Meat Cleavers

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Fish

I was going to say that's nowhere near heavy enough! I've held an antique meat cleaver in my hands, not one of those chintzy modern stamped steel blades that they call "cleavers" but a real honest-to-goodness blade meant for cutting bone. They're weighed heavily toward the head so you get lots of leverage on a swing and they're wicked instruments. They're designed to shear through meat without much resistance.

And for cutting bones, at least for small animals and hollow-boned birds.

I had a conversation much like this with my husband while looking at some knives on display in the grocery store, especially the huge 4" wide butcher knife. He thought it was a little excessive for a knife, I thought it was sort of a stabby cleaver. Both of us thought it was silly to try and sell at a grocery store that only sells fully dressed carcases, and not many of those either.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Bruno

And for cutting bones, at least for small animals and hollow-boned birds.

I had a conversation much like this with my husband while looking at some knives on display in the grocery store, especially the huge 4" wide butcher knife. He thought it was a little excessive for a knife, I thought it was sort of a stabby cleaver. Both of us thought it was silly to try and sell at a grocery store that only sells fully dressed carcases, and not many of those either.

Perhaps they also supply the local serial-killer market? It's a small segment, but I hear they are very reliable customers.

[SimonAce]

I'd treat it as a hatchet doing Swing-1 but allowing C/1 range. Like a hatchet you can get a fine version too, Solingen steel or something although I can't see a very fine version

If its a rules rigorous game -- she might need an improvised weapons training perk to buy off a -2 as well

I personally would not do require it s as cleavers seem to be common enough used as weapons in kung fu movies and elsewhere that there might be a body of techniques for them or weapons enough like them to not treat them as improvised

Plus its kind of fun to have a signature weapon like that.

If she plans to be "cleaver girl" suggest weapon bond and signature gear (fine custom cleaver) as well.

[Ed the Coastie]

Originally Posted by Ubiquitous

Always? <snip> She never switches up? Not even a Jay Marada or a Kay Karada?

Yep, nope and nope. She has used the name "May Harada" or "May Harada -- Psycho-demon" for as long as I have known her (about 4-5 years now), and apparently is planning on having her name changed to it as soon as she turns 18.

[Gudiomen]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

More accurate weapon weights (all together now!) will be given in Low-Tech!

By the frequency we're getting this we're either putting too much expectation on Low-Tech, or it just goes to prove how badly and frequently we needed something like it. (Probably a little of both, but it's more fun being radical)

[Edges]

I'm with mgellis and SimonAce:
Sw-1 cut
Th cr
Reach: c,1
ST 7

It's basically half way between large knife and hatchet much like long knife is half way between large knife and short sword. Since the long knife can be used with either the knife skill or short sword skill, I'd take that as precedent to use the cleaver with either knife or axe/mace.

[Six_Gun_Sam]

I suggest an encounter in a narrow space.

To use a clever you would need adequate "swing space" to get that beastie to lethal levels.

'Course I'm just a big meanie like that.

[capnq]

Originally Posted by Ed the Coastie

I have an upcoming game in which her character could very well possess such an implement. (Please note my wicked chuckle, as I contemplate her finding out just how poor a weapon a meat cleaver actually is...) I was going to write up stats for one...but thought I would ask first and see if there were already canonical GURPS stats for a meat cleaver (probably from Horror...)

Surprisingly, no; the Psycho Killer Weapons sidebar (p. 41 in Horror 3/e) doesn't mention meat cleavers. Closest match seems to be the entry for Machete: swing+1 cutting.

[Kromm]

Per Martial Arts, p. 10, a butterfly sword (p. 213) is a cleaver of the Chinese variety. A parang (p. 221) is similar. Both count as a small falchion (p. 229). That calls for the Shortsword skill; does swing cutting or thrust-2 impaling at Reach 1; and has no special limits on Parry or readiness.* It's also $200 and 2 lbs. A kitchen implement would likely suffer from cheap (balance) for -1 to skill and cheap (materials) for breakage purposes, making final cost $40. I wouldn't alter the weight, though . . . a real cleaver can easily range up to a couple of pounds.

Those less-than-a-pound "cleavers" from the kitchen shop are cheap, swing-only large knives. I wouldn't even grace them with extra swing damage.

* This fits my experience. A well-made cleaver is quite comfortable in the hand and easily controlled. While heavy-bladed, the weight is distributed along the whole blade, not parked at the end. It's really nothing like an axe. You could probably juggle the thing, even do fancy, show-off spins and exercises with it.

[The Benj]

Originally Posted by Ed the Coastie

Yep, nope and nope. She has used the name "May Harada" or "May Harada -- Psycho-demon" for as long as I have known her (about 4-5 years now), and apparently is planning on having her name changed to it as soon as she turns 18.

Including the "Psycho-demon" part? Because the idea of that just makes me laugh and laugh.