Snow Peak Titanium Spork Owner Review

Reviewed June 25, 2005

Name:	Mark Wood
Age:	25
Gender:	Male
Height:	5' 11" (1.8 m)
Weight:	240 lb (109 kg)
Email Address:	woodmark0 at yahoo dot com
Location:	Chenango County, NY, U.S.A.

Backpacking Background

I grew up camping with my parents and have taken a few short backpacking trips as well as two 10-day trips. My wife and I have really gotten into hiking this year and our goal is to try to take one weekend overnight trip every month through fall. We mainly hike on rather rocky, hilly terrain.

We try to purchase gear that performs well, while lowering our total carried weight.  As an engineer, I enjoy researching different gear options in order to make an informed decision. My general base pack weight is currently around 25 lb (11 kg).

Product Information

Manufacturer: Snow Peak
Year of Purchase: 2005
URL of Manufacturer: http://www.snowpeak.com
MSRP: $8.95 U.S.
Listed Weight: 0.6 oz (16 g)
Weight as Delivered: 0.6 oz (16 g)
Listed Dimensions: None Listed on Manufacturer's Web Site
Measured Dimensions: 6.5 in x 1.5 in (16.5 x 3.8 cm)

Item Description

The Snow Peak titanium spork is a ultralight, backpackers eating utensil, sufficing as both a spoon and a fork. It came in very minimal packaging consisting of only a plastic bag with a cardboard tag at the top.  No instructions were included on the cardboard tag, only the listed weight and the price.  I'll venture a guess that if you need instructions on how to use a spork, you probably would be better suited to the traditional two piece fork and spoon set also available from Snow Peak.  

Basically, this utensil is a spoon with slots approximately 0.4 in deep (1 cm) cut into the front of it to form teeth, somewhat like a fork. The spork is constructed of titanium, a metal which is actually heavier than stainless steel.  The weight savings of titanium comes from the fact that it is much stronger and therefore, items can be made thinner and still be strong.  Because of this, the Snow Peak titanium spork is quite thin. Initial impressions rationalized that this might make the spork hard to hold in one's hand.  However, Snow Peak does a good job of ensuring that there are no sharp edges on the handle and therefore, I find the spork quite comfortable to hold.  The design is reminiscent of the fast food sporks I grew up with as a child. 

Reason For Purchase

I'd like to say I purchased these for my wife and I because we wanted to find the most effective ultralight utensil around. But let's face it, plastic utensils, though not as durable, are in fact lighter. Truth be told, my wife and I saw these and decided they were just too cool to pass up!  Plus, we justified the extra weight over the plastic versions since we no longer needed to carry two things (I know, it's a weak argument -- but we had to rationalize spending close to $20 on sporks somehow)!

Initial Impressions

I believe my initial impression after getting the spork home was something like "WOW!  An official titanium spork!" I noticed after I had calmed myself somewhat how light these utensils really are. These handles appear strong and the fork points are sharp enough to be useable.

It didn't take me long to try it out on a bowl of raman noodles.  Since I figured I'd be eating this type of food on the trail, I wanted to try the spork at home first.  I was impressed.  The tines function very well to pick up noodles and the slits cut to make the tines aren't so deep that they render the spoon portion unusable. Granted the spork is not a spoon while eating the broth, nor a fork when eating the noodles, but it works pretty darn well!  Plus, have you ever tried to eat long raman noodles with a spoon?  Rather messy.

Field Use

This spork has been tested on a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills of New York at 1000 - 3000 feet (305 - 914 m) and on a 10 day backpacking trip in Shenandoah National Park at 1000 - 3700 feet (305 - 1126 m) above sea level as well as numerous meals around the house and on day trips to multiple hiking destinations. During those two major trips, the temperature varied from 35 F (1 C) to 70 F (21 C). On both trips, rain was experienced.

The spork has performed well. It cleans easily and works quite efficiently to get the burning hot food from the bowl into my mouth.  If left in the hot food for too long, it does get quite hot.  I haven't burnt myself yet, but I have purposely been careful. These sporks were also used to stir cooking food to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. For this task they worked well also, but I would have liked the handles to be about one inch (2.5 cm) longer.  I realize this would add more weight, but I felt I had to get my hand a little too close to the flame from the stove to stir the food.  However, the sporks fit quite nicely into the 2 L (2 quart) MSR Alpine pot so they can be packed with the cookset.  An inch on the end of the handle would no longer allow this. As hot as the spork can get while eating, I haven't noticed the heat rising up the handle and burning my fingers when stirring.  However, I usually don't stir food for long periods since I'm usually racing to put the lid back on the pot and therefore, I have never left the spork in the hot food for any length of time.

One important thing to note with the spork is that since it is made out of titanium and I use a stainless steel cooking set, there is the possibility of scratching the pot while stirring food.  I haven't been overly careful but I noticed no scratches -- most likely due to the rounded edges of the spork.

Conclusion

The Snow Peak Spork is a very neat utensil with lots of "cool factor".  While it may not be ideal in all instances, it works well enough for me! Plus, it does provide a bit of interesting conversation with those less informed about the entire spork concept!

Pros:
- Both the fork and spoon functions work well
- Weigh very little
- Very high "cool factor"
- Clean very easily

Cons:
- Handle could be slightly longer
- May scratch cookware