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Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Utensils > Light My Fire Spork > Owner Review by Derek Hansen

Light My Fire Spork

Owner Review by Derek Hansen

DATE: September 8, 2010

Spork

Photo courtesy LightMyFire.com

TESTER INFORMATION

Me
NameDerek Hansen
Age34
GenderMale
Height5' 10" (1.78 m)
Weight165 lb (75 kg)
Email Address derek·daught·hansen·at·mac (without cheese)·dot·kahm
City, State, CountryFlagstaff, Arizona, USA

BACKPACKING BACKGROUND

I am a lightweight backpacker with a typical weekend pack weight of 15 lb (7 kg) and a multi-day weight of 20 lb (9 kg), which includes food and water. Because I pack less than 20 lb (9 kg), I prefer lightweight trail-running shoes. I prefer backpacking with a hammock as part of my sleep system.


PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer Industrial Revolution, Inc., (Redmond, Washington, USA)
Year of Manufacture 2010, made in Sweden
Manufacturer’s Website lightmyfire.com
MSRP N/A
Size Regular (other sizes and variations are available)
Color Available in 19 colors
Listed Weight 0.3 oz (8 g)
Measured Weight 0.35 oz (10 g)
Listed Features Heat resistant material - doesn't melt in hot/boiling water; won't scratch non-stick cookware, Teflon-friendly; dishwasher safe; extremely durable; available in PC or BPA free Tritan plastic.
Warranty Not listed

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The Light My Fire Spork is an eating utensil with a spoon on one end and fork on the other. On the fork end, one prong edge is serrated. The Spork has a generally curved line making a sort of “lazy S” shape. Although the company does sell a left-handed version, the Spork is easily used in either hand.

The Spork comes in a variety of colors in plastic, and as of this writing, also comes in Titanium metal.

The Spork is only slightly flexible in the middle.

FIELD USE CONDITIONS

I have purchased nearly a dozen of these Sporks over the years and have used them on more than 12 backpacking trips. I continue to use them on family car camping outings. Many of my trips were done in northern Virginia, but my most recent trips have been done in Flagstaff, Arizona at an elevation of 7000 ft (2100 m).

I have used the Spork as my primary cooking and eating utensil on my backpacking trips. I typically store the Spork along with my stove and cooking pot in a minimalist set where the pot doubled as my eating bowl for one-pot meals. A majority of the meals I used with the Spork were boil-in-a-bag type, which used minimal cooking but some stirring with the Spork.

FIELD USE RESULTS

My first few trips with the Spork were very successful. In these trips, I mostly cooked boil-in-a-bag meals and used the Spork primarily to eat. The Spork was adequate for small 32 oz (1 L) zip-top bags, but I found the utensil a bit short for deeper bags and my fingers often got messy from rubbing the inside of the freezer bag to scrape out my meal.

These initial trips were enough to convince me to supply my family with more Sporks so I invested in about a dozen in different colors. My kids really liked them and the Sporks found their way into emergency kits and our family car camping kit.

Melted Spork

On my later trips, I began using the Spork to cook meals, which included stirring and scraping over a hot stove. On a few of these trips I have succeeded in melting the fork end after continued contact with the hot pot. In one case, I even broke prongs off the fork and ended up carving down the Spork in the field to be at least usable as a spoon.

Busted Spork

I have subsequently broken a few Sporks in the middle while scraping food and eating meals. After breaking a few of these Sporks in the field and having only a stub to work with has been frustrating.

SUMMARY

The plastic Sporks are fun, but I find them a bit short to eat most boil-in-a-bag meals. The utensil is not indestructible, unfortunately, and I’ve broken a few in my backpacking trips while eating and cooking, not to mention melting a few while stirring food.

PRO—Lightweight. Variety of colors. Smooth feel to eat with.

CON—Fairly easy to break or melt.



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Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Utensils > Light My Fire Spork > Owner Review by Derek Hansen



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