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Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Utensils > GoSun Flatware > Test Report by Mike Lipay

GoSun Flatware



Reviewer Information
Gender:Male
Height:5' 6" (1.6 meters)
Weight:159 lb (72.1 kg)
Email:mike-at-pahiker-dot-com
Home:Southwest Pennsylvania, USA
Background:I’ve been hiking since ’65 with occasional backpacking trips (backpacking became a love affair in the early 80’s). My first sleeping bag weighed in at 8 lb (3.6 kg) by itself! These days my loaded pack only weighs about 15 lb (6.8 kg) sans food. While most of my adventures are in the Northeast I’ve also been spending a good deal of time in the desert Southwest and most places in-between. My trips tend be in the cooler months - September through May - as I’m not much of a hot-weather person.



Initial Report - Oct. 28, 2020

The GoSun Flatware is a really unique fork and spoon that fits in a wallet or purse. Made out of 304 stainless steel it claims to be able to replace over 322 plastic utensils per year. By keeping it in a purse, wallet, or pocket it’s ready to use anywhere as it is about the size of a credit card.



Product Information
Manufacturer: GoSun
https://www.GoSun.co
Mfgr Size: Case: 3.3 x 2 x 0.15 in (8.4 x 5.1 x 0.4 cm)
Utensils: 6 x 1 x 0.10 in (15.2 x 2.5 x 0.3 cm)
Mfgr Weight: 1.4 oz (40 g)
Measured Size: Case: 3.4 x 2.1 x 0.18 in (8.5 x 5.5 x 0.49 cm)
Utensils: 5.5 x 1 x 0.13 in (14.2 x 2.5 x 0.33 cm)
Measured Weight: In Case: 1.4 oz (41 g)
Spoon: 0.6 oz (17.5 g)
Fork: 0.6 oz (17.5 g)
MSRP: $39 (US)



Initial Impressions

Initial impression? Surprised! I knew what the size was going to be before it came, but still, to see something this small was a surprise. Several things pop out immediately: the bowl of the spoon is very shallow - the metal of the utensils calipers out to 1/32 in (0.7 mm), the bowl (outside) comes out to 1/16 in (1.4 mm), this is the outside which means the inside is even shallower. The fork is equally curved from front to back of the business part.



One of the website claims is that it is the thickness of three credit cards, I had to check. The website says it is 0.15 in (0.4 cm), I measured it to 0.18 in (0.49 cm), three of my credit cards comes out to 0.11 in (0.3 cm) so, yeah, pretty close, but 4 of my credit cards comes out to exactly 0.15 in (0.4 cm). But, it still does fit nicely in one of the credit card pockets in my wallet.





Packaging and Contents

I absolutely love the packaging, it is the most environmentally friendly packaging I have ever come across. It’s a simple, recycled cardboard, though closer to thick paper, and is tightly wrapped around the case.

On the outside is simply information on what is inside - reusable fork, spoon, and case. And a reminder that 322 plastic utensils are use by the average American every year, using GoSun Flatware will eliminate these from the planet. Makes me feel good buying it, especially for what I consider a reasonable cost. Inside is a repeat of this information.






Instructions

There are none. I think a little bit would have been helpful. I slid the fork out to where it stopped thinking this was it, when I pressed it down on my desk the fork collapsed back into itself. Turns out there is a small spring that locks into two small notches, holding the fork and the handle then tugging hard brings it out just a little more and the springs snap onto the notches. Ditto with the spoon. In the photo below the notches are highlighted in the green box.




First Use

What better way to test a fork than with spaghetti? We were having spaghetti the day after the GoSun Flatware arrive so off I went. Spaghetti was with rigatoni noodles (not regular spaghetti noodles, but I don’t get to pick.

It actually went pretty well, I hardly noticed that I wasn’t using one of my regular forks. The only real difference was in the handle, it’s twice the size of a regular fork, but doesn’t do anything to impede its use.

As far as the spoon is concerned I can’t imagine using it to eat soup, the bowl is just so shallow I see it taking forever. I do see it being good for solid items that I ordinarily would use a spoon for - peas, corn, mashed potatoes, but I’ll give it a try during the field test.




Long Term Report - February 11, 2021

Field Locations, Conditions, and Observations
Date Location Trail Distance Hiked Altitude Weather
Dec 18, 2020 Sabino Canyon, Arizona Sabino to Phoneline Loop 9.0 mi (14.5 km) 2,680-4,285 ft (817-1,306 m) Sunny; 44-80F (7-27C)
Observations: An interesting hike in Arizona, pretty chilly in the morning, then hot by the end of the hike. I took the GoSun Flatware with me for a light lunch snack along the way. While most of the snack was a granola bar I also had a cup of applesauce that I used the spoon to eat.
Dec. 13-21, 2020 Road Trip
Observations: On a holiday trip from Pittsburgh to Tucson and back I took the GoSun Flatware with me and used it in every fast food joint I stopped at, along with a few restaurants.
Feb. 10, 2021 Bear Run Nature Reserve Black Loop 12.9 mi (20.8 km) 1,245-2,465 ft (379-751 m)) 1,245-2,465 ft (379-751 m)
Observations: First long hike of the year. Terrain was muddy with lots of blowdown. I took the GoSun Flatware with me for a good lunch - ramen noodles with foil pack tuna. I make the ramen with just enough water to cook the noodles, not actually a soup, then mix in the tuna, eating it with a fork instead of a spoon. No pictures on this trip, but the fork did an excellent job and was very easy to eat with.

Field Use and Observations

I’ve used the GoSun Flatware every chance I’ve had - at home for meals, in fast food restaurants, in dine-in restaurants, and out hiking in the field. Heck, even in airports when I was stuck waiting for a delayed flight (yes, it did go through TSA Checkpoints several times). I found that both the spoon and fork worked admirably, though not perfectly.

The good news is that the fork works well for things that don’t need “punctured” such as mashed and baked potatoes, spaghetti, ramen noodles. It did do well with some foods I needed to “puncture” such as chicken and pork, but it didn’t do so well with steak - just not sharp enough to dig into the steak, though I could use it to hold the steak in place while I cut it with the scalloped end of the spoon.

The spoon worked well in most situations where thin liquids weren’t involved. I used it for mashed potatoes, chili, stew, applesauce, and couscous. Where it did fall short was when eating thinner liquids such like soup, the bowl of the spoon just isn’t deep enough for this type of food. I tended to eat soups by using the fork or spoon to scoop up the stock then drank the broth.

The only other issue was not knowing which is the fork and which is the spoon when taking it out of the holder, markings would be a nice addition. What I ended up doing so that I didn’t get frustrated was to take advantage of the back of the plastic holder, the bottom has the words “gosun flatware” imprinted, I put the spoon in the matching slot on the reverse side, and the fork above it. Not ideal (sometimes I forget to put them back right) but a suitable workaround.




Summary

So far I pretty much like the GoSun Flatware, its size, weight, how easily it fits in my wallet. I found that in most cases it is a good replacement for plasticware, and I feel like I’m making a “small” impact on landfills.

Things I like:
  • Incredibly small, fits right inside my wallet.
  • Stainless steel that can be tossed into the dishwasher when I get home to really clean it.
  • Fork and spoon work well in most situations.
  • Saves using throw-away plasticware.
  • Does go through TSA Checkpoints.
Things I don't like:
  • There are no markings on the back side of the fork and spoon, so there’s a 50/50 chance of picking the wrong one if I only want one of them.
  • Understandable, but the spoon doesn’t do well with thin liquids.

Acknowledgment

This ends my Long Term Report, I’d like to thank GoSun and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to test the Flatware.



Read more reviews of GoSun gear
Read more gear reviews by Mike Lipay

Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Utensils > GoSun Flatware > Test Report by Mike Lipay



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