|
|
 |
Guest - Not logged in | |||||||||||||||||||||
Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Utensils > Light My Fire Spork > Owner Review by Mike Curry
LIGHT MY FIRE SPORK - ORIGINAL
TESTER INFORMATION
I've been backpacking, climbing, ski-packing, bushwhacking, and snowshoeing throughout the mountains of Oregon and Washington for the last 25 years. I'm an all-season, all terrain, off-trail kind of guy, but these days (having small kids) most of my trips run on the shorter side of things, and tend to be in the temperate rainforest. While I've carried packs (with winter climbing gear) in excess of 70 pounds (32 kilos), the older I get the more minimalist I become. PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Light My Fire FIELD USE
I have used my Light My Fire spork on approximately two dozen backpacking nights with a variety of meals. It has been used with both stainless steel and Teflon-coated aluminum pots, in conjunction with both a lightweight white gas stove and a homemade alcohol stove (side-jet pop can type). REVIEW
The Light My Fire spork is a spoon, fork, and knife combined in one utensil. It measures approximately 6 3/4 in (17 cm) in length, which in my experience is a good compromise between being big enough to use, yet saving as much on weight as possible. One end of the spork is a spoon, the other end is a four-tined fork, and the outside edge of the fork is serrated to serve as a sort of knife. The serrated edge does rub against my hand when I use it as a spoon, but after several uses I don't even notice it during use. It is constructed, according to the manufacturer's website, of polycarbonate, and is available in 15 colors. I personally selected bright red so as to more easily keep track of it, both to avoid stepping on it, and to help reduce the odds of accidentally leaving it in camp.
For most of my meals, the spoon end receives the most use. It is moderately sized spoon, similar to a typical teaspoon. The sweeping profile of the spork allows me to use it much like a normal spoon. It works best for rice, soups, small pasta, and similar foods. The fork is similar in size, but the broad, relatively short, tines limit its use. It isn't that the fork isn't useful, but rather that the slippery material combined with the short, wide tines make it less effective than a normal fork in picking up items like ramen noodles. The fork is still my preferred side for noodles and many freeze-dried meals. The knife, in my experience, is more of a crude cutting instrument than a true knife. For example, if I were spreading peanut butter on something, I would use the spoon side. If I were trying to cut ramen noodles into shorter lengths, I'd usually use the knife edge (though the spoon works, too). I've tried to cut through some pieces of rehydrated jerky I put in a rice dish with the knife and though it was able to cut through it required a good deal of effort. One feature I greatly appreciate is the material used, which doesn't scratch my Teflon-coated pots. It has withstood standing in boiling water for short lengths of time, and has suffered no damage. In fact, with all its use, it looks exactly like the day I bought it. No wear, no staining, no scratches. The material seems very durable in normal use. The fork is somewhat flexible, though, and I am careful to place it in areas I won't step on it, as I'm not sure how it would hold up. This causes my only source of worry surrounding the spork. Perhaps the greatest feature, at least for me, is the ease of cleaning. The material is easy to clean, and the design includes smooth edges and open fork tines and knife edge serrations making clean up a snap. There are no nooks, crannies, or rough edges for food to catch on, and even the somewhat sharp edges of the knife serrations are open enough to easily release residual food during cleanup. THINGS I LIKE
*Very light weight THINGS I DON'T LIKE *Worrying about accidentally stepping on it. SIGNATURE thefishguy-AT-hotmail-DOT-com This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.Read more reviews of Light My Fire gear Read more gear reviews by Mike Curry Reviews > Cook and Food Storage Gear > Utensils > Light My Fire Spork > Owner Review by Mike Curry | ||||||||||||||||||||||
