Mini/folding cleavers. Why?

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I’m all the way around… 😂
I can use any other straight or almost straight edge much better than those strange looking things.
 
I can think of 2 or 3 possibilities for a folding cleaver.
1. No delicate tip snap off worries.
2. Safer for children
3. Good for a rescue knife on a life raft if a ship sinks. No tip to accidentally puncture the safety raft.
 
As others have mentioned, cleaver-style knives are great for cutting on flats, such as with leather, posterboard, etc.

Trivia factoid: The reason they are called "Cleaver knives" is because the first known example of one 'shrunk down' to pocket knife size was shown on Episode 237 of "Leave it to Beaver", whose last name (in the show) was Cleaver. Beaver needs a last minute school project, so Ward Cleaver gives him a little lecture on the importance of school work and planning ahead, then pulls out this odd-looking cleaver-shaped pocket knife and uses it to cut some of the material for the school project.

So pocket knives of this style have been called "Cleaver pocket knives" ever since that episode aired on April 1, 1964.






😜
 
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rje58 said:
As others have mentioned, cleaver-style knives are great for cutting on flats, such as with leather, posterboard, etc.

Trivia factoid: The reason they are called "Cleaver knives" is because the first known example of one 'shrunk down' to pocket knife size was shown on Episode 237 of "Leave it to Beaver", whose last name (in the show) was Cleaver. Beaver needs a last minute school project, so Ward Cleaver gives him a little lecture on the importance of school work and planning ahead, then pulls out this odd-looking cleaver-shaped pocket knife and uses it to cut some of the material for the school project.

So pocket knives of this style have been called "Cleaver pocket knives" ever since that episode aired on April 1, 1964.






😜
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Thanks for sharing. I vaguely remember that Leave it to Beaver episode as a kid. I have also seen cleaver style knives since the early 1980's. Such as ones labeled with Coca cola 2 blade pen knives. One blade being a cleaver style. Cleaver style knives go way back before my childhood.
 
Okay, I suppose I should post a picture of my only "mini folding cleaver". This is the silly Halloween knife that turned me around on the genre.

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POCEH KOCEB said:
I don’t think there is a need for it, most likely someone did research and found out that there is a market niche for such product so they cashed on it. I’ve seen some Chinese companies making those over time, I think Kizer had model or two…
‘I had one of the more normal looking models - Gerber Flatiron. I never used it, gave it away in a Christmas GAW,
but I can see the use of it, especially with longer blade as the Flatiron. Truth be told, to me Flatiron looks more as a modified razor but I guess it could go for “cleaver” too, depends of your point of view…
‘I did like the make of it but didn’t have any use for it since I had so many working knives and also didn’t see any way of customizing it with the 13Mov steel or whatever they put on it…
Solid knife overall, not bad for the $40+ I bought it a year or so ago.

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I was at the farm store today, looking for a good slip-joint, but they had very few. (What good is a slip-joint, anyway?) The salesman pulled an ancient Gerber out of his pocket, similar to the Flatiron but not identical. He had used it so much that the point had rounded off from wear and sharpening. It seems he did not use it much for stabbing, but he said it could be used for prying without breaking the tip off, and also that it was great for cutting stuff in general, and could be used kind of like a pocket spatula.

everydaycarry.com

Top 12 Best Pocket Cleaver Knives (Buyer’s Guide in 2023)

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People need to stop thinking of these knives as "cleavers" and just look at them for the blade geometry to get an idea of their usefulness. "Cleaver" is just a name that has been dubbed to them because of their resemblance. Much in the way "tanto" blades are considerably different than an actual Japanese tanto, and knives with three inch "bowie" blades like the XM-18 are hardly a bowie knife, but nobody is condemning them because they can't use it like a Cold Steel Maurauder. I think the term "reverse tanto" is stupid but I guess it sounded more cool and tactical than "wharncliffe". When these mini folding "cleavers" were designed, nobody was expecting you to use it to chop an entire chicken carcass in half. Are we gonna go start riots next because we can lunge with our "spearpoints" or use them to stick fish in a stream and throw them?
 
sailfish said:
People need to stop thinking of these knives as "cleavers" and just look at them for the blade geometry to get an idea of their usefulness. "Cleaver" is just a name that has been dubbed to them because of their resemblance. Much in the way "tanto" blades are considerably different than an actual Japanese tanto, and knives with three inch "bowie" blades like the XM-18 are hardly a bowie knife, but nobody is condemning them because they can't use it like a Cold Steel Maurauder. I think the term "reverse tanto" is stupid but I guess it sounded more cool and tactical than "wharncliffe". When these mini folding "cleavers" were designed, nobody was expecting you to use it to chop an entire chicken carcass in half. Are we gonna go start riots next because we can lunge with our "spearpoints" or use them to stick fish in a stream and throw them?
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A reverse tanto is not a wharncliffe. Far from it. A real wharnie has a straight edge to the tip. Reverse tantos have a belly.
They are more like a modified drop point
 
JPD1998 said:
I sometimes tend bar at my boat club and was using a Gerber folding knife with a straight razor / cleaver blade to cut limes.
A lady sitting at the bar started a conversation with me about how cool that knife was.

I'm married but for all you single guys , cleaver knives are great conversation starters.:)
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True...It certainly started a great conversation here 😉
BTB
 
sailfish said:
I think the term "reverse tanto" is stupid but I guess it sounded more cool and tactical than "wharncliffe".
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Agree with you - don't like "reverse tanto" either. The problem with "Wharncliffe" is the shape of the spine .... the very few "angry" feedbacks on any of my BF posts - ever, were in the porch due to me naming my Hinderer a Wharncliffe over there :)

So for lack of a better term, I call them Seaxes :)
 
Found this thread 2yrs late but after carrying my Gerber flatiron at work im a tradesman painter/drywall finisher and I've come to realize that a cleaver shape is great for opening and breaking down boxes cutting samples out of drywall to get paint matched and no point makes it safer to use when working on platforms that sway like scaffolding or lifts
 
sailfish said:
I don't understand why people aren't understanding their practicality. Perfect for draw cuts, equal cutting power all the way to the tip instead of a belly that slips, strong and stout with little reason to worry about breaking or chipping your point. Think outside the box. A great blade shape for construction workers, tradesmen, etc.
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brentondan47 said:
Found this thread 2yrs late but after carrying my Gerber flatiron at work im a tradesman painter/drywall finisher and I've come to realize that a cleaver shape is great for opening and breaking down boxes cutting samples out of drywall to get paint matched and no point makes it safer to use when working on platforms that sway like scaffolding or lifts
Click to expand...

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