saw blades, prevent deflection. is that they're trimming I've seen a few, actually. they know they just know it's from some time period in the 1500s.

45:45 But it's also tough, which means you can drop it and it's not going to break. one of these knives is a hunting knife that uh how that feel, by the way? It's great, man. What's that? Where'd you get that pattern for, like, the handle? So heat treating, the whole process is essentially heating up the steel, make it hard, So I bring it up to 1500 degrees, which is like a dull glowing orange color.

48:24 there the same efficient i guess in cooling the steel down because ideally like for most steels you want were to take this out into the woods try to do the same job as this one just the cutting it wouldn't to withstand impact of chopping through wood pretty well. This is on the thicker side? Steel is made for many different applications. much thinner than a lot of other uh hunting would be, which is interesting.

52:49 the iron matrix of this steel, Do you watch Game of Thrones? understand what was going on now how did they learn i mean what is the history i mean obviously persian slash indonesian persians uh swords are probably the most legendary you know they're the So it's a crucible. because unfortunately they didn't really have a very uh advanced way of or other kind of medieval or movies set in medieval times,

56:03 for creating the most highest performing weaponry essentially of the time which was like the currency of the Yeah, there are a few of those documentaries. People are super foodies and want to let you know. around the world every day right year round yeah and uh it's what's interesting is very very very similarly so they basically you'd essentially have to destroy them to really

59:10 LA, New York, Austin, saying uh-uh or yeah that's great that's perfect that's where you want to be doing that you do I wouldn't do that to a good knife. But they're like they're fucking microns. observation are you looking at it's like someone's doing it to your instruction but because all of a sudden their knife is sharp as fuck afterwards. So those micro serrations are even smaller,

1:02:33 Imagine choking on that hair. It's like split the hair. There's an issue with that. What you use for hunting. So it has three points. and didn't kill the broadhead i still have the broadhead back there it's stuck into the broadhead from your chef's knife. inch thick which is you know that's about if not more actually actually. No, the original image, Jamie, we see the actual broadhead without the –

1:06:22 He's got an image of the skull that he sent me where you could see the outline of Right. first started learning i would use my finger as a guide so that would inform me uh as to the angle sharpening guides that you can clip With practice and repetition, you'll get better. you you'll notice the problem with those the real problem with those is that you can't sharpen the

1:09:25 when the knife comes down to the cutting board That axis elk. Well, I learned how to cook. It tastes fine that way too, but when you're dealing with – I reverse sear it in a pan with grass-fed butter. about wild game and um i don't know what the fuck it is. Oh, fuck. amazing it's brilliant you know and the few times that and it's actually i feel embarrassed saying that

1:12:27 We ate at a restaurant, and they're laughing. It's crazy. an incredibly healthy, vibrant animal versus something that's like raised in a cage. Which is incredible, you know? Right. Two hours later, she's like, she's like, and a lot of people are that my brother's the same way. I haven't eaten since like one o'clock in the afternoon. I feel like I don't really think too much about the fact that I'm doing it

1:16:18 We've got to get this done as quick as possible. learning curve though though, right? He used to work in Seattle. Stock removal? You could turn it and forge it into other stuff. the most out of it as you possibly could and so that's why forging was such a big deal and then as that Yeah. It feels like you're holding. He's a Belgian maker. And I had never told him the story but uh the

1:21:01 i was like what it was it was a totally like what the fuck right because that And is this your, your logo? Yeah. It's my insignia. So it's, become super slippery or anything the handle on my bow is actually made out of antler. I had it custom made. the ground you're falling down the hillside you're trying to jab it and get it get a hold like that's going to be really

1:23:39 Do you know that it's the fastest growing organic material on earth? I mean, that's all that is. Or fuck people, but also elk. Now, check this out. out. April 8th. Boom. So That's nuts. What, motherfucker? He's getting ready to go to war. comes near me. July 8th, July 15th, now he's basically still in velvet. the beginning of September, they're in hard-horned.

1:26:41 that's just the velvet just Just the velvet. Yeah. Yeah, a friend of mine, Because that stuff that grows grows so fast and so ridiculously potent that they would take antler velvet and they would turn it into a spray that would equal the effects of human growth hormone. Get swole, kid. The new vitamin. It's great. Everything's being sourced overseas.

1:28:42 I finally found it. that a deer would grow its antlers, That'd be like a 400 inch bull. And that fucker was about 1,000 pounds. And he'd just start running. More deer than moose. Well, they drown. I don't know what that's all about. They're literally eating him alive while he's stuck to the guy. And the other one's just sitting there They freed him up and let him loose crazy yeah you got that oh there's one

1:32:39 Dude, when you hear them fighting, like one of the first times I ever went elk hunting, And it might only happen once in a season. I'm not supposed to be seeing this right now. Oh, yeah. And the hormones they got going on. They stabbed it through the heart, and it lay down and died. There's a second rut sometimes in October when another female will go into estrus

1:34:52 You know, the real wild, the actual real wild. Right. Yeah. Actually, especially when we were moving out because I was driving through Pennsylvania. But the biggest issue has been actually other Connecticut drivers. they're driving as if nobody else is on the road. I was like, holy shit, that makes perfect sense. Because like say if you're – let's say there's a thing that you're making, like an epoxy, right?

1:37:43 you have eight ingredients. state in two and a half hours missing all sorts of stuff they're just they're so confused no and i'm not trying to sit here and shit on fucking connecticut it's just That ball sweat. I was just like, am I in fucking Florida? Just the rain. And then the summer comes. But he's coming home. of clouds up here it's fucking amazing i go you don't mind about the winter you don't mind about the rain

1:41:10 time. The winter time. When it is So I'm not experiencing that except for the drive home or to work. That shit's real. vitamin D? People that live in Connecticut right now go, what the fuck, dude? Love it. I care about the green. Everywhere. It's everywhere. Yeah, that area, too, This is so soft, and it's interesting and They're beautiful. You go walking through the woods.

1:45:13 There's salmon. You can really live off the land. in the summertime Walking through the... And you don't have to worry about the fucking ticks right you can get lime He's so intense. Isn't it amazing, too, looking at it through the eyes of your child, how like a lot of kids get those like bedroom uh mats that have like the roads and stuff we got one

1:47:58 Vietnam, Nepal, I can tell you where Africa is that have like They're so open, you know. Well, my wife has her master's degree at the university level for teaching English as a second language. Yeah. to help nourish it, essentially, Yes. these chef's knives. like one of those crazy cartoon filters oh yeah doesn't it is that it that's the knife right there

1:50:50 If you go to my Instagram profile, Malmasi Fire Arts on Instagram, I have a link actually in my bio that goes straight to the auction page for this knife. any questions about it, talk about it. But this is the first time I feel like I have something I can offer so and coming up from very little Thanks for being here.