Review on Experience The Ultimate Precision: Handmade 8 Inch LongQuan Santoku Knife With Full Tang Pear Wood Handle And 9Cr18Mov Steel - Perfect For Home Kitchen And Restaurant - Comes In A Gift Box by Russell Smith

I don't know that I would actually call this knife a cleaver--at least it's not the size I associate with that word. When this arrived I was initially surprised by the small box and put off by the size of the knife which is quite a bit smaller than the other two cleavers I own. I took some pictures to try and provide an accurate sense of scale.But since I am not a skilled cook the smaller size of this cleaver ended up working in its favor. I find it way easier to use than my full-sized cleavers and as a bonus don't have the same fear of chopping off parts of my fingers.The KITORY Hand Forged Meat Cleaver is great for chopping vegetables and slicing meat and is sharp enough to cut through bone with almost no effort. The size and full tang wooden handle make this small cleaver very easy to hold and maneuver even if you have as little skill in the kitchen as I do.The metal blade used here is forged from carbon steel rather than stamped which is something that you only expect to see in quality knives. Forged knife blades need to be maintained, however. You should never put a knife with a forged blade in the dishwasher and at some point, this knife will need to be sharpened which is easy enough to do but if you don't want to deal with a knife that occasionally needs sharpening then you should probably stick to knives that have stamped blades. Stamped knife blades get damaged if you do try to sharpen them.This KITORY Hand Forged Meat Cleaver is my new favorite knife for food prep. The only negative is that it doesn't come with a sheath. While a sheath isn't something that's normally included with kitchen knives the KITORY product page says that this knife is perfect for camping and fishing and given its dimensions, shape, and sharp edge it probably would be if it came with a sheath. That's not an issue for me because I don't go camping or fishing anymore but if you want a knife like this that you can also use outdoors you can get a comparable one on Ebay that also comes with a sheath.