About Wayne Merry, the tester:

Age: 33
Gender: Male
Height: 1.8 m (5' 10")
Weight: 90 kg (200 lb)
Email address: wayne underscore merry at yahoo dot com dot au
City, State, Country: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Backpacking Background: I started backpacking about five years ago, although I did day walks in childhood. I hike in various terrains from moderate/hard track walks to some off track (including river walks). I generally like the temperature to stay above freezing, and have not camped above the snow line during winter. I enjoy going on multi day walks up to about a week as well as day walks. I carry a moderate weight pack to enjoy a few creature comforts at camp. I use a tent for shelter. I would normally do at least 2 overnight or multi-day walks every three months, in addition to a number of 20 km (12 mile) or so day walks.

Field Test Locations:

I have tested the Solo Set on the following walks. Walks are multi-day unless otherwise noted:

Lerderderg Gorge - a river that forms a deep narrow george with surrounding hills. The entire area is forested. Elevations varied from 200 m (650 ft) to 500 m (1650 ft). This walk was mostly on track in mostly dry conditions. Temperatures ranged from 5 C (41 F) to 15 C (59 F), with moderate humidity.
Mt Torbreck - a mountainous area that the peak is normally above the snow line. Some lower areas are logged. Most areas I walked through had not been recently logged. Elevations varied from 800 m (2600 ft) to 1500 m (4900 ft). Most of this walk was off track in damp / wet / icy conditions. Temperatures ranged from 0 C (32 F) to 10 C (50 F), with high humidity.
Ferntree Gully - a hilly national park area with regrown native forest. Elevations varied from 200 m (650 ft) to 500 m (1650 ft). This day walk was on track in dry conditions. Temperatures ranged from 10 C (50 F) to 15 C (59 F), with moderate humidity.
Churchill/Lysterfield: - a hilly national park area with forested and clear areas. Elevations varied from 200 m (650 ft) to 400 m (1300 ft). This day walk was on track in the rain. Temperatures ranged from 5 C (41 F) to 10 C (50 F), with high humidity.

Product Details:

Manufacturer: Flatworld (UK) Ltd trading as Orikaso
Web site: http://www.orikaso.com/
Year of manufacture: 2006
Place of manufacture: China
MSRP: Not available

The Orikaso Solo Set is a cup, bowl and plate sold as a set that fold flat when not in use.

Specifications and my initial impressions can be found at my initial review
by clicking here.

Item Field Performance:

I have used the Solo Set on my trips for all three meals. My breakfasts are generally cooked oats with sweeteners such as honey added, which I use the Solo Set bowl. Lunches usually consist of crackers with cheese and meat, which I use the plate. Longer trips (eg 5 nights or more) would use soups, but my trips during the test are shorter than this. Dinner is normally heated rehydrated ingredients, for which I use the bowl, and wine. Later, I normally have a hot drink to finish off.

I found assembly of the Solo Set reasonably easy. It does become a little irritating though, compared to bowls and plates that are ready to go. Such is the price for flat packing, which does save space in my pack. Once I unpacked/packed the Solo Set a number of times, it became second nature. It does however, take a finite time.

All three items had sufficient strength to handle the food that I placed in them. I like good sized meals, and my big dinners where not too much for the bowl. One evening, my dinner was more soupy than normal (a little too much water added), but the Solo Set bowl handled this fine. Small amounts of food can find their way into the folds but this is not too great an issue. It is hard to access this food while the bowl is still assembled, but when disassembled, easy to access. The manufacturer suggested that the cup can leak when filled beyond a certain level, but I filled the cup to a point where any more would have spilt over the top, and I could not see any leaking. I could see a small amount of red wine make its way into folds, but this drains as one consumes the contents (yum).

I was initially concerned about sagging of the bowl or plate. Both seem to handle food contents well, although I have tested the bowl more fully than the plate. The folds on the plate are smaller, and therefore may bear less load, but if consuming a heavy soup or rehydrated mix, the bowl works better. None of the bowl, plate or cup looked like failing or sagging, even with my generous serves that filled the cup and bowl to full.

My hot drinks were quite hot, but the handle on the cup did not seem to warm up excessively. I did however feel some heating. This was more noticeable with the bowl with a hot dinner inside, but again was not a problem. Hot contents do not seem to cause handling problems beyond what I would normally experience with conventional mugs or bowls. I would think that the Solo Set outperforms some conventional mugs in this area.

The edge of the material is a little sharp. Not so much that it feels uncomfortable against the lips when using the cup, but I think it would be better if the edges were rounded rather than the polypropoline simply being cut during manufacture.

The handle of the cup could also be improved. A normal cup allows fingers to wrap around the "D" shaped handle, while the Solo Set handle has no hole for the fingers to go through. This does feel a little weird, but also prevents me from holding a cup and bowl with one hand, while using a utensil with the other. This means if I'm having a wine with my meal, I have to either put the bowl or cup down on the ground as I can only hold one of them with one hand. With a conventional bowl and mug, I can hold both with one hand. Being able to hold both is handy when camping where no facilities, such as a table, are provided.

Cleaning of the Solo Set is straightforward. Once disassembled, they can be easily rinsed, or even just wiped clean if camping dry. Red wine did not stain the Solo Set, unlike what it does to my teeth!

Over the last few months, I have not noticed any surface scratching of the Solo Set. There also does not appear to be any changes as a result of heat being applied through hot food. In my initial report I was concerned about whether the material will weaken from folding and unfolding. This does not appear to have occurred at this stage, although all folds have "whitened" since the initial review. I still remain nervous about the ongoing strength of these folds. I have been storing the Solo Set in the pack that it was supplied in (see above). This is done to prevent protruding folds getting caught on other things in my pack. If this whitening is normal, I think that the manufacturer should mention it in the card that comes with the product.

Overall, I have been happy with the performance of the Solo Set so far. I think it could be made even better with the changes I described above.

Likes and Dislikes:

Things I like about the Flatworld (Orikaso) Solo Set:

Flat packing certainly saves space in my pack.
With practice, I can quickly assemble out in the field.
Easy to clean.

Things I dislike about the Flatworld (Orikaso) Solo Set:

The cup should be redesigned to allow fingers to pass through the handle.
The plastic edges (particularly on the cup) are a little sharp.

My Long Term Report will be available late November.

Read more reviews of Flatworld gear
Read more gear reviews by Wayne Merry

Field Report

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