I am going to do a whole series of "Thoughts and Opinions on..." anything. If you want to have everyones thoughts or their opinion on something, PM me.

The Plastic LMF Spork, I think it deserves an overall rating of 4 out of 5 Stars. It is tough, made out of PolyCarbonate, so it does contain and leech out BPA. I have used mine in boiling water, and froze it and it is still in one piece. I do not like the fact that the "Knife" is on the outer tine of the Fork, it irritates the corner of my mouth when I close on it. Otherwise, I like the LMF Spork and will include it in my B.O.B.

My opinion on ANY plastic eating utensils is they are just not worth the hassle,& There is very little versatility,Even the spork,which displays as versatile,Really is not.They are close to,if not more expensive than the usual/standard nestled S.S.fork,spoon,knife.Some of the Many things that the S.S.(stainless steel)sets can do,that the plastic stuff cannot:Cut thru tough meat without touching the meat with your fingers,scrape magnesium shavings/ferro rods,gig frogs/fish&gut em'/clean em' skewer em'over a fire,dig em'outa' the fire,dig a Dakota fire pit,dig a Cat hole,whittle trap sets/triggers/toothpicks,cut rope,cord,string,etc.,etc.,etc.

I started off a fan. Was for several years, but after replacing four in two years... less of a fan now. The ones that died all snapped, most likely to to the abuse my EDC bags have taken, but it still failed to impress.

I've switch over to a folding spork, very similiar in concept, I think from Primus. Haven't had to do anything but clean it, and it's been whacked, crashed into, dropped, kicked, sat on, frozen, baked and boiled for a year.

And it's better for eating salad with.

Spoon side still kinda sucks.

4 out of 5

Same with me. Fan of the LMF Spork but have broken two of them. The spork is my #3 preferred weapon of choice for eating behind #1 using my hands and #2 anything on a stick.

As a former infantry guy, I am still looking for the 'perfect spoon'. One that is strong and light of course. But also has the perfect length of handle to dig into deep MRE (or Mountain House) bags or snake it onto someones plate or into their bag without getting my hand slapped. The bowl of the spoon must not be so small that portion are not a full mouth full or so large that it is difficult to shove food in at a rapid pace.

As you can see I have put a lot of thought into this.

As to EDC, I have moved onto titanium long handled spoons from REI brand Ti Ware and Sea to Summit made from aircraft aluminum. Standard off the shelf items at REI or other outdoor store.

I just take a fork and spoon from the kitchen drawer and my Spyderco lockback knife and I'm all set. I don't see any need for a specialized designer wonder tool. It's a poor fork at best, not a very good spoon, a terrible knife, and it breaks. Why would I want to spend good money on that?

You know you can just get the Ti version of the LMF spork and most of the problem would be gone.

I like the way you think.

I second that! But generally when I camp I enjoy the cooking part of it. Since I could well have more than one item cooking at a time, having 3 separate utensils (a knife, a fork, and a spoon)comes in handy.

I know it's kind of archaic, but having metal cooking utensils is, for me one of the most important considerations for my outdoor gear.
I have had too many misadventures over "melted" cookware, flatware and containers. If it could even get near the stove or fire, it has to be made of aluminum, steel, titanium, iron or anything else that won't burn or melt.

I purchased this Ti Flatware from A.G.Russell This one. but, I'm not really happy with it. It will bend and is kind of expensive. I looked at the Hobo from case but at $80.00 will probably not buy it. Right now I am looking at the Hobo from Ka-Bar Here at $18.00 I may get two I have seen it for $15.00 Just shop around.

My cousin was in the German Army and they have a neat nesting set of spoon, fork, butterknife and a gizmo that holds them all together that doubles as a can opener. It is heavy as all getout, but they work, don't bend, and the knife can be sharpened to the point where it will actually cut something besides bologna.
If weight is really an issue, I just take the spoon and use the knife blade from a swiss army knife. In all candor, how useful is a fork?

How useful is a fork,you ask?Besides coleslaw,have you ever tried eating salad/steak with a spoon,or tried roasting meat over a fire with a butterknife or spoon,or gig a frog/fish with a spoon or butterknife,or taken the fork from the usual nesting trio,& everything still holds together?

There's also this French army knife.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?p=58244&cat=2,40725,45454

I liked mine, until it snapped after a few months. Too many people also made this complaint so I went with a snow peak spork.

What are folks doing to break them ??

I like mine though they see light & limited usage (so far).

I confess to being cheap.
I get all my camping cookware from the local goodwill store.
Silverware is still very reasonable.
I tend to buy separate forks and spoons. I like big spoons.
Chopsticks are surprisingly useful once you get used to them.
They let you poke, stir and pick up stuff.

the Spork was a nice idea that went bad.made cheap and without a real cutting edge or tines.i use Army surplus,the older the better.
i could gut a deer with the spoon if i had too.

That's actually a pretty cool knife. Is the blade deployable with the fork and spoon still attached? I assume that the blade is not a one hand opener.

OK, now to dork out a bit. I actually weighed some various types of cutlery on my wife's kitchen scale. In each case a spoon and fork were weighed (I typically rely on a CRKT folder for a knife).
Stainless Steel (flimsy) - 1.83 oz
Aircraft Alum (Sea to Sum) - 0.92 oz
Jet Boil plastic - 0.81 oz
Good ol' Lexan - 0.67 oz

Yeah the Sea to Summit aircraft aluminum spoon and fork are half the weight of stainless steel, but still the difference is only about 1 oz. Note however that I used some pretty cheap, flimsy stainless steel. More substantial SS would of course weigh more.

I generally would not recommend buying the Jetboil brand plastic fork and spoon because they're pretty expensive for what they are, but I got a set thrown in for free when I bought a Jetboil stove. I like them because they're telescoping. When extended, they can reach down to the bottom of my freeze dried meal or MRE. When collapsed, they fit inside my pot, pretty convenient.

Lastly, I threw in good ol' Lexan. I bought my set in 1987. Still going strong. They're light and cheap, but of course they're no where near as durable as metal. They're a heck of a lot better than a plastic fork and spoon that you'd buy at the grocery store though! Perfect for you hikers/campers that tend to lose things.

HJ

Either sudden impact or repeated flexing in my EDC bag.

+1 on the Sea-to-Summit eating irons. Good length, nice size spoon, strong. I have a set in my camping kit and another in my BoB.

I also have the REI titanium spork. Not really happy with it though. Too short, the tines of the fork are shallow, and the spoon dish is a bit small. I wound up putting it in my EDC for emergency lunch disasters.

How do you use a knife by itself when eating (except when spreading butter)? I'm always holding what I'm cutting with a fork and then cutting it with the knife. If your knife and your fork are the same tool how are you going to cut your food with it? Might as well just go caveman on the meal for all the good a spork would do you.

Yes you can open the blade, it's not OHO, but use a nail nick.

While not the cheapest solution out there, I’ve been very pleased with my Sigg Ka-bar folding outdoor cutlery set. While obviously heavier than a spork, it is still very lightweight and compact.





That has always been the issue that has kept me from using a folding cutlery set in the past. Unlike a traditional all-in-one set, this set gives you the option of folding out one utensil at a time, or quickly separates into three individual utensils. Cleanup is also much faster and easier than a folder.

That said, I own half a dozen or more LMF sporks, and keep one in each of my different kits as backup. I’ve yet to melt or break one, as I try to keep their limitations in mind.

Jim

I got one for the Hubs as a backup for the lunches he takes to work. He likes it fine, but he wouldn't want to take it into the backcountry. It's not as versatile as three separate utensils, and he much prefers the set of bamboo utensils he uses most days.

Chopsticks?

I don't know if it's this one specifically: http://www.rei.com/product/792792 but they are definitely out there.

HJ

I recently picked up a Marke Tischfein 18/10 Crominal Spoon for around $15 at a local discount supermarket. It is quite a large spoon with a long handle (good for getting into mil rations with) and made from top quality German 18/10 Crominal stainless steel. Quality is as good as WMF brand.



It also came with 5 other free identical large spoons, six free forks, six free knifes and six free teaspoons.

It is heavier (about 40 grams heavier) than my titanium folding spork or an Alpkit Tifoon spork though but much better value for money.

http://www.alpkit.com/shop/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16257&category_id=283

Exactly, Hikin_Jim. It's the To-Go Ware brand bamboo set. Pretty decent, especially when traveling on airplanes. Over time the finish can wear down a little, but a little natural wood moisturizer (like the kind for wood cutting boards) does the trick. I'm thinking we could carve a serrated edge into the knife ourselves if it ever came to that.

Semi-off topic. But I've used the Spork to eat MREs. Some people talk about the depth and how you need a long spoon.

Not if you open it length wise, rather than across the top. A lot less deep that way.

Just a hint.

I really want the CRKT eat n tool to come out!

Photo?

Hi, Christina,

Looks like a nice set, particularly with the chopsticks. My wife is Japanese, and we use chopsticks a lot (I never bought five pounds of rice at one time let alone the 30 I buy now that I've married my wife). Lol. We're headed to Japan this Fall (God willing), so maybe a couple of sets of these would be just the ticket.

HJ