This will be my second forum today and second forum expounding my love for the long handled spoon. In my mind the MRE spoon is only second to the Army Poncho Liner in perfect military execution of a product.

Aside from my hands, the long handled spoon is my preferred weapon of choice in eating.

The handle is long enough to fit in a shirt pen pocket and not fall out. It is also the perfect extension of your arm to snake a bite of food from your buddy plate or pouch. The bowl, wide enough to hold a decent bite of food but narrow enough to get in your mouth before your pilfered provision is smacked out your hand by a disgruntled owner.

I have several, and I mean several, civilian spoons that mimic the MRE spoon. The titanium, the lexan, the aircraft aluminum. The stainless steel. The list goes on I suppose. I like the steel and titanium versions best simply because they don't have any texture to the bowl, just a very slick and mostly shiny surface.

I used to have a bunch of those plastic neon sporks but they break easily in cold weather. And depending on the container, they are not long enough to reach the bottom of a pouch and you end up with food on your hand scooping the bottom.

A spork is fun to pull out for laughs but when it comes down to serious eating, my Top 3 utensils in order: Hands, Long handle spoon. Stick.

Never heard of an MRE spoon, but it sounds good. Do you have a link?

The longest Ti spoon I've seen is the Sea To Summit Long Titanium Spoon. I have an earlier one marked "Ti WARE" from REI, but the went to aircraft-grade 7075-T6 aluminum alloy, which is lighter, but not Ti.

I like the spoons that come in bathe Canadian MREs, I just wish they had a bigger bowl.

I like my titanium spork, but prefer using a regular fork and spoon so my spork usually gets relegated to just in case duty.

I've heard that the MRE spoon will begin to soften and bend when stirring your tea made with boiling water..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4m7pbv9shA @2:15

Just as an aside. Open the MRE the long way, not across the top. It's much easier to get to the food, the pouch opens wider, and you don't struggle so much.

And the MRE spoon is 3d, after the poncho liner and the P38.

Check out your local second-hand stores. They often have real stainless steel utensils for super cheap.

I have been carrying a large stainless steel spoon for over 50 years. Sort of large soup spoon size. Doubles as cat hole shovel, holder of very small parts during field repairs, ice scraper and other assorted tasks. Very useful item.

Nomad.

Touche

Russ, while in service the MRE spoon is great. The Ti spoons that are long handled are almost identical.

My favorite surplus items would be the Mountain cookset and bearpaw snowshoes,although modern snowshoes are now far superior.

Normally I am not in a situation to need a spoon or other eating utensils. A year ago November, my family went to a themed restaurant/show where eating utensils are not optional.

When dinner was served, I had a problem. The only thing I had were the tweezers from my Ultralight / Watertight .3 first aid kit. That miserable night I had to eat dinner with tweezers. When we arrived home, the tweezers went into the dishwasher.

Jeanette Isabelle