The Spork, Do you use one?

[lowangle al]

This is an important topic as it has to do with fueling our bodies for trips and paddling in general. I remember the first time I saw a spork, probably in the 70s, I thought it was a great idea. I never did buy one though, probably too cheap. I started thinking about them recently when in an REI store. I saw them on the shelf alongside spoons and forks. The spoons and forks were grey and very utilitarian. The sporks on the other hand came in an assortment of bright colors and had stylish curves reminiscent of the Stingray Corvette.

I compared the two and determined that neither the price savings nor weight savings was enough to change the eating utensils (gut wrenches) I had been using to eat for my whole life. The only advantage I could see with the spork is: If you bring two and loose one you will still be able to sustain yourself.

How many of you out there use them?

 

[Alan Gage]

I'm a dedicated spoon man myself. I haven't run into anything on a trip I can't with one yet.

Never been impressed with sporks but I think the only ones I've used have been from fast food chains.

Alan

 

[lowangle al]

So you don't bring a fork?

I usually bring two spoons, one stays with my other cooking and easting utensils the other stays in a separate bag with my beverages, for coffee and powdered drinks.

 

[ppine]

Heck no. Right up there with espresso makers for backpacking.
The only thing worse is a titanium spork. Equipment for urban yuppies.
I would rather eat with chopsticks made in the field.

 

[Alan Gage]

So you don't bring a fork?

Nope, no fork.

I figure if I need to impale some food I could use a knife or a stick but I haven't had to resort to that yet.

Alan

 

[lowangle al]

Nope, no fork.

I figure if I need to impale some food I could use a knife or a stick but I haven't had to resort to that yet.

Alan

You are probably right there Alan. You could easily get by without one, plus there is the safety factor. I once put a hole through my finger with a tine while aggressively wiping one off. I was surprised it didn't get infected.

 

[Superdave]

I'm also in the one spoon, no fork camp.

 

[Boatman53]

As others have said I use a spoon and I always have a knife with me. I might have been given a spork, I think it might be in the car, I’ve never used it. As a spoon it is too shallow and as a fork the tines are too short and dull I believe it is from MSR so the only useful features are the different wrench openings in the handle.
Jim

 

[Alan Gage]

plus there is the safety factor. I once put a hole through my finger with a tine while aggressively wiping one off. I was surprised it didn't get infected.

Better add forks to the list of dangerous camping equipment.

 

[memaquay]

Someone give me a spork once, I'm not sure what happened to it. I'll probably get flamed for this, but I put sporks and Tilley hat's in the same company, items that the cool kids have.

 

[dramey]

I do not like sporks. They don’t work well as a fork or a spoon. I think sporks was the solution to a problem that never existed.

 

[Erica]

Some years ago, I bought a couple of sporks. Used them tripping because I was going very light weight. I liked them, one at a time, obviously. They are bright colored which makes it more difficult to leave them behind.

When I commented on them positively on myccr, I was laughed out of the thread.

I do tend to lose implements. A spoon left behind on my first Mégiscane trip I picked up the following year.

On Little Tupper Lake to Lake Lila I lost my spoon on the first day. Carved one out of maple so I could eat.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Ambiguous terminology strikes again.

There are two different utensils called "sporks". One utensil has a spoon on one end and a fork on the other (perhaps including a cutting edge, too). The other utensil is a spoon with small tines on the end.

Here are a variety of sporks.



I once had the double-ended type in a colorful plastic, but never used it and have no idea where it is. I use a spoon-tined spork made titanium, like the one on the extreme right of the picture, all the time. I have used it in camp and at home for more than 20 years. I like it especially for eating hard ice cream. It's a terrific utensil.

I also have a couple of the telescoping plastic tined sporks, but have never used them at all. They just came with some cook kit I bought.

I also take a long titanium spoon (no tines) on camping trips, which is very useful for reaching the bottom of freeze-dried meal bags, which is all I eat.

 

[Jontario]

Spoon and no fork camp here. Two spoons actually (one regular and one long one for freeze dried packages) and I loath the spork. Prime example of a tool trying to do two things at once and doing both of them poorly Canoeists don't need to shave grams that badly...that's a backpacker problem.

 

[Gamma1214]

I'm a one spoon, no fork, never-had-a-spork guy. The spoon that I carry is a telescoping one for the rare times that I eat a commercial freeze-dried meal (usually once a trip).

I carry a filet knife and my pocket knife. Anything I need to spear can be stuck with one of those