Anyone have a Meat Cleaver for bushcraft/camp??

Battle Creek Knives

Battle Creek Knives

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Feb 23, 2010
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Just curious how many of you have a nice old carbon meat cleaver that you use for camp for chopping or batoning or what have you......

I've seriously been thinking about getting one, looked at ebay and it will set you back around $15, then I had a thrifty thought.. you got it, go to the thrift store..

A couple of mods, good convexed edge, decent hand made sheath and you're good to go.Anyone have any pics or thoughts on using a hefty Meat Cleaver opposed to a machete or large knife..

thanks for your feedback........ I think I'll be shopping a couple local thrift
stores tomorrow..

I don't know just thought it would be cool to modify a cleaver a bit and make it a useful tool outdoors..
 
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a meat cleaver is a very specific knife. it's big and heavy and it's designed to chop. It's designed to chop under it's own weight, not for batoning. You won't be curling any wood or carving a hand drill with it. It will be very limited in function for bushcraft.

However i love it when something does actually work out the way someone wants. I'd so go for it and see what you can do!
 
TheLastDaze said:
Just curious how many of you have a nice old carbon meat cleaver that you use for camp for chopping or batoning or what have you......

I've seriously been thinking about getting one, looked at ebay and it will set you back around $15, then I had a thrifty thought.. you got it, go to the thrift store..

A couple of mods, good convexed edge, decent hand made sheath and you're good to go.Anyone have any pics or thoughts on using a hefty Meat Cleaver opposed to a machete or large knife..

thanks for your feedback........ I think I'll be shopping a couple local thrift stores tomorrow..
Click to expand...

Hey There,

This is the closest I have seen to a knife like this. I am on the list waiting for mine to be made, and I have a little bit more to pay off yet. It's a Monster Nessie (short for Nessmuk) designed by Daniel Koster, who has a bladeforums page.

It's a big, thick knife that can probably handle a wide variety of tasks. There aren't any video reviews of this knife on youtube or anywhere that I've found, but I'm hoping that after I get it I can take it out into the woods and thump on it a bit. After I do that, I will make a video and put it up here.

I like the concept though! Cleavers are very capable, sturdy knives. I like the Monster Nessie though, I hope it lives up the hype that I've created for it in my mind. I got the CPM-3V version.

I'll keep my eyes on this thread, because I don't personally like carrying swords in the bush. I'm interested to see what else turns up!
 
Forgot the pic...

here you go!

MonsterNessieGrnMic092124.jpg
 
The only commercial cleaver that I know of that is close to 1/4" thick is from Chef's Depot.
IIRC it was a Chinese style cleaver that was forged in China, really heavy, and came with a junk edge.

They no longer carry them, but it was huge. I bought one, cleaned it up, made a sheath and gave it to a friend as a wedding gift.
His wife was scared of it and he told me that it now lived on his nightstand as she wouldn't allow a firearm in the house.

I figure that you could take one of those and re-handle it and put a grind on it that would do something for woodwork. Although I have serious doubts about its edge holding capabilities.
 
A cleaver does not have to be thick - the width of the blade creates a lot of weight so a thick spine for weight is unnecessary. Also, cleavers are for chopping in line with the blade and are not meant for prying - again removing the necessity for a thick spine.

I do not consider a cleaver to be a good substitute for a bushcraft knife. I find the shape and weight of a cleaver less than ideal for back packing, but in a semi-permanent camp a good Chinese Cooks Knife like the ChanChiKee in skilled hands would be very useful if cooking for a crowd with heaps of food to prepare. Camp cooking for only one or two bodies, any small & sharp 3-4" utility knife used with the "granny cut" straight into the pot works just fine for me
 
Hello I don't know much about using a cleaver in the bush, but I just got the new issue of tac knives and there were a few different cleaver's in there. I don't know if I can post these link's or not, (so mods if it's a problem I will take them down) www.jendeindustries.com one didn't have a website but the company name is josan try a search on them they are huge cleaver's. Here are two more From a different issue www.tcblades.com and blind horse knives will make a custom version of a thai cleaver for $120 if you really get into the idea, and its a very nice looking knife. Hope this helps some good luck on your search.
 
TheLastDaze said:
Just curious how many of you have a nice old carbon meat cleaver that you use for camp for chopping or batoning or what have you......

I've seriously been thinking about getting one, looked at ebay and it will set you back around $15, then I had a thrifty thought.. you got it, go to the thrift store..

A couple of mods, good convexed edge, decent hand made sheath and you're good to go.Anyone have any pics or thoughts on using a hefty Meat Cleaver opposed to a machete or large knife..

thanks for your feedback........ I think I'll be shopping a couple local thrift
stores tomorrow..

I don't know just thought it would be cool to modify a cleaver a bit and make it a useful tool outdoors..
Click to expand...

A matching Hockey mask really seems to go well...especially for camping.
 
The new Benchmade 171 BladeSports Chopper is a 15" bladed example. At $350 MSRP, it's pricey. The spine is thick - the one my pusher has in-stock looks massive. I Think it's 154CM. The store had it in the low-mid $200 range - a bit much in both cost and the amount of knife - especially for a camper. It is a competition chopper - meant for 2" x 4" and heavy rope targets.

Stainz
 
Yorkshire Boy said:
The Condor Aztec Cleaver doesn't cost too much and it doesn't need to be modded.

883.jpg
Click to expand...

I've played around with one of those on a couple of occasions and it's just about perfect for those purposes. It's light overall, it's thin, but ALL of the weight is forward so it outchops many knives of similar blade length. It's a beast!
 
I purchased an Old Hickory cleaver to play around with. I keep it in my truck. It does a decent job of hacking small limbs off of trees. It wont replace a small axe but its fun.
 
Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works makes what they call an "All Purpose Cleaver". VERY reasonably priced, also, considering it's handmade.:thumbup:
 
I have started collecting vintage cleavers and also agree that they would not replace bushcraft type of work. I do have a Ka-bar camp cleaver that would come close but the blade is <6". I do use my cleavers everywhere except for the kitchen. The Foster Bros, Village Blacksmith, and Briddell cleavers are crazy tough and can take an extreme amount of abuse. Eventually I'm going to pick one to modernize by replacing the handle with micarta.
 
I have a HUGE meat cleaver I found in a old barn. I will post pics. It is in serious need of sharpening and I put a cheap paint job on it to keep the rust down until I get a chance to refinish it. Blade looks to be 100 years old or better.
 
I haven't found any heavy carbon steel meat cleavers at thrift shops. My primary meat cleaver came from a thrift store and would be fairly suitable, but it is stainless steel. It is a Joyce Chen All-In-One cleaver: http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=160397

I have found several Chinese cleavers that were lighter in weight, but this Japanese Joyce Chen is the best. I have seen heavy carbon steel cleavers at antique malls, but usually the price is a little high for this purpose.
 
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