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TOPS Turns Shrink Ray on El Chete Chopper

March 25, 2025

We here at KnifeNews are honored to announce that El Chete, TOPS’ over-the-, well, top chopper, is a proud parent. The El Chete Mini is here, even though it’s pretty big for a newborn.

The original El Chete is one of those knives that, because it’s so big, even a shrunk-down alternative will be pretty sizable. So the Mini comes with a 5.5-inch blade, very much emulating the mix of cleaver and cutlass that defined the original’s profile. But – we can’t deny it – compared to the OG EL C’s foot-long blade, it’s very small, and very cute indeed. You just want to put it in a cradle and rock it to sleep.

Or, alternatively, take it out with you on the trail, because such is the might of the El Chete design that, even in this smaller iteration, it will be a more or less fully capable outdoors blade – not a chopper, but a cutter, a camp workhorse. No alteration in the steel, by the way: this is still a 1095 piece, like most hardworking outdoors knives from TOPS.

The Mini on the belt

Also unaltered is the handle – well, the size has been altered, of course, but the pronged profile with the discrete forward finger grip section is still here, as are the green canvas Micarta scales and dual lashing points/lanyard loops on the exposed tang at the rear of the knife. Given that detail, and given just about every TOPS release in the last ten years, it should go without saying that the Mini is a full tang knife. There, we said it anyway.

Naturally, thanks to the scaledown, the El Chete Mini is a less-demanding carry too, just 7.5 oz. with the sheath. Said sheath is made from Kydex, as is the attached belt loop. It can be worn on the side without obtruding, or even thrown right into your rucksack if instant access isn’t a necessity and you have the space in there.

The El Chete Mini is available right now.

Knife in Featured Image: TOPS El Chete Mini

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