Description
The Black Panther is a black-coated 440C cleaver on a horn and figured-wood handle, twelve inches overall with a seven-inch edge.
| Overall length | 12 inches |
| Blade length | 7 inches |
| Handle length | 5 inches |
| Handle | Horn with figured wood |
| Steel | 440C stainless steel |
| Weight | 16.5 oz |
| Included | Hand-stitched leather sheath |
Bought most often by: home cooks who found their chef’s knife was the wrong tool for a chicken and a rack of ribs, and wanted one heavy blade rather than a set.
How to use the weight instead of fighting it
Pick it up by the handle alone and let the head hang; that is how it should be swung. A cleaver cuts on the fall. If you find yourself pushing down at the end of the stroke, the edge needs attention rather than more force. Use the full seven inches: start the cut at the heel for anything with resistance and draw through, and reserve the forward third for the quick work. The wide flat face is a tool in its own right for crushing and for transferring prep off the board.
Handle and hardware
The handle runs black horn at the butt into a section of figured wood with strong grey-brown streaking, divided by a turquoise band with pale and dark spacers on either side. A mosaic pin sits in the wood and a plain pin near the butt. It is a deep, slab-sided grip rather than a rounded one, which is what you want on a knife this heavy: a round handle rolls under a falling blade, a flat-sided one does not. A tooled leather sheath with a snap strap is included for storage.
Care that keeps the coating and the horn
Wash it by hand in warm soapy water and dry it immediately, standing it on a rack rather than laying it wet on a board. The 440C underneath is stainless and will forgive a lot; the horn will not, and heat is what kills it, so keep this one out of the dishwasher permanently. Do not scour the black coating. When the edge needs work, reach for a stone, not a pull-through, and stay off the flat with it. Between sharpenings a few passes on a rod will keep it cutting; we set out what a honing rod actually does if the difference is unclear. Store it dry and unstacked, as covered in how to store knives properly.
Common questions
Is this a vegetable cleaver or a meat cleaver? Meat. A Chinese vegetable cleaver is thinner and lighter and would be damaged by this work.
Is a sheath included? Yes, hand-stitched leather.
Is there a Damascus version? Yes, the Black Panther Damascus cleaver.
Model: bmk-702
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