Order of Man - JOSH SMITH ｜ Breaking Foreign Supply Chains Through American-Made

00:00:00.000 It's no secret that during COVID, we began to see how bad the foreign supply chain crisis really was.

00:00:06.640 That woke a lot of people up to the reality of importing cheap products from overseas adversarial countries.

00:00:13.680 But we've spent the last century closing American manufacturing facilities and exporting our American jobs overseas.

00:00:20.780 With the new potential tariffs, which I believe are more of an economic bargaining tool for Trump,

00:00:26.000 we, again, are staring down the barrel of high prices for everyday goods.

00:00:31.280 And that's part of the reason I love what Josh Smith, founder of Montana Knife Company, is doing in a very small town called Frenchtown in Montana.

00:00:39.780 He's putting Americans to work building American products, specifically hunting, tactical, and culinary knives.

00:00:47.760 Today, we talk about the challenges with starting American-made companies, what you're likely going to hear from competitors when you do,

00:00:54.760 why growth isn't always so linear, and there are also no overnight successes,

00:01:00.580 why foreign markets are unfair business partnerships, and learning to build a business from the ground up, literally.

00:01:07.900 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest.

00:01:10.900 Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path.

00:01:13.580 When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time.

00:01:18.320 You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong.

00:01:22.840 This is your life. This is who you are.

00:01:25.860 This is who you will become at the end of the day.

00:01:28.560 And after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:01:34.480 Gentlemen, welcome to the Order of Man podcast.

00:01:36.580 We are knocking on our 10-year anniversary.

00:01:39.080 That's going to be in the spring of 2025.

00:01:41.040 And I just want to take a minute and say thank you for tuning in, for listening, for sharing, for promoting,

00:01:47.260 but most importantly, for living your life as a better man.

00:01:50.340 That is our goal here, to give you all the tools that you need so that not only can you thrive as an individual,

00:01:56.420 we can reclaim and restore masculinity as men in our cities, in our neighborhoods, in this country, and throughout the world.

00:02:04.320 So you are part of a good mission.

00:02:05.740 And what I would ask for you today is just take a minute.

00:02:07.700 If we've offered any help, offered any insight, or any of my guests had shared something with you that was valuable,

00:02:13.740 that helped improve your life, just say what it was in a review.

00:02:18.820 Just let people know, hey, I listened to this podcast.

00:02:21.640 I became more disciplined.

00:02:22.680 Or I heard one of Ryan's guests, Josh Smith, like today, or Jocko Willink,

00:02:28.160 or Grant Cardone, or George Foreman, or Matthew McConaughey.

00:02:32.700 And here's the lessons I learned.

00:02:34.900 If we could just get hundreds, if not thousands of reviews, it would really boost this up.

00:02:39.100 And most importantly, get this mission in front of more men.

00:02:44.080 So that's my ask for you today.

00:02:46.000 I don't really have any sort of promotion today because the person I have on is also happens to be one of my good friends,

00:02:55.700 but podcast sponsors anyways.

00:02:57.000 And I believe in what these guys are doing.

00:02:59.020 I was listening to something on the radio the other day, or it was a podcast, I think.

00:03:04.400 And I'm blown away with how many podcasts just sell nonsense because they're getting a paycheck to sell that nonsense.

00:03:11.780 I don't do that.

00:03:12.740 I only work with companies that I personally know, like, and trust, and use their tools.

00:03:16.600 In fact, I've got two different Montana Knife Company knives sitting on my desk right now,

00:03:20.680 and I believe in what these guys are doing outside of their knife making.

00:03:24.780 Let me introduce you to him.

00:03:25.840 He is Josh Smith.

00:03:27.300 He's a master bladesmith.

00:03:28.680 In fact, he's the youngest ever to have earned that honor.

00:03:31.960 He spent decades as an electrical lineman while he built his custom knife business.

00:03:36.760 But more recently, only in 2021, in fact, he started his next knife making business,

00:03:41.860 moving into American production and manufacturing.

00:03:46.340 And as a fairly new company, Josh and his team at Montana Knife Company are making big moves

00:03:51.080 that are shaking up the knife production industry.

00:03:53.720 Endorsed by Joe Rogan, Jocko Willink, Mike Rowe, and so many other heavy hitters,

00:03:59.020 Josh and his team are only getting started and reshaping how knives ought to be made.

00:04:03.280 I remember, man, what, two, three, four months ago, I think I saw a post that Jessica had made

00:04:12.400 that she's, like, moving to Montana.

00:04:14.260 I'm like, wait, what is happening?

00:04:16.020 Yeah.

00:04:16.340 Because she was in Cedar City, which I don't know if you know this, but which is 45 minutes

00:04:20.740 north of where I live.

00:04:22.480 Oh, really?

00:04:23.220 Yeah.

00:04:23.860 Yeah.

00:04:24.900 Yeah.

00:04:25.160 And I was like, wait, what's happening?

00:04:26.220 And then I reached out to her.

00:04:27.180 I'm like, hey, congrats.

00:04:28.040 That's a good move.

00:04:28.840 But that, to me, just based on the limited amount that I know about her, and we've shot

00:04:34.400 total archery challenges together and, you know, talk shop, but that's a no-brainer, man.

00:04:40.500 That was a good move for both of you guys.

00:04:43.060 Yeah.

00:04:43.380 No, I needed somebody that I could kind of trust to help me with some of the relationship

00:04:50.960 side.

00:04:51.540 It's actually a challenge, like, probably the hardest challenge I've had with growing

00:04:56.700 MKC isn't about making more knives or about buying equipment.

00:05:00.840 It's like maintaining relationships, you know, when you get so busy, and I know everyone's

00:05:08.020 busy.

00:05:08.700 I hate to make it sound like I'm busier than anybody else, but you get to a point where

00:05:12.600 you do, like, my favorite part of this industry is the people, but it gets to be really, really

00:05:19.000 hard to feel like you're being a good friend or whatever and check in with people, right?

00:05:26.420 Like, I don't, frick shit, I don't ever call you, you know, but it doesn't mean that I feel 0.95

00:05:34.160 any different about you or anybody else. 0.98

00:05:36.460 It's just trying to help keep up with the relationship side.

00:05:40.300 And so when I was looking for a kind of a brand relations manager, she's really, I was

00:05:45.820 looking for somebody to kind of amplify my voice and help take care of our people, you

00:05:51.040 know, friends and friends of the brand and make sure people are taken care of and that

00:05:57.980 they don't feel like they're left behind or, you know, whatever.

00:06:01.700 And also then develop new relationships.

00:06:04.460 So it's, she's been, she's been phenomenal.

00:06:08.080 So when I, when we found her, she, one, she's respected throughout the industry.

00:06:11.620 She knows a ton of people.

00:06:13.960 Um, and then she's just, uh, a sweet person.

00:06:16.900 I hope her headphones are in because she's, oh, they actually are in.

00:06:20.480 So she can't, she right there.

00:06:21.800 Tell it, tell her I said hello if she's right there.

00:06:24.300 She won't hear me.

00:06:25.040 She's got her noise cancelings in, uh, we actually share an office now.

00:06:29.380 Um, we actually share an office now.

00:06:31.800 We got to the point in this building where we're just so jammed up.

00:06:35.620 So I moved her over into the corner of my office, but we both wear these noise canceling

00:06:40.300 headphones.

00:06:40.760 And when you've got them in, it's like you're in la la land. 0.99

00:06:43.980 Uh, so I could talk all kinds of crap about her. 0.67

00:06:46.400 I actually don't want her to hear me say anything good about her.

00:06:48.620 So I'm glad she's got them in.

00:06:50.680 Yeah.

00:06:51.060 You don't want to get her, her head to get too big and then think that she, you know,

00:06:54.240 deserves a raise or something like that.

00:06:55.840 Yeah.

00:06:56.020 No, she's not going to get one of those.

00:06:57.440 That's for sure.

00:06:58.780 So yeah, she can't hear anything I say.

00:07:01.740 And she also to brag on her a little bit, she is a straight up,

00:07:05.180 assassin too.

00:07:06.420 I'm sure, you know, but she's an incredible hunter. 1.00

00:07:09.520 I've never hunted with her or a husband.

00:07:11.940 Um, but I've shot total archery challenge with them and they are both phenomenal, phenomenal

00:07:17.740 hunters.

00:07:19.060 Yeah.

00:07:19.580 It's funny when they moved here, um, they're actually renting my, I have a house next door.

00:07:24.700 Um, they're renting that from me actually.

00:07:26.860 And, uh, um, Braxton was out.

00:07:30.260 Uh, she was actually out of town.

00:07:31.860 And Braxton showed up with their enclosed trailer and he had it all unloaded out in

00:07:36.320 the driveway.

00:07:36.700 And I told him I'd help him unload, like washer dryer, heavy stuff.

00:07:40.580 Right.

00:07:41.400 And I went over there and there's like eight elk, elk racks and all these big white tails

00:07:46.720 and muleys.

00:07:47.340 There was all these racks spread out in the driveway. 1.00

00:07:49.060 And I was like, damn dude, like you're a killer. 1.00

00:07:51.560 And he goes, Oh no, those are all justice. 1.00

00:07:53.160 Of course they are. 1.00

00:07:55.160 I was like, holy shit. 1.00

00:07:56.040 Of course they are. 1.00

00:07:56.780 That's wild.

00:07:57.640 Uh, of course, Braxton's gotten his own fair share of animals too.

00:08:01.040 So he's a hell of a guide. 0.98

00:08:02.140 So they're, they're both killers for sure.

00:08:05.340 What's with the mule deer behind you over your shoulder there?

00:08:07.660 Is that, uh, is there a story behind that?

00:08:10.280 There actually is.

00:08:11.820 Uh, that's a, that's when I shot a big Chino, uh, back in 2001, uh, down in Arizona. 0.99

00:08:18.620 That was a spot and stock archery. 0.99

00:08:20.380 I've hunted with those guys.

00:08:22.100 Have you?

00:08:22.440 Yeah.

00:08:22.840 Yeah.

00:08:23.440 Uh, yeah.

00:08:24.140 With JP and those guys, um, JP, uh, Bert Soren was down there with me.

00:08:29.000 Um, Brandon Lilly, um, Logan from black rifle.

00:08:33.860 Uh, there was a bunch of us down there.

00:08:35.660 And, uh, did you say 2001 though, or 2021?

00:08:40.260 I'm sorry.

00:08:41.280 2021, 2021.

00:08:42.980 Okay.

00:08:43.400 I was like, Whoa, that goes way back, but time just flies.

00:08:46.780 So, all right.

00:08:47.260 I know 2021 makes more sense to me.

00:08:49.520 So I got it.

00:08:50.160 Keep going.

00:08:50.800 Yeah.

00:08:51.240 It feels like 2000, 2001.

00:08:53.620 Uh, so we, we spotted that buck and, uh, day one and I took off hiking for it.

00:09:00.740 Um, you know, and there you can wear ear pieces where, where, you know, they can kind of help

00:09:05.380 walk you in.

00:09:06.260 You can radio.

00:09:07.100 Yeah.

00:09:07.340 So that buck was a couple of miles away.

00:09:09.400 You can't do that in Montana.

00:09:10.540 So that was new to me.

00:09:12.000 Um, so I go hiking off, uh, to kind of just cover distance these deer up on a hillside.

00:09:18.820 And as I'm working my way up the hillside, those deer got up out of their beds and started

00:09:23.340 feeding.

00:09:23.780 And then those guys radioed me and they were like, Hey, those deer are gone.

00:09:27.800 Like they, they rebed, but we can't see them.

00:09:30.340 So they had no eyes on them.

00:09:32.000 And so I just worked my way up in there without any comms at all.

00:09:36.620 And I just took one step at a time for like two hours, glassing with every step.

00:09:43.100 And I ended up finding one of the small bucks bedded underneath one of the trees.

00:09:47.840 And it's kind of one of those, like you find one buck and then you start, I just, I stayed

00:09:52.600 frozen in that position.

00:09:53.760 And I started looking around just in my binocular, you know, field of view.

00:09:57.880 And all of a sudden it was like, there's another buck, there's another buck.

00:10:00.620 And I was 38 yards from all of them.

00:10:04.060 And they were all bedded there.

00:10:05.460 They didn't know I was there.

00:10:07.120 I stayed frozen, um, there for probably 40 minutes.

00:10:11.960 Uh, I didn't, I didn't move a muscle.

00:10:14.360 Um, other than I, I put my binos back as slow as possible and, uh, grab my release and, and

00:10:22.580 it was able to click it on my bow.

00:10:24.580 I already had an arrow knock.

00:10:26.020 Thank God.

00:10:26.880 And, uh, I just waited.

00:10:29.340 And finally, all of a sudden they just decided to stand up.

00:10:33.460 Uh, and I had ranged the, uh, tree that that big buck was laying under, uh, cause I couldn't

00:10:39.820 range him.

00:10:40.300 He was down in the grass.

00:10:41.260 You could barely see him.

00:10:42.800 And, uh, I just ranged the tree he was under.

00:10:45.020 And so when the young buck started standing up, I knew there was a lot of commotion.

00:10:50.000 So I took that as my chance to draw and I drew.

00:10:53.340 And, and as soon as he stood to his feet, I shot him and, uh, and yeah, he went just 0.96

00:10:59.700 a little ways and died. 0.87

00:11:00.700 But here's, what's crazy about this story.

00:11:02.660 I leave him with a taxidermist down there to clean the skull up and whatnot.

00:11:07.180 And he calls me a couple of months later and he's like, Hey, uh, did you see what was in

00:11:12.460 this deer's face?

00:11:13.620 And I was like, no, what are you talking about?

00:11:15.420 There's a broad head.

00:11:16.780 And we actually, our t-shirt, we are our mule deer t-shirt, uh, kind of pays homage

00:11:21.340 to this.

00:11:22.080 There is a shaft of an arrow and a broad head through the side of that deer's nose.

00:11:27.400 And the broad, the mechanical broad head is in the tear duct over here.

00:11:32.400 And so when you look up, when you look up inside the nostril of that deer right there,

00:11:37.820 you can see the arrow shaft going across, I'm trying to point on here, across that deer's

00:11:43.860 nose and there's bone growing over the shaft of the arrow.

00:11:47.740 So that, that is really cool.

00:11:50.460 At least two years, that deer ran around with that arrow busted off in its face, which shows

00:11:55.900 you how tough those animals are.

00:11:58.300 Well, you'll have to, uh, after the recording, show me the broad head and the arrow.

00:12:03.680 Maybe it's one of mine.

00:12:04.700 I don't know, because I've never been able to bag a mule deer.

00:12:08.200 I went for three years, man, you were talking about sitting there for 45 minutes, dude. 0.96

00:12:13.800 I sat in a ditch on the Arizona strip with big Chino for three hours and froze my balls 1.00

00:12:21.600 off because I had stalked into a deer.

00:12:24.980 They were working me into it.

00:12:25.980 I stalked into it.

00:12:27.680 The thing stood up. 0.92

00:12:28.980 I just hurried and took a shot right over his back. 0.99

00:12:31.660 They watched him.

00:12:32.920 They said, Hey, follow this dry river bed.

00:12:36.080 I'm like, okay, fine.

00:12:37.100 So I followed this dry river bed and they're like, Hey, he's just bedded up.

00:12:39.980 You got to sit there until he gets up in the evening.

00:12:42.560 I sat there for three hours and he's like, all right, get up.

00:12:46.520 So I got up and I popped up over this ridge and I couldn't see him.

00:12:50.700 He's like, he's to your left.

00:12:51.660 I'm like looking everywhere.

00:12:52.920 I could not even see him.

00:12:54.380 And finally I saw him as he was running away from me.

00:12:56.860 So really maybe I have some good stories with big Chino. 1.00

00:13:01.480 Those are good guys down there.

00:13:03.040 They're all firefighters too, which I love.

00:13:05.260 It's really tough hunting.

00:13:06.940 Like, uh, you know, it's funny cause I shot that deer on day one and then I started seeing

00:13:12.600 some of the videos of some of these other bucks.

00:13:14.460 These guys were stalking and I started having shooters remorse.

00:13:17.200 I was like, Oh gosh, maybe I shot, shot too early, too fast.

00:13:21.460 Cause these guys were chasing some giants.

00:13:23.880 I think there were nine guys.

00:13:25.600 Diesel, right?

00:13:27.000 Yeah, exactly.

00:13:28.060 Yeah.

00:13:28.240 He's huge.

00:13:29.200 There were nine guys in camp and we spent like six days there.

00:13:34.380 And at the end of the week, I was the only one that shot a deer.

00:13:37.760 So then all of a sudden I was, I went, I went from having shooters remorse to like, Oh, thank

00:13:42.380 God I shot that deer, you know?

00:13:43.880 Cause it's, and they're all good hunters.

00:13:45.880 It's just so hard.

00:13:47.320 Like everything has to go perfect.

00:13:49.340 You know, I've never shot a mule deer.

00:13:52.620 I, I, I fell in love with maybe six, seven years ago with whitetail.

00:13:57.560 I go out to Minnesota every year and that was hard at first.

00:14:01.040 Cause I'm used to the Western spot and stock.

00:14:03.100 And then I went to Minnesota cause a friend invited me out there and I've become friends

00:14:07.000 with these guys and, you know, sitting in a tree stand for three, four hours in the morning

00:14:10.960 and three or four hours at night.

00:14:12.800 I know guys like Dudley are doing it all day.

00:14:15.260 I'd kill myself if I had to do that all day.

00:14:17.960 But, uh, I fell in love with whitetail, man.

00:14:20.540 They're incredible.

00:14:21.880 It really is.

00:14:23.220 I've never hunted whitetail like that.

00:14:25.260 Like you, like where you did, you know, I grew up hunting whitetail as a junior high and

00:14:30.820 high school kid with my bow, uh, right at my parents' backyard.

00:14:34.240 I'd go set a tree stand up and I shot a couple of deer, but nothing, nothing big.

00:14:39.160 Um, but to, to be honest, I mean, I love it.

00:14:43.200 I love big whitetail, but I'm the, I'm the wrong kind of personality to sit in the tree

00:14:47.980 stand.

00:14:48.340 Like I have whitetail hunting back here behind my house.

00:14:50.960 And again, I'd probably feel different about it if we had big, big bucks running around,

00:14:54.680 but we don't, um, yeah, but I sit there for an hour and I start thinking about all the 0.95

00:15:00.720 shit I should be doing. 0.61

00:15:02.340 Um, I, I just can't, I I'm like, God, I could have built that bench in my shop. 0.97

00:15:07.880 I could have cleaned the floors.

00:15:09.140 I could have made, I could have made a half of a knife by now.

00:15:12.820 Um, my personality really, it's different.

00:15:16.300 I think if I travel somewhere, cause when you travel for hunting, you're just there to do

00:15:20.560 that, but boy, when I, when I'm a 10 minute walk from my house, I, my mind can't do it.

00:15:27.680 Yeah, I get it, man. 0.93

00:15:29.960 When I start, I'm like, this is ridiculous. 0.84

00:15:31.700 I was freezing my balls off and it was just miserable and I didn't see any deer. 0.97

00:15:35.680 And I was like, what is going on?

00:15:37.980 Um, but I don't know.

00:15:39.100 I got the bug.

00:15:40.020 I'll have to show you, uh, last year I shot the biggest buck of my life.

00:15:43.780 I actually never found him.

00:15:45.740 I spent hours trying to find this deer.

00:15:48.000 And when the snow thawed and spring came, the guys I hunt with actually ended up finding

00:15:55.620 them in my arrow was just buried in his body cavity and they sent it to me.

00:15:59.840 I'll send you a picture.

00:16:01.500 Oh my gosh.

00:16:02.620 Like, yeah.

00:16:03.980 So, you know, I had the thing mounted.

00:16:05.620 I'm like, I don't know.

00:16:06.440 Should I mount it?

00:16:07.300 Like, I, like, I killed it for sure. 0.92

00:16:09.560 I can, you know, I killed that deer.

00:16:11.440 I feel a little bad cause I didn't harvest it right away.

00:16:13.900 I didn't get any meat from it, but, uh, mixed feelings on that one.

00:16:18.400 Yeah.

00:16:18.620 Well, at least you found it.

00:16:19.800 I mean, that's good.

00:16:21.020 A lot of times, a lot of times that's, that's the unfortunate part of hunting that, that

00:16:25.000 we, you know, we'll all go through if you hunt enough, like everyone's going to go through

00:16:28.760 that at one point or another.

00:16:30.860 Yeah.

00:16:31.480 You know, well, you know, you said something interesting, Josh, you were talking about

00:16:35.500 making half a knife and, uh, I can attest for that because I don't know if you remember

00:16:39.900 this or not.

00:16:41.220 Yeah.

00:16:41.800 This is, do you remember this, but I need to send this to you.

00:16:44.420 I need to get, I got a little rust on it.

00:16:46.620 I've got a bloody, this is not a show piece for me.

00:16:49.180 This is a working piece, but this is the stone wall.

00:16:51.840 Yeah.

00:16:52.280 Uh, as far as I know, it's the only Damascus stone wall that has ever been created.

00:16:58.000 Correct me if I'm wrong.

00:16:59.380 I, I, I've built a couple of those, uh, of Damascus.

00:17:02.560 Okay.

00:17:03.220 I have.

00:17:03.880 Yeah.

00:17:04.760 But, uh, you're the only one that's built one with me.

00:17:08.020 That's for sure.

00:17:09.580 This is a, uh, this is a, a Josh Smith, Ryan Mickler collaboration that you will not find

00:17:15.020 anywhere else, but I need to get some of that rust off.

00:17:17.360 Cause I put this thing to work, man.

00:17:19.200 Yeah.

00:17:19.420 Building a knife with you was, was a highlight quite honestly, that I will never forget.

00:17:24.520 I loved doing this.

00:17:26.540 That was a blast.

00:17:27.360 That was really fun.

00:17:28.720 I'm glad you still, I'm glad you still got it.

00:17:30.680 And I'm glad you're putting some, uh, put it to some use.

00:17:35.040 Well, that's the thing.

00:17:35.840 And this is like, you know, people have trophies and things they want to put on the wall and

00:17:39.760 put in glass boxes.

00:17:41.900 A knife isn't designed to do that.

00:17:43.600 A knife is designed to be used.

00:17:44.920 That's not to say that there aren't show pieces for sure.

00:17:47.120 And I know you create some, but man, this is a working piece and I'm glad we could do

00:17:51.200 this together.

00:17:52.180 Yeah.

00:17:52.320 That's really cool.

00:17:53.060 That I did.

00:17:53.880 I've had an ironwood on it.

00:17:55.000 I think, right.

00:17:56.180 Does there an ironwood?

00:17:57.320 Yeah.

00:17:58.040 Yeah.

00:17:58.280 That's the, I don't know if you can, I don't know if it's going to focus or not, but yeah,

00:18:02.080 it's ironwood handle.

00:18:03.520 Yeah.

00:18:03.900 That's awesome.

00:18:05.040 Yeah.

00:18:05.440 That was fun.

00:18:06.300 Jeez.

00:18:06.540 That seems it's amazing.

00:18:08.380 What year was that?

00:18:10.300 Is that probably 21, I think maybe 20, 21, 21, 22, somewhere, somewhere right in there.

00:18:16.700 Yeah, I'm sure.

00:18:17.480 21 probably feels like a decade ago.

00:18:20.560 It's crazy.

00:18:21.460 Isn't it wild, man?

00:18:22.360 You guys have grown so much, you know, and then I just got, uh, this knife, the V 24 in

00:18:29.140 a mail.

00:18:29.600 Uh, I don't know, just a couple of, it was interesting because this is the one that I

00:18:33.720 wanted.

00:18:34.040 I think you call it black and coyote and you guys sell out a knife so fast.

00:18:38.020 I jumped on it.

00:18:38.700 Like, I don't know, seven Oh eight.

00:18:40.900 You opened up at seven.

00:18:41.840 I jumped on it.

00:18:42.420 Seven Oh eight.

00:18:42.860 This was the only one that was left.

00:18:44.560 This is actually the one I wanted.

00:18:46.240 So really, that's awesome.

00:18:48.440 Yeah.

00:18:48.880 Those, those knives are, those knives are pretty damn cool.

00:18:51.440 I'm pretty happy with those.

00:18:52.860 I'm really stoked.

00:18:53.620 Those, um, that whole tactical line.

00:18:56.000 Right.

00:18:57.060 Yeah.

00:18:57.340 Yeah.

00:18:57.960 Yeah.

00:18:58.460 That, uh, I don't know if you guys can see this, but that V it was originally called

00:19:03.240 a V 42, uh, made by case.

00:19:06.340 Um, and it was, uh, you know, it was a longer blade and it was shaped a little bit different.

00:19:12.340 It had a point on the pommel of that, um, I, you know, I don't really love a point for

00:19:18.000 a fighting knife on a handle because the handle is really pointing at you, uh, especially,

00:19:23.440 uh, you know, airborne operations are a lot bigger deal now, obviously.

00:19:29.540 And, uh, you know, you've got that dagger with a point on that handle and something

00:19:35.460 goes wrong on a jump and you end up folding in half or something.

00:19:38.300 I don't want that point of that thing, jabbing whoever's carrying it.

00:19:42.040 Uh, um, but you know, that V 42 is a legendary knife.

00:19:47.080 And it, what's cool about that is that was that knife was, uh, for the devil's brigade, 0.78

00:19:52.860 which was the very first special operations group ever formed.

00:19:57.820 And it was formed to be between, uh, some soldiers out of Fort Harrison in here in Montana,

00:20:04.540 uh, and some soldiers out of Canada.

00:20:08.540 And they came together, they called themselves the devil's devil's brigade.

00:20:12.420 And that became the very first, uh, special forces group.

00:20:17.240 And so that's really where, you know, green berets and, you know, the unit guys and Navy

00:20:22.480 seals, that's really where all of that kind of started, which was a smaller team of specialized

00:20:27.560 guys.

00:20:28.920 Um, and they called it a V 42, which was victory for 1942. 0.96

00:20:32.840 You know, when you think about world war two and, and, and, and so I, we called this one,

00:20:38.620 the V 24, um, for victory of 2024.

00:20:43.480 Uh, and, and I shortened up the blade a little bit.

00:20:46.520 I shortened up the handle and I wanted to make it a little bit more, uh, practical to carry

00:20:52.500 for our soldiers.

00:20:53.740 Uh, the, the V 42 is really cool, but it's, it's just too long to actually reasonably carry

00:21:00.620 on your kit.

00:21:01.980 Um, and we're actually going to come out with a longer version, uh, probably next year,

00:21:07.180 which would be cool, but they're a little bit more ceremonial than they are functional.

00:21:11.840 Uh, I mean, they're very functional, but as far as carrying them, um, you know, so anyway,

00:21:17.260 I just thought it was cool.

00:21:18.300 And it just so happened to be that the V 42 was a 1942, but here we are in 2024.

00:21:24.900 So we just reversed it and made it to V 24, which was cool.

00:21:29.200 I didn't know where that came from, but that's actually really cool.

00:21:32.060 And one thing I noticed on the actual, um, sheath is you've got this, I don't know what

00:21:39.680 you call it, but it's this like everyday carry clip.

00:21:41.900 It's not the one that you would put on like a hunting pack, for example, but it's this

00:21:45.960 EDC clip is what do you call that?

00:21:48.060 Cause that, I actually really liked that.

00:21:50.180 Yeah.

00:21:50.580 It's like an EDC pocket clip.

00:21:52.700 Um, and it, it, man, it really does lock down on whether it's a pocket or they're also

00:21:57.640 made to go over Molly webbing.

00:21:59.720 Uh, that that's kind of, that that's why the width of that is.

00:22:02.800 Oh yeah.

00:22:02.940 That's a good point.

00:22:04.160 Cause I'd want to put this on my kit.

00:22:05.980 If I'm doing a, you know, a backwoods hunter, like I'd want to have this right here.

00:22:10.380 Somebody somewhere readily accessible.

00:22:12.220 Yeah.

00:22:13.300 And so you could, uh, you could, you know, click, click, click that over the Molly webbing.

00:22:18.240 The one thing, the sheath making is a little bit hard on the tactical side because, uh,

00:22:24.440 there's such variation.

00:22:25.920 You know, I'm not a veteran, so I'm not sitting here acting like I know what I'm talking about.

00:22:30.660 But, uh, you know, when I, when I talk to a lot of these guys, there's a hundred different

00:22:36.160 ways these guys carry their knives and where they put them on their kit.

00:22:40.500 And quite honestly, it can be mission specific, uh, depending on what gear they need to carry,

00:22:46.080 how heavily are they loaded out?

00:22:48.240 Are they carrying radios or are they just carrying some mags?

00:22:52.120 Um, are they going a little bit, uh, you know, skinnier on some of their gear?

00:22:56.820 And so where they put those knives can change.

00:22:59.560 And then some of these guys, it doesn't change and they'll actually, they don't want to lose

00:23:03.860 anything.

00:23:04.200 So they'll zip tie everything to their kit.

00:23:07.200 Um, and so that's the other part of it.

00:23:10.020 It's like, Hey, if you want to zip tie it, that's fine.

00:23:12.600 But we offer a lot of different, uh, sheath attachments, especially for that tactical

00:23:18.280 side on our website, because it's almost impossible to just make something that everyone's going

00:23:24.900 to like, you know, so guys, guys can kind of play with how they want to, what they want

00:23:29.320 to have for attachments.

00:23:31.300 I think that's cool because on this, um, on this knife, again, the Damascus stone while we

00:23:36.540 did, you know, you were gracious enough to make this go with it, you know?

00:23:40.900 And so obviously, you know, that's something I'm going to carry and something I really appreciate,

00:23:45.200 but this is something that can go on my hunting kit.

00:23:47.920 Uh, that's cool.

00:23:48.720 I actually watched a video the other day.

00:23:50.420 Um, Tim Kennedy had done a video on this and I think, I don't, I don't really know the

00:23:56.020 story cause I try not to get into too much drama, but I think there's been some accusations

00:24:00.400 of stolen valor, which I think are, are very uncredible.

00:24:04.860 Uh, but people were bagging on this because it wasn't the V 42.

00:24:09.560 And I'm like, I don't, I don't think it's supposed to be the V 42.

00:24:12.900 I think it's supposed to be a nod to the V 42, but not the actual knife.

00:24:17.080 Somebody who's already made that knife.

00:24:18.460 Why make the same one?

00:24:20.380 Yeah.

00:24:20.680 And the reproduction world is, you know, I learned this a long, long time ago as a custom

00:24:25.620 knife maker.

00:24:26.140 If you're going to reproduce a knife, like a historic knife, man, you better get that thing

00:24:33.580 exactly right.

00:24:35.220 Because the historian people will pick you apart.

00:24:38.460 I mean, to the nth degree.

00:24:40.640 Um, so I, and anybody who has half a brain can see that clearly this is not a copy of

00:24:47.060 the V 42.

00:24:48.920 Um, it absolutely has design characteristics that make it, uh, you know, you can see the

00:24:54.440 similarities for sure.

00:24:55.540 And blade shape and handle shape.

00:24:57.540 Uh, you know, the original V 42 had stacked leather, uh, that, that was the handle.

00:25:02.940 And so that's actually why we did the, the million around the handle we did to kind of,

00:25:07.060 uh, you know, basically a little nod or shout out to that stack leather look originally.

00:25:12.460 Um, uh, but yeah, uh, obviously this is not an actual V 42.

00:25:18.620 I don't, I don't read any of those comments.

00:25:20.540 I don't really care.

00:25:21.280 You know, as far as, uh, Tim and some of that, I actually, I actually watched the podcast that,

00:25:28.340 uh, that, you know, had those accusations, uh, that they kind of lobbed at Tim to be honestly,

00:25:35.720 full disclosure.

00:25:36.360 I have not read his book.

00:25:38.280 Um, and then I saw Tim's response and my stance is on that, uh, two things.

00:25:43.440 One, I don't know.

00:25:45.320 I've never been to war.

00:25:46.740 So ask somebody else when it comes to like, what's, you know, technically right or wrong

00:25:53.540 with some of these stories.

00:25:54.640 I do know I have several veterans include a, including a green beret that worked for me.

00:26:00.520 One thing for sure, both of these guys that have been to war and both have been blown up

00:26:04.520 will tell you is if six of us go out on mission and, uh, and we come back and it's fairly kinetic,

00:26:11.940 uh, we're going to come back with six stories about what happened.

00:26:16.600 Uh, you know, and even if, even if none of us are killed, even if none of us step on an

00:26:23.040 IED or any of that stuff, you it's still freaking war.

00:26:28.720 It's traumatic, right?

00:26:30.020 It's a, you have a chance of dying.

00:26:32.720 You are killing people. 1.00

00:26:33.840 You're shooting people in the face. 1.00

00:26:35.780 It's a traumatic experience. 0.98

00:26:38.240 Even if you are a high level operator and it all goes well, uh, you're killing people.

00:26:43.780 And so the, the version of the stories, uh, can vary a little bit.

00:26:49.500 I do know that.

00:26:50.780 And, and then lastly, I find it interesting as a, as a civilian, I have never seen a community

00:26:58.940 more, uh, hard on each other than the veteran community.

00:27:05.680 I mean, man, those guys chew each other up.

00:27:08.840 And I think sometimes may, and maybe, maybe there's some, uh, some things in Tim's book

00:27:13.940 that were embellished.

00:27:15.460 Uh, who knows, maybe there's a couple of things that are just flat out, not true.

00:27:18.920 I know Tim actually very, very well.

00:27:21.460 I've seen him behind the scenes with people.

00:27:24.000 I've seen him when we met with president Trump with secret service guys wanting to get pictures

00:27:29.140 with him.

00:27:29.600 I've seen him with the coffee gal at Starbucks.

00:27:32.500 I've seen him, how he treats people at his, uh, his workout classes with firemen.

00:27:38.420 Uh, he is a good human.

00:27:40.100 Oh, okay.

00:27:41.200 So, uh, do I think he willingly and outright lies about any of those stories?

00:27:47.700 I, I really find that hard to believe.

00:27:50.000 Uh, also you have to remember there's a ghost writer, uh, for the book, right?

00:27:56.340 And so, you know, if I was to dictate to you, Ryan, my entire life story about making knives

00:28:02.380 from the time I'm 11 and we sit down for the next four days and I just tell you my story

00:28:07.100 start to finish and then you go write my book, you may take some of your own liberties to

00:28:12.740 make my stories at 11 year old little league baseball player sound better.

00:28:16.740 You might even say I was the best baseball player on the team.

00:28:19.620 I didn't tell you that.

00:28:21.020 Right.

00:28:21.800 And then somebody might come out and say, well, I played with him.

00:28:24.820 He really wasn't the best player.

00:28:26.840 Right.

00:28:27.240 Well, uh, you know, so I guess my point on this is, is I'm not sure as a civilian, what

00:28:34.860 I know is those guys are American heroes.

00:28:37.300 He's a green beret who also fought in the UFC, which is, uh, either one of those is incredible

00:28:43.800 to achieve individually.

00:28:46.540 And then he went and did that.

00:28:48.140 And then he also, uh, has done some superhero things.

00:28:51.340 I've actually seen videos personally of him working, uh, the Southern border.

00:28:56.760 Cause he's still actually in the military today.

00:28:59.020 Um, I also know that book was run through the DOD and approved, uh, and they fact check

00:29:06.200 stories.

00:29:07.220 So, you know, it's a long winded, but my point is, is, uh, the last thing I'm going to do

00:29:14.380 is really pick apart an American hero.

00:29:16.540 Cause I think all of those people are American heroes that served.

00:29:19.800 And, uh, uh, I didn't.

00:29:22.360 So that's kind of my stance on it.

00:29:24.820 And I take every individual relationship, you know, there's some rivalries in this community

00:29:29.560 of some very well-known people that I'm friends with, uh, that actually don't like each other

00:29:34.800 at all.

00:29:35.600 And I always take all my relationships based solely on my personal experience with that

00:29:40.640 person.

00:29:41.900 And, uh, and my experience with Tim has been, uh, nothing short of, you know, incredible.

00:29:49.720 All right, man.

00:29:50.620 I know the conversation is enthralling.

00:29:52.400 We'll get right back to it.

00:29:53.420 Uh, I just wanted to share something new year, new you.

00:29:57.020 I hate that term.

00:29:58.960 You're going to hear it a lot.

00:30:00.480 Uh, too often it's new year, same you, but look, if, if you use the new year as a catalyst

00:30:05.480 for growth, all the power to you, but that doesn't seem to be how it typically goes.

00:30:10.420 But I do have a tool for you that you could really use to potentially make that first phrase

00:30:17.560 new year, new you a reality.

00:30:19.340 And when you sign up for our free battle ready program, you're going to unlock instant access

00:30:24.280 to a series of emails, 17 to be exact, that will walk you through step-by-step the path

00:30:30.360 that I've used to build a seven figure business, help fix a strange relationships, get in the

00:30:35.060 best shape of my life, and finally develop a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in

00:30:39.620 my life.

00:30:39.980 Get on it now.

00:30:41.560 It's what the 10th, as of the release of this, put yourself on the path of really doing something

00:30:47.120 come 2025, not just regurgitating clever little phrases like new year, new you, or 2024 was

00:30:54.400 just my warmup.

00:30:55.420 I actually want it to happen for you.

00:30:57.660 Go check it out.

00:30:58.500 Orderofman.com slash battle ready.

00:31:01.000 Again, that's orderofman.com slash battle ready.

00:31:03.320 Do that right after the show.

00:31:04.440 For now, let's get back to it with Josh.

00:31:08.440 Yeah, I would attest to that as well.

00:31:11.100 I think you probably know Tim better than I do, but you know, what I'm reminded of is

00:31:15.740 a few good men when Jack Nicholson basically says, Hey, look, you're asking me to protect

00:31:21.180 it.

00:31:21.400 Then you're going to critique the way that I protect you so you can sleep at night

00:31:24.900 peacefully in your bed.

00:31:26.900 Look, we can, we have a right to do that and you can do that.

00:31:31.040 I'm not saying you shouldn't.

00:31:31.940 We ought to be critical of these things, but also we ought to take all of this stuff with

00:31:38.780 a grain of salt.

00:31:39.420 One of my favorite stories of, of Tim is I was supposed to do a podcast with him years

00:31:45.360 and years ago.

00:31:46.740 And I went to a friend's house, Kip Sorensen, and we watched some UFC fights.

00:31:51.120 And I think he was fighting.

00:31:53.180 What's the guy's name?

00:31:54.060 Kevin Gastelum, I think is his name.

00:31:56.480 And Tim ended up getting beat up.

00:31:58.800 And I already had an interview scheduled with him and Tim got beat up.

00:32:03.260 Kevin was on fire, man.

00:32:05.340 And I remember thinking, well, there goes that interview.

00:32:09.060 Cause I was supposed to interview him on like Tuesday or Wednesday after UFC.

00:32:13.180 I'm like, well, there goes that interview.

00:32:15.140 You know what?

00:32:16.200 Tim showed up.

00:32:18.060 Yeah.

00:32:18.460 And he had a good conversation.

00:32:20.960 I've been to his house.

00:32:22.080 He's shown me interesting and unique things that he's, he's told me stories, man.

00:32:27.680 The guy is, the guy is solid.

00:32:29.340 So, you know, I, I attest to that as well.

00:32:32.460 Well, there's, you know, Tim is no doubt.

00:32:35.520 Tim's a look at me guy, right?

00:32:36.760 I mean, he's out there.

00:32:37.900 He's out there for sure.

00:32:38.960 And so you have a few guys out there like that.

00:32:41.660 You've got Jocko and you've got some of these guys that are big personalities and they're veterans.

00:32:46.700 Right.

00:32:47.160 And so there's also kind of that veteran culture of the, of the silent professional type as well.

00:32:55.260 That don't like that.

00:32:56.340 Sure.

00:32:56.760 Right.

00:32:56.960 So I think that's going to draw, uh, some hate, um, hell, I'm sure I've got some knife makers out there, uh, that maybe don't like me that had never even met me just because I'm, I'm kind of out there.

00:33:09.460 Right.

00:33:09.980 And so I can't really do anything about that.

00:33:12.760 Um, you know, there's even, I've been in awkward cases where I've had people explain or say things about me either in a podcast or in articles where they basically call me like, oh, Josh,

00:33:26.960 Josh Smith, he, uh, is the, like the best knife maker alive, right.

00:33:31.260 Or the, or the greatest knife maker, you know, uh, you know, living today, they're trying to be polite and kind.

00:33:38.480 Uh, but that's not, those aren't, that's not true.

00:33:41.300 Right.

00:33:42.140 And other knife makers might, uh, look at that and be like, oh, Josh is thinks he's whatever.

00:33:47.780 And it's like, no, I can name you a dozen knife makers off the top of my head right now that are better than me.

00:33:53.880 Um, uh, you know, I'm a pretty damn good knife maker.

00:33:56.960 But there's a, there's a lot of dudes that are unbelievable knife makers.

00:34:01.660 Um, but it can be viewed as though I'm the guy saying that, uh, and you can end up in some weird spots when you're public, like you and I are where words are almost put in your own mouth and you're, you're left with people hating you.

00:34:16.660 And you didn't even say it, you know?

00:34:19.380 Well, it's, it's not even, it's not verifiable.

00:34:22.060 You know, that that's an opinion.

00:34:23.720 Like how can you say somebody is the best knife maker?

00:34:27.180 It's just not a category that exists because it's all based on people's opinions, people's views, people's perceptions, people's experiences, or maybe their biases.

00:34:37.420 It's not even a verifiable statistic, but I've had people say things like, well, that's just your opinion.

00:34:44.320 Well, of course it's my opinion.

00:34:45.840 Like who else's opinion would I be sharing?

00:34:47.920 I'm sharing my opinion.

00:34:49.440 They're like, well, you didn't say it. 0.98

00:34:50.980 I'm like, you're also not an idiot. 0.69

00:34:52.960 You know, the difference between opinion and fact, and I don't need to preface everything I say with, this is my opinion. 0.96

00:35:00.100 You're capable of comprehending that strat, that idea.

00:35:03.920 Right.

00:35:04.660 Exactly.

00:35:05.440 Yeah.

00:35:06.100 No.

00:35:06.380 And that's the thing I have taken more and more of the Rogan approach of, uh, uh, of not reading the comments, you know?

00:35:14.160 Yeah.

00:35:14.460 The other, the other part of that, to be honest, uh, just from a, a time perspective, I started, uh, keeping track a little bit of one day, a few months ago of just the time spent, responding to some comments.

00:35:28.620 And, uh, it's kind of mind boggling when you start multiplying that times 30 days a month.

00:35:34.880 And it, it's actually a real struggle, um, that, that I still try to figure out what that balance is, because I also have 99% of the comments on my pages are positive.

00:35:49.560 And, and I never want someone to think that I don't care.

00:35:53.780 Like if they comment and they're like, Oh, I love that knife.

00:35:56.240 Or I love what you did there.

00:35:58.100 Your company's awesome.

00:35:59.420 And, you know, it's inspiring.

00:36:01.480 Well, if I don't get on there and say, thank you.

00:36:04.300 And I just leave a blank.

00:36:06.720 Uh, part of me, part of me just feels bad.

00:36:09.380 Right.

00:36:09.620 It's like, well, I, I do appreciate all of those comments, uh, more than people know.

00:36:15.040 And as you know, with social media and stuff, you actually want engagement like that.

00:36:19.680 You need it.

00:36:20.260 And so, um, it's, uh, I find that not responding to the comments thing, um, a bit of a challenge because there's also just like, is that 10 or 15 minutes spent answering comments?

00:36:34.420 Uh, as important as talking to my daughter for 10 or 15 minutes, right?

00:36:41.000 Because my daughter leaves the, you know, at home for school in the morning, see her for a few minutes and we're busy and whatnot.

00:36:48.360 She's got basketball practice. 0.66

00:36:49.620 And then they head to bed about eight 30.

00:36:51.800 Uh, you know, I see my kids for about an hour out of the day, you know, so do I, should I spend that 15, 20 minutes answering comments or should I sit and chat with my family?

00:37:01.180 And I'm guilty of not making the right choice on that still too often.

00:37:08.880 I think more than anything that just speaks to your character, like you're not just selling a knife.

00:37:15.560 You actually care about the people who are buying your products.

00:37:18.680 And I wish we could respond to it all, but the fact of the matter is, and the rate at which your company and organization are growing, it's just not possible.

00:37:26.280 It's hard to know that somebody bought your knife and all you can give them as a thumbs up.

00:37:31.640 If they comment, like, I definitely understand that.

00:37:34.840 Yeah.

00:37:35.320 That's a, I mean, that's why we hired Brett.

00:37:38.320 Uh, Brett's helping with that, you know, on a drop night, Brett's in on the comments.

00:37:43.760 Uh, Jess is in there. 1.00

00:37:45.820 Brandon's in there.

00:37:46.840 I, I jump in there.

00:37:48.200 Uh, and we still can't answer everything.

00:37:50.900 And it's, um, like you say, give them just a thumbs up.

00:37:53.960 It's like, God, I, I, I want to be like, Hey, I really do appreciate it.

00:37:58.420 Thank you.

00:37:59.440 Uh, that means a lot.

00:38:00.940 Uh, um, but man, it's just, it's, it's hard to keep up on all that.

00:38:05.320 And, you know, and then you combine that with answering texts, emails, direct messages, uh, you know, three or four different social media platforms.

00:38:13.200 Um, it just becomes a major challenge and I'm not complaining at all about it.

00:38:18.720 It's more about like, I'm still trying mentally to solve how to deal with it.

00:38:23.500 Uh, but it's good.

00:38:24.600 It's obviously good problems to have.

00:38:26.560 Uh, you know, I just went and visited our job site and our concrete guys are pouring my concrete foundation today.

00:38:33.360 It's 18 degrees and it's frosty, you know, and their, uh, hands are freezing while they're, uh, troweling mud on the foundation.

00:38:42.420 And I'm like, these guys are actually doing hard work.

00:38:44.980 Like what I'm trying to, the problems I'm trying to solve aren't actually that hard.

00:38:49.980 Yeah.

00:38:50.400 But to be fair, and I, and I'll sneak up for you a little bit on this one, you were, you're, you're alignment, right?

00:38:56.280 So you're not unaccustomed to being out there in that freezing weather and doing the work.

00:39:01.700 I think what a lot of people might see is, oh, well, you know, wouldn't it be nice?

00:39:07.500 Yeah, it is nice compared to what I was doing five, 10 years ago.

00:39:10.960 You put in the work, man.

00:39:12.800 Right.

00:39:13.660 Yeah, no, I appreciate that.

00:39:15.440 I mean, that's, I think that's why I have so much respect for what they do.

00:39:18.440 Cause, uh, I sat out there plenty and froze my butt off, uh, you know, and especially this time

00:39:25.120 you're in the mud, uh, everything's harder coming into the fall and winter, uh, when you're

00:39:31.260 trying, when you're trying to do your job, you know, um, days are short, you know, you don't

00:39:36.360 have a lot of daylight and you're just trying to get a lot of work done and it's cold and

00:39:40.300 muddy.

00:39:40.500 And yeah, those guys are, they're doing a good job up there.

00:39:43.760 That's the other thing, you know, with the weather five days ago said it was supposed

00:39:47.360 to be like, uh, 45 degrees and we were going to be able to pour and not have to cover everything.

00:39:52.240 But then we got this inversion that came in and it fogged in, uh, the last three days

00:39:57.700 have been solid fog.

00:39:59.400 Uh, our Valley, I'll tell you what, we get fog that rolls in and it'll be here for a week

00:40:04.820 or two straight.

00:40:06.180 And if you drive 20 miles East of here, it'll be a bluebird sunny day and it'll be 50 degrees.

00:40:12.440 And here it's like a low of 18 and a high of 22 and it's just fog.

00:40:17.400 And, uh, that's what we're in.

00:40:20.240 So those guys had to go rent, uh, ground heaters and buy a bunch of concrete tarps.

00:40:25.660 And they're, they're going to cover that whole foundation or in heat on it for the next three

00:40:29.220 days to get to cure.

00:40:30.260 Right.

00:40:31.860 I, you know, I didn't even appreciate this until I moved to Maine several years ago where,

00:40:36.340 you know, you'd complain about the roads not being done.

00:40:39.580 I'm like, give these guys a break.

00:40:40.760 They got five months to get it done.

00:40:43.180 You know, we've got one third of the year to get it done.

00:40:46.140 And people think, well, winter's over.

00:40:47.500 Well, yeah, the ground's still frozen.

00:40:49.740 So there's another couple of months.

00:40:51.540 It's, we don't, we don't, I'm in Southern Utah.

00:40:54.560 It's mild.

00:40:56.020 It's super easy.

00:40:58.040 Yeah.

00:40:58.240 Hot summers, very mild winters until you start moving North.

00:41:02.460 You really don't understand what is happening here.

00:41:05.900 Yeah.

00:41:06.440 Yeah.

00:41:06.660 It's a different way of life.

00:41:08.440 I mean, where I grew up just a hundred miles East of here, you know, my dad's excavation

00:41:12.460 company, we, we would have to shut down mid-November and not pick up until the first of April is

00:41:18.380 because the ground froze so hard, so much snow, which somebody might say, oh, you got the

00:41:24.060 winter off.

00:41:24.540 That's nice.

00:41:25.060 And it's like, yeah, you also get to watch whatever money you had in your bank account

00:41:28.660 just slowly, uh, drain out of the bathtub, uh, you know, and go down the drain.

00:41:34.820 Um, I think it was about 20 years.

00:41:37.020 My parents went 20, I think 20 winners, uh, borrowing money before they made it through

00:41:43.180 a winter without having to borrow money to make it through.

00:41:46.020 You, you, you, you work hard all summer and you save as much money as possible.

00:41:51.560 And then you watch it and then you're, you know, come February, you're out of money and

00:41:55.480 you're borrowing money to get going again in the spring.

00:41:58.240 It's a, it's a challenging business in those kinds of climates.

00:42:02.420 I think that's a relatively new concept.

00:42:04.440 I mean, if you just look at nature, you know, the squirrels and the chipmunks are stocking

00:42:08.440 up during the spring and summer for winter.

00:42:10.600 Cause they know, and throughout human history, I think the majority of human history has been

00:42:15.060 like that.

00:42:15.600 It isn't until the relative ease of modernity that we've had the luxury of borrowing money

00:42:20.000 or creating income 12 months out of the year.

00:42:23.700 Yeah, exactly.

00:42:25.480 Yeah.

00:42:26.300 It's, it's, uh, I do have a question that I've been meaning to ask you for, for some

00:42:31.420 time now, you know, I've showed you a couple of nice and we have two, you know, almost opposite

00:42:35.880 ends of the extreme, right?

00:42:37.180 We've got something that's more of a custom made knife.

00:42:40.160 And then over here, you have something that's more of a, I don't want to do it an injustice.

00:42:44.580 So you correct me if I'm wrong, but more of a mass produced kind of knife, right?

00:42:50.640 I mean, I don't know how you'd say that, but yeah, it's a semi-production knife.

00:42:54.340 Yeah.

00:42:55.280 Production knife.

00:42:55.960 That's a, that's a good way to say it.

00:42:57.360 Um, what has been your internal struggle between creating something like this?

00:43:03.280 And I know you've made knives for prints, literally princes, and you've done some of

00:43:09.060 these amazing things.

00:43:09.880 And then you have more of a production knife.

00:43:11.880 Do you have an internal dilemma?

00:43:14.280 Like, is there a conflict there?

00:43:16.200 And what does that look like for you?

00:43:18.380 Uh, I don't.

00:43:19.540 And the reason why is because those two companies are named two different things, right?

00:43:24.860 On, on your left, in your left hand, you had the Josh Smith knife, right?

00:43:29.400 Or I guess, uh, yeah, the, the stone wall.

00:43:32.360 Ryan Mickler.

00:43:32.620 Don't, don't cut me out of that.

00:43:33.900 Come on, man.

00:43:34.260 The Josh Smith, Ryan Mickler.

00:43:35.440 Ryan Mickler collaborated knife.

00:43:37.660 Yeah.

00:43:38.200 So that's, that's the Josh Smith knives, custom knife.

00:43:41.740 Right.

00:43:42.100 And then, and then you have the Montana knife company knife.

00:43:45.700 Uh, the, the place that it got weird for a lot of knife makers is when you're, when I'm

00:43:50.560 looking you in the eye, Ryan, and I'm like, Hey, this knife's $2,000.

00:43:54.660 It's custom made, blah, blah, blah.

00:43:57.580 And then, and then, you know, come to find out that custom maker has a CNC machine and

00:44:03.680 has some automatic stuff.

00:44:05.080 Right.

00:44:05.320 And it's like, okay, where is this line of, and this is the age old argument that I'll,

00:44:10.880 I'll refuse to get in with another knife maker because it's, again, it's, it's opinion.

00:44:15.920 Um, but what is handmade and what is production, right?

00:44:21.180 And handmade could be, uh, you literally, uh, smelt your own steel out of sand because I've

00:44:30.680 seen knife makers.

00:44:31.580 I've been with knife.

00:44:32.680 I've done that with knife makers where you make your own steel out of iron ore.

00:44:36.680 Uh, and then there's knife makers that have, you know, hand file all their blades and go

00:44:42.820 chop down their own tree, right?

00:44:45.200 Like make their own screws.

00:44:47.320 Like where, where does it stop?

00:44:48.840 Right.

00:44:48.980 All of a sudden you use a belt grinder.

00:44:50.460 It's like, Oh, well you're using powered equipment and now, now you're onto a CNC mill.

00:44:54.600 And so it's, it's, it's never ending.

00:44:56.320 And, and everyone's opinion is different.

00:44:58.280 Uh, for me personally, any knife that has a Josh Smith knives logo on it.

00:45:04.600 Like I made that knife myself, me all, you know, with, without any help from anyone.

00:45:11.040 The only caveat to that would be like, if I gave it to an engraver to do like some custom

00:45:16.760 engraving or gold inlay on it as like an embellishment. 0.98

00:45:20.620 Um, now the, the, the Montana knife company knives, obviously I have employees, uh, shit, 0.99

00:45:27.340 uh, that dagger right there. 0.98

00:45:29.340 I might've actually sharpened that.

00:45:30.560 Like we, we get behind or the, those guys down in my sharpening room really had to learn

00:45:35.480 how to sharpen a dagger.

00:45:36.540 And I spent a couple of days in there sharpening daggers with that crew, like tray after tray.

00:45:41.600 Uh, so I still help now and then on that stuff.

00:45:44.160 I still design all the stuff.

00:45:45.580 I was just grinding a blade yesterday with a new model.

00:45:48.360 We're coming out in January, uh, to get the edge geometry the way I like it.

00:45:52.300 I mean, hand ground that sample.

00:45:53.900 Um, so, uh, and it's two different kinds of joy, right?

00:46:01.120 The, the joy out of a custom made knife that you make by hand with very little power equipment,

00:46:06.400 uh, that's truly an art form.

00:46:09.060 That's a different feeling when a customer or collector buys that and it's several thousand

00:46:13.740 dollars versus some knives for MKC that we're going to make this week that are being made

00:46:20.440 right now downstairs without me that I won't touch, but then I'll get a photo from some

00:46:26.080 father with his nine-year-old boy, with that kid holding that knife with a huge smile, with

00:46:30.620 a little spike buck for his first year, two totally different kinds of joy, but equally

00:46:36.860 fulfilling.

00:46:37.820 You know, um, I think the dilemma would come and where it would lose its heart and soul for

00:46:44.840 me is if I was sourcing things from overseas, you know, I might not be doing all the work

00:46:50.240 on these MKC knives right now, but you know, the guy that's rolling that steel in Niagara,

00:46:57.440 New York, uh, his family also needs to eat, right?

00:47:01.820 The guy running the laser machine, you know, or a grinding machine or Francesca who's making

00:47:08.060 the leather sheaths right down in Idaho and her whole crew, they also have kids and house 0.98

00:47:12.560 payments and, you know, and their dreams of their own.

00:47:15.560 And so, uh, whether it's me doing it or one of my employees or a contractor that I have

00:47:21.480 helping us keep up, it, it all feels just as good, you know?

00:47:25.900 Yeah.

00:47:27.180 Yeah.

00:47:27.600 And I think one of the things that you've been really clear about is just you're authentic.

00:47:32.540 Like this is a Josh Smith knife and this is a Montana knife company knife.

00:47:36.180 And you know exactly what you're getting.

00:47:37.340 I think where I would make the distinction is, you know, we put this, for example, when

00:47:42.280 we sharpened this, it was with a belt sander and you might say, well, you know, that's

00:47:46.540 not man-made except for it is because I was the one holding it on the belt sander and you

00:47:52.300 said, oh, that's not good.

00:47:53.660 You got to redo that.

00:47:54.580 You got to fix that versus sending it all through a machine.

00:47:58.160 And there's not anything wrong with sending it through a machine.

00:48:00.760 As long as you clearly communicate what people are getting.

00:48:03.960 And I like this thing just as much as I like this thing.

00:48:07.460 And that's the piece I've always said, if, if I'm, if I'm at a knife show, uh, and we're

00:48:12.760 custom knife makers, so long as a knife maker's honest about, you know, Hey, that inlay and

00:48:19.580 all that fancy work on that handle, like I did that by hand with files or Hey, all that

00:48:25.680 I have the knowledge and I taught myself how to run a pantograph and, and a, and a CNC lathe

00:48:31.860 and a CNC mill.

00:48:33.040 And I made all those pieces on all that equipment.

00:48:35.360 And I put that together.

00:48:36.940 If the customer thinks that's cool and appreciates that for what that is, that customer should

00:48:41.100 buy that.

00:48:41.660 Right.

00:48:42.380 It's when a customer, it's when a knife maker would maybe potentially lie.

00:48:45.860 And I think there's very few out there that would do that.

00:48:48.700 Um, but there's still an art form to even learning how to run all that equipment and be good enough

00:48:55.300 to produce something at a high level.

00:48:57.100 Uh, you know, frankly, I have a quit in my, my own shop that I have machinists here that

00:49:02.520 run it that, uh, I'm incredibly impressed by their skill to know how to run that machine

00:49:09.380 and produce good parts off of it.

00:49:11.360 So, uh, I've always said, I think knife makers need to not be ashamed of how they make their

00:49:17.020 knives, no matter what form that's in, they just need to be honest about how they do it.

00:49:20.940 You know?

00:49:21.880 Yeah.

00:49:22.160 And then the customer, then the customer can vote with his wallet.

00:49:26.060 Well, I love that point voting with your wallet, because one thing you're doing is you're

00:49:30.400 making everything in America and there's a handful of companies.

00:49:36.760 There's probably more.

00:49:37.700 There's a handful that I know of personally where I have relationships with these organizations.

00:49:42.260 You origin, um, Soren X is another one.

00:49:45.480 There's, there's a handful of companies I know that are making everything in America.

00:49:48.320 Uh, that's part of the story and what's cool about it is when I buy a knife from you, not

00:49:54.760 only do I get a cool product that I'm actually going to use, I get to support you and your

00:50:00.700 friends and people that I've actually broken bread with and shaking their hand and, and,

00:50:06.400 and seen where they work.

00:50:07.520 Like these are American, like putting Americans back to work. 0.97

00:50:10.700 Like that to me is worth just as much as buying some other knife from somewhere else made in

00:50:16.280 China or India or wherever they make knives these days. 0.97

00:50:19.980 That's the whole point of American manufacturing, right?

00:50:22.760 Is, is, uh, and I, I've always, you know, thought American manufacturing is cool.

00:50:29.540 I've always supported it.

00:50:30.480 I've always said like, Hey, we need to bring it back.

00:50:32.460 But, but now that I'm in it and I get to see behind the scenes, truly like firsthand,

00:50:37.240 uh, how impactful, uh, like what we are doing and let's just take everyone out of my building

00:50:46.080 out of the equation for a moment, how impactful what our company is doing around this country.

00:50:53.260 Now, if you then expand that out to, you know, uh, let's say a thousand more companies kicked

00:51:00.860 off and did exactly what we're doing in their, in their respective fields, whatever that is,

00:51:05.600 that, that would, that would spread across this country.

00:51:09.640 And it makes our whole country, uh, more prosperous, uh, you know, more, more safe and secure,

00:51:17.380 uh, that, you know, and, and makes our communities more tight knit and it makes our country better.

00:51:23.260 And that's the thing with American manufacturing.

00:51:25.260 I don't care where it's happening as long as it's happening in America, you know, it's, um,

00:51:32.540 the impact is it's incredible.

00:51:35.860 I mean, we've given away this year alone, almost $700,000 to nonprofits in, in our fourth year

00:51:44.700 of growing this company, I can guarantee you if these knives were being made in China and I

00:51:51.160 was receiving them in boxes and shipping them out that we would not be doing that.

00:51:56.080 That would not be the same business model.

00:51:57.720 These, these companies in China, uh, you know, or, or, uh, uh, a large investor owned company

00:52:04.320 with, you know, a China, you know, half the guys on the Chinese board or whatever, uh, would

00:52:10.540 not be given away money to the wild sheep foundation or a Montana veteran project.

00:52:16.400 Right.

00:52:16.880 Or, uh, partnering up with some of these different people that we have to help support

00:52:21.620 RMEF or, you know, whatever, various organizations we've really tried to spread it around.

00:52:27.180 Um, uh, American manufacturing means more to this country than I think people know.

00:52:32.960 And if we can continue bringing it back, it's going to make everything better.

00:52:36.140 Well, and I think one of the cool things I like is that these knives are made out of

00:52:40.940 French town, Montana.

00:52:42.060 Nobody knows where the hell French town, Montana is the closest town.

00:52:46.240 As far as I know, you correct me if I'm wrong is Missoula, which I think most people would

00:52:49.940 recognize, but French town, what, what, what, where the hell is that?

00:52:54.500 And that's actually part of the story.

00:52:56.560 We're putting real people to work here.

00:52:59.020 Yeah.

00:52:59.420 And that's what, that's, what's cool is I, I hope people get motivated to start, uh,

00:53:04.880 businesses in tiny towns in Minnesota or in South, South Dakota, or, you know, a tiny

00:53:11.100 town in Utah, like, uh, people can grow.

00:53:15.780 And this is what I told a high school, uh, graduating class.

00:53:18.960 I was the commencement speaker there this spring.

00:53:21.540 And I told him our company should prove to you that no matter how small the town is that

00:53:26.880 you're from, you can still do great things.

00:53:29.420 You know, you can grow a national brand in Drummond, Montana.

00:53:35.360 That's the home of 1500 people.

00:53:38.020 You know, it doesn't matter.

00:53:39.900 That's the beautiful thing. 0.97

00:53:41.140 You know, I know a lot of people like to kind of crap on the internet and social media and 0.98

00:53:44.860 whatever. 0.98

00:53:46.160 And I look at the social, I look at social media, exactly how I look at a gun.

00:53:51.980 Uh, it can be deadly and dangerous and, and, and, and one of the worst things on the

00:53:58.340 planet, or it can be an amazing, enjoyable tool, uh, that, that can also help you survive.

00:54:08.300 And we have used social media in the right way, in the positive way to build a brand,

00:54:14.520 to help feed these families and to build our, our American dream.

00:54:17.960 Um, and with the internet and with social media, you know, I told those kids when I

00:54:22.540 graduated, you know, I said, you know, I started making knives before there was the

00:54:27.920 internet, right?

00:54:28.920 I graduated before social media.

00:54:31.040 Um, I said, you guys have such a huge advantage because with the internet, the world is now,

00:54:37.460 you, you now don't have to be in LA or New York.

00:54:40.820 You can be in French town, Montana, and you can grow a major brand from right there, from

00:54:46.040 right from your basement.

00:54:47.280 You know, it's pretty cool.

00:54:51.040 Yeah.

00:54:51.520 I had seen a post that you'd made on social media.

00:54:54.140 Uh, I don't know, maybe a couple of weeks ago, maybe a month ago.

00:54:57.060 And you had tongue in cheek said how, um, tariffs and the broken supply chain will impact

00:55:03.240 your guys's organization.

00:55:04.680 And then I think the next slide said newsflash, it won't or whatever it was.

00:55:08.880 Yeah.

00:55:09.340 What, what are your thoughts on, on tariffs?

00:55:13.100 You know, Trump has talked about coming in and imposing chair, uh, tariffs on, um, well,

00:55:19.280 Mexico and Canada at a hundred percent China for some things up to 20%.

00:55:24.880 What, what's your take on that? 0.99

00:55:28.280 Yeah, I know just enough to be an opinionated asshole and not, not enough to actually have 0.96

00:55:33.680 tons of fact behind it, but as just a regular guy watching the news, you know, I'm, I'm 0.98

00:55:38.920 all about it.

00:55:39.660 Uh, you know what I would say, and it's, I don't understand how this phrase can be taken

00:55:46.660 as a bad thing, but they were actually using this in the campaign against Trump when they

00:55:52.220 were saying, well, he's an America first guy. 0.99

00:55:55.080 Well, yeah, no shit. 0.99

00:55:56.740 He should be. 1.00

00:55:57.840 He's the president of America.

00:56:00.880 Like, you know, I'm the CEO of Montana knife company.

00:56:04.640 I should be thinking Montana knife company first at, in that role, wearing that hat.

00:56:09.940 Now, if it's my dad hat, then obviously I'm going to put my family first.

00:56:13.860 Right.

00:56:14.160 And ultimately my dad hat's going to be worn all the time over any other hat.

00:56:18.560 Uh, but as the president of the United States, it should be America first.

00:56:22.640 Our senators are all of our representatives.

00:56:25.720 Uh, everyone should be thinking America first.

00:56:28.400 Now that also doesn't have to mean, um, you know, the, we, we have to harm other countries 0.83

00:56:34.280 to be first, uh, but we should always be asking ourself, uh, is, is this what's best

00:56:39.920 for our citizens and the, Hey, if our citizens are being crushed because, you know, they're

00:56:45.580 bringing in, uh, wheat at two cents on the dollar from another country and our wheat farmers

00:56:52.080 are dying here.

00:56:53.840 Well, then we should probably put tariffs on wheat, right?

00:56:56.640 Like, uh, and, and especially like competition is really good until it's unfair.

00:57:01.660 Right.

00:57:02.160 And so let's say Montana knife company, uh, the Chinese version pops up and they start

00:57:06.740 shipping in knives into America, but they're making knives at half price because they're

00:57:11.460 paying slave labor, uh, prices.

00:57:15.400 Then yeah, the government should step in, you know, and for the record, I'm actually a very

00:57:19.820 small limited government guy, but one of the roles of government is to protect its citizens

00:57:27.120 against foreign adversaries and that can be missiles and planes and ships, or that can

00:57:36.100 be financial, uh, you know, in a financial way.

00:57:39.500 So, um, yeah, I'm, I'm all for it.

00:57:42.320 So long as it's, uh, as, as long as, um, you know, they've really analyzed the effects of

00:57:47.860 and, and you know what, some of us are going to have to be willing, not some of us, all of

00:57:52.040 us are going to have to be willing to experience a little bit of hardship to make future

00:57:57.100 better for our children, you know, with our deficit and our debt and everything that we're

00:58:03.300 doing, uh, there's probably going to need to be some government programs cut.

00:58:08.360 It's probably going to need to be some government programs cut that we would all agree are really

00:58:13.540 great programs.

00:58:14.700 You know, uh, I'm not advocating for cutting, you know, school lunch for, for poor children,

00:58:21.440 right?

00:58:21.600 We all think that's a great thing, but there may be a program that's very similar to that.

00:58:26.460 That we all agree is a really nice program, but like at a certain point we have to cut

00:58:32.260 some programs and, and it should be on the community to help, whether it's feed those

00:58:37.660 kids or, you know, maybe it's afterschool childcare or it's, you know, my argument would be, we 0.99

00:58:44.480 can pay for all that and just cut out the stupid crap, uh, like sending money to Ukraine. 0.99

00:58:50.520 Like, let's go ahead and feed, let's feed poor kids in rural Montana and not, not send missiles 1.00

00:58:57.300 to Ukraine.

00:58:57.940 That would be a good start, you know?

00:59:00.460 Well, I mean, even the one that comes to mind for me is I, I listened to something just today

00:59:04.660 and they, and don't quote me on the numbers, but, uh, 16% of the government in certain

00:59:10.460 departments, they're not even, the employees aren't even going to work.

00:59:13.980 They're at home.

00:59:14.600 So it's like, well, that's fine.

00:59:16.160 If that's more efficient, that's fine.

00:59:17.460 But then we're spending billions and billions of dollars on heating and cooling government

00:59:24.200 buildings that could be sold off, that could be turned off.

00:59:27.740 There's billions of dollars.

00:59:29.160 We don't need to worry about Ukraine or this or that, like, or these programs about feeding

00:59:32.780 kids or social security or Medicare or Medicaid.

00:59:34.800 That's a, that's a quick and easy fix, you know, right there.

00:59:39.420 But I do agree with what you said about the fairness factor, you know, if some, if there's

00:59:45.200 a, a bean and corn farmer in Minnesota and he's losing to a bean and corn farmer in Wisconsin

00:59:52.620 because the guy in Wisconsin learned how to, uh, produce a yield that was 150% better than

00:59:59.000 Minnesota, then he's got what's coming.

01:00:01.320 But if you're stealing technology and you're rigging the game, that's the issue that I

01:00:08.380 take, you know, I take issue with that.

01:00:11.260 Yeah.

01:00:11.860 And it's, uh, this is, this is really what I feel about the government.

01:00:17.520 And this is why people might consider me a little bit nutty, but until our government can

01:00:22.480 pass a balanced budget, uh, we should not be required to pay taxes anymore.

01:00:28.760 Uh, you know, I will, I, you know, and it's, it's amazing to me because the IRS will tell

01:00:35.960 you Ryan exactly, uh, where you went wrong in filing your tax return and penalize you,

01:00:42.980 uh, to, to, to, to whatever degree they need to, uh, but they can't even pass a budget.

01:00:50.340 Uh, you know, even if you said, Hey, year one, you have to pass, you have to pass a budget

01:00:57.980 and cut your deficit by 50% and the following year, you have to cut it by 25 more percent.

01:01:05.660 And the third year it has to be balanced, meaning we are not going in debt anymore.

01:01:10.540 Uh, or the American citizens by year three will make, uh, that will be income tax-free.

01:01:19.740 The government would get their ass in gear and they would figure it out.

01:01:23.360 Of course they would. 0.99

01:01:23.800 You know, of course they would.

01:01:25.500 When you even have departments, I mean, the department of defense can't even, uh, run an

01:01:31.780 audit on their books.

01:01:33.120 I mean, they just tried and they, they cannot audit their books.

01:01:37.820 And so as, as the, uh, you know, as an American, you know, uh, Patriot or whatever citizen, uh,

01:01:51.400 you should not be allowed to tax me until you can tell me what you're going to do with my

01:01:56.920 dollars.

01:01:57.440 That's that, that should, that should, that's to me, that should be a very fair and easy

01:02:02.840 thing to be able to, uh, for all of us, right and left to agree on.

01:02:07.020 Like, I don't care how liberal and how left you are or how conservative, how right you are.

01:02:13.440 Nobody should have to send a dollar to the U S government until the government can tell

01:02:17.620 you what they're going to do with your dollar.

01:02:20.120 Cause then you can make the decision whether or not you want to vote for them or not.

01:02:23.500 Do you agree with what they're doing with your dollar or not?

01:02:25.700 You know, but at least it ought to be accounted for.

01:02:29.960 Yeah, it should be.

01:02:32.680 Yeah.

01:02:33.120 I mean, I'm staring, I'm staring down the throat of tens of thousands of dollars of penalties

01:02:38.580 and interest because I underpaid, but you can be sure that if I, uh, overpaid any given

01:02:45.320 quarter, I don't get to charge interest or penalties.

01:02:48.980 And it comes to me on their convenient time, not their timetable, my timetable.

01:02:54.120 It's, it's horrible.

01:02:55.620 I do have a question though, about that when it comes to the company, do you ever have

01:02:59.700 concerns about being vocal about your political stance and beliefs when it comes to running

01:03:07.920 a major organization and one that you actually want to have grow?

01:03:11.160 Yeah, that was a topic of discussion a bit through the election cycle.

01:03:15.920 And I, you know, I tried to just kind of think through whether or not it was either appropriate

01:03:21.620 or if, or if I should offer my political opinion throughout the year, uh, you know, cause Democrats

01:03:29.360 buy knives too, is the, the famous Jordan line about Nikes.

01:03:32.600 Um, uh, and it got to a point with me this summer where it was like, uh, you know, when

01:03:42.500 I, when I watched, uh, Tim, she, he was running here in Montana for Senate.

01:03:47.240 When I watched what him and his family personally were being put through by, and this is a former

01:03:52.780 Navy SEAL American hero, uh, who decided to run.

01:03:57.640 And when I watched the unfair attacks and what was happening, and then the final straw for

01:04:02.680 me where I'd already been offering my opinion a little, but where I went, you know, absolutely 0.79

01:04:08.160 screw it. 0.72

01:04:08.740 I don't care what anybody says. 0.99

01:04:10.540 When Trump took a bullet to the head, I thought that guy's standing up and saying fight and

01:04:17.960 he's continuing to fight and continue to do rallies outside. 1.00

01:04:21.900 How big of a pussy am I going to be if I can't stand up and just say who I want to vote for? 0.99

01:04:28.020 And if, and if, if it has ramifications on my business, then so be it, uh, that, that would 0.99

01:04:33.920 just shine a light on how, uh, bad of a situation that our country is in.

01:04:39.680 And so that's kind of, now I, I also didn't, uh, hit the politic anvil, uh, with the hammer

01:04:47.120 every single day, because to be quite honest, whether I agree with someone's opinions or not,

01:04:52.920 I mean, it's everywhere, right?

01:04:54.360 So I don't, I don't think our customers need to see it every single day.

01:04:59.160 Um, I think sometimes it's nice to have a reprieve and go listen to a podcast or

01:05:03.520 go, go visit a website or an Instagram page and not be hit, being hit with a political hammer.

01:05:10.120 Um, but I did feel like it was important in a timely fashion throughout the election season

01:05:16.660 to stand up and go, Hey, this is what I believe.

01:05:20.140 Um, and if you disagree, that's great.

01:05:23.820 If you disagree so much that you don't want to buy something from me, that's also fine.

01:05:28.640 That's your absolute, uh, right.

01:05:31.200 Um, but I also think what it, what I found is that it actually just deepened, uh, some

01:05:37.640 people's love for what we're doing and they respected, and I actually got some really nice

01:05:41.680 messages.

01:05:42.120 And frankly, I had a couple, uh, interesting dialogues back and forth of debating people

01:05:47.660 who didn't agree with me, uh, in my DMS, but actually in a real respectful way, uh, where

01:05:54.200 those people still follow me today.

01:05:55.960 I got a really nice message the other day from a guy that said, you and I do not agree 0.94

01:05:59.800 politically and we've had our disagreements, but damn, I'm proud of the company you've built 0.95

01:06:04.460 and the way you're running your company. 0.96

01:06:06.320 You know, that's a, that's an awesome compliment.

01:06:08.440 Like we don't agree on Trump or on a few certain things, but the guy's objective enough to realize 0.99

01:06:16.400 that I'm also not a piece of shit, right? 0.99

01:06:19.780 Yeah. 0.99

01:06:20.080 Like, yeah, you know, and, and you could have voted for Kamala and maybe you had your reasons.

01:06:27.000 Maybe it's on, you know, the right, you know, the women's rights or, or whatever, right?

01:06:33.700 Whatever you perceive as your hot issue, you could have voted for Kamala and also not be

01:06:41.040 a terrible person, right?

01:06:43.660 Uh, we can sit next to each other at our daughter's volleyball game on a Saturday night and have

01:06:48.680 a nice conversation and, and support our kids and, and be good neighbors, you know?

01:06:56.260 I think there's a little bit of awakening in that department, you know, four or five,

01:07:01.020 eight years ago, I think it was more contentious than it is today.

01:07:04.980 And I think we're realizing that although we might not agree always politically, um, that

01:07:09.580 doesn't make you a horrible person, maybe misinformed.

01:07:12.100 Maybe I don't agree with you.

01:07:13.320 Maybe I'm misinformed.

01:07:14.180 I don't know, but we're not horrible people.

01:07:16.680 We're all trying to do what's right.

01:07:18.040 And, and I'm glad you brought up Tim Sheehy too, because we've had, uh, Greg on the podcast

01:07:22.720 with little belt cattle company.

01:07:24.500 And yeah, you know, I love to see comp and I know you guys are friends with them and had

01:07:28.760 done some work together.

01:07:29.500 Like, I love to see the resurgence of American manufacturing, American beef, American products,

01:07:35.600 American knives.

01:07:36.360 Just like, this is what we need to be more competitive, not only for ourselves, but on

01:07:40.660 the world stage as well.

01:07:41.700 And to, uh, spread what I think is a pretty good way of life, quite honestly.

01:07:47.360 Yeah, no, I, I agree.

01:07:48.920 And that's why I say it doesn't always have to be on a giant scale.

01:07:53.380 If you just had a hundred thousand more, uh, beef cattle ranchers copy what Greg at little

01:08:01.240 belt's doing and try in their small community, uh, try to source, be the source of beef and

01:08:09.320 figure out a way to take that beef from your ranch and into your local restaurant.

01:08:13.400 You know, if that, if that model was copied all over the nation, if Montana knife company

01:08:19.020 was copied in, in, uh, whatever various different industries need, uh, you know, parts made, I

01:08:27.640 don't care if it's pens, I don't care if it's, you know, calipers, whatever, make it here in

01:08:32.940 America.

01:08:34.020 Uh, and again, maybe it's a, maybe it's a million dollar a year company.

01:08:38.020 It's $500,000 a year, $10 million a year.

01:08:40.780 It doesn't have to be billion dollar companies.

01:08:43.220 What's going to save our country and make our country great are millions of $1 million

01:08:49.280 companies versus one or two $10 billion companies, you know?

01:08:56.280 Yeah.

01:08:57.900 Well, man, I, I, I love what you guys are up to.

01:09:00.660 Obviously I've been a big supporter of you and what you guys are doing.

01:09:03.660 You've been a big supporter of what we're doing too.

01:09:05.540 And so this has been a good partnership.

01:09:06.940 What has it been?

01:09:07.580 Five, five or six, five years, five years since we met maybe at a winter strong with

01:09:12.420 Burton Sornix.

01:09:14.160 Were you at winter strong in 2020?

01:09:16.380 Were you there at the first one in 2020 or 2021?

01:09:19.420 No, no.

01:09:20.180 Second one, 2021.

01:09:21.800 It must've been, I didn't, I missed the first one, but I got an invite on the second

01:09:24.800 one.

01:09:25.140 So I think it was 2021.

01:09:26.500 So, you know, we're fast approaching four years now.

01:09:30.600 Yeah.

01:09:31.060 Yeah.

01:09:31.320 It's, it's, uh, it's amazing.

01:09:32.760 No, I really do appreciate your support.

01:09:34.560 Um, and your, uh, iron council guys and whatnot, uh, you know, I hear, I hear from them.

01:09:40.820 It's been, it's been awesome.

01:09:42.040 Uh, you know, the support you guys have been, you were early to support us and, uh, it means

01:09:47.440 a lot, man.

01:09:48.020 I appreciate it. 0.98

01:09:49.640 The, the only negative I've ever heard about you guys is damn it. 0.99

01:09:53.700 I can't get a knife. 0.99

01:09:54.540 I'm trying to, but I can't get one.

01:09:56.140 And you guys are solving some of those problems as well, but those are good problems to have,

01:10:00.000 man.

01:10:00.520 I really appreciate you.

01:10:01.740 I'm looking forward to that, uh, opening of your new facility.

01:10:04.940 I remember when you opened your previous one, it's crazy to think that that's outgrown

01:10:09.380 now and you need something even bigger.

01:10:10.760 I think I read that you, what, spent $7,000 on foundational bolts or screws.

01:10:16.800 I don't know.

01:10:17.320 I'm not a construction guy, but I love to see that story, man.

01:10:21.760 Last week I stand up there and they were, you know, they're pouring today, but they were

01:10:25.280 putting the bolts in and, uh, my concrete guy goes, yeah, seven grand laying there.

01:10:30.700 And I was like, I'm like in bolts, like, God, it's so expensive to build.

01:10:36.580 I mean, you know, we'll have almost a million dollars just in concrete in that place.

01:10:40.940 It's absolutely insane.

01:10:42.280 But, but again, good problems to have the fact that we, that we can buy $7,000 worth

01:10:49.080 of bolts or a million dollars in concrete, uh, just shows you how much support we've

01:10:53.700 had from the American, uh, consumer over the last four years.

01:10:58.200 So yeah, I really do appreciate it.

01:11:00.680 And yeah, just, just start planning on it, man.

01:11:02.920 I think about the end of March, which is what we did last time, uh, the end of March of

01:11:07.820 2026, we should be having a pretty cool grand opening.

01:11:10.760 So you, you might as well just block that month out, right?

01:11:13.620 Just mark it out right now.

01:11:15.520 Uh, and if you don't end up using any of those $7,000 worth of bolts, you can always melt

01:11:19.800 it down and make a cool knife out of it or something.

01:11:21.960 I don't know, but you've got used for it for sure.

01:11:24.600 Probably could.

01:11:25.680 All right, man.

01:11:26.120 Tell the guys where to connect with you and, uh, we'll wrap it up for today.

01:11:29.600 Yeah.

01:11:29.960 Uh, you know, our Montana knife company, Instagram, Montana knife company.com.

01:11:35.040 And then, you know, my personal page, you'll hear a little bit more about my, uh, political

01:11:39.800 opinion, whether you like it or not.

01:11:41.500 And, uh, maybe see a few pictures of my family, but just my at Josh Smith knives is my Instagram.

01:11:47.000 So I appreciate it, man.

01:11:49.320 We'll sync it all up.

01:11:50.300 I love, I love watching you and your family and your kids.

01:11:53.840 Um, I don't know how old your son is at this point.

01:11:56.700 What is, how old is he?

01:11:58.060 What, what year of school is he in?

01:11:59.680 He, he's 16.

01:12:00.940 He's a sophomore.

01:12:02.200 So he's a sophomore.

01:12:03.400 Mine is a junior.

01:12:04.540 My oldest is a junior.

01:12:06.200 And so they're very close in age, but just to see him grow.

01:12:08.940 And I love to see it, man.

01:12:11.080 And I'm so grateful for, uh, our friendship and our connection, man.

01:12:14.660 Thanks for joining me on the podcast today.

01:12:16.160 Absolutely.

01:12:17.360 Thank you, man.

01:12:17.960 Appreciate it.

01:12:18.560 Take care, brother.

01:12:20.720 Man, Mr.

01:12:21.360 Josh Smith, a lot of you guys are already familiar with him and his team and the work over at Montana

01:12:26.740 knife company.

01:12:27.280 You've been hearing me talk about it for years.

01:12:29.800 And, uh, there's a reason I use these knives in the field.

01:12:32.540 I use them in the kitchen.

01:12:33.600 I use them when I'm, I don't know, need a knife at home because I need to cut a zip tie.

01:12:37.800 You name it, like whatever I need it for.

01:12:39.900 I've always got one of these knives around and I would love for you to support these guys

01:12:43.640 because they are doing great things, not only in the realm of making knives, but they're

01:12:48.700 really doing great things for America.

01:12:50.900 And I think what we're going to see over the coming years and decades is a manufacturing

01:12:56.540 juggernaut that is Montana knife company.

01:12:59.080 And I hope that's the case and they could use your support.

01:13:01.360 Go check it out.

01:13:02.320 Montana knife company.com pick up a knife.

01:13:03.720 And if you buy something, use the code order of man, you'll save some money order of man.

01:13:09.080 Outside of that, guys, go check out our battle ready program, order of man.com slash battle

01:13:13.660 ready.

01:13:13.940 Get lined up for a new year by starting right now, starting today.

01:13:18.040 If you were serious about it, that's what you do.

01:13:19.860 And I know a lot of you are order of man.com slash battle ready.

01:13:23.600 All right, guys, I'll be back tomorrow with an interview or a conversation.

01:13:27.020 I should say with my good friend and fellow co-host, uh, Kip Sorensen doing an ask me anything.

01:13:32.660 So please tune in for that as well.

01:13:34.400 Subscribe, leave your reviews and let's keep getting after it.

01:13:37.540 Those are your marching orders, guys.

01:13:38.800 We'll be back tomorrow.

01:13:39.920 Until then, go out there, take action and become the man you are meant to be.

01:13:47.360 Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast.

01:13:50.360 You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be.

01:13:54.040 We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

Order of Man - December 10, 2024

JOSH SMITH ｜ Breaking Foreign Supply Chains Through American-Made

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