Originally published at: Titanium Spork changes the game for wilderness dining | Boing Boing
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And it also lightens your wallet by at least as much! 
I go backpacking sometimes and I always thought that spending big bucks on specialty lightweight cutlery was a little silly. You can get perfectly good, regular cutlery that won’t weigh you down. A typical steel fork weighs less than 2 oz., and disposable plastic cutlery is even lighter than the titanium. There are easier, cheaper ways to lighten your pack than to spring for high-end cutlery. But to each their own. People can spend their money on whatever brings them joy.
Edit to add: at $9 I guess this isn’t as obscenely expensive as some of the other options out there. So I’ll dial back the criticism just a tiny bit.
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But can I use it to dig a latrine pit?
I’m more of a car or trailer kind of camper so it is even sillier for me to spend “the big bucks” on shaving ounces. Sure if we are talking tens of pounds, but ounces are not a big deal. However my “every day eating sporks” were a wedding gift and looking at Amazon the bran sells sets of six from $40 to $130. So I might already be eating with sporks that cost more than this titanium wonder.
Also I’m very likely to get in a great deal of trouble if I lose one of the set of sporks. So this $9 spork might save me a lot of grief. Or I could buy another set of stainless steel sporks I guess, then I have a backup.
Hmmm, maybe I’ll stick with plastic cutlery. Don’t need to wash it, and what better way to celebrate nature then to generate more plastic waste? (ok, ok, actually buying some sporks is on the todo before next trip list again…)
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I don’t use a lot of disposable cutlery but I’d be curious to compare the lifetime carbon footprint of a few plastic sporks vs that for a single titanium spork that maybe gets used on a dozen or so occasions for most backpackers. Mining and processing titanium is no joke, and even just the packaging and energy it takes to get one shipped to your house by Amazon is probably equivalent to a handful of plastic sporks snagged from the cafeteria.
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I bought a titanium spork years ago from ThinkGeek for office use. I figured it was a step up from the chopsticks I was using for everything (even salad, what a PITA). The thing will outlive humanity, $6-ish well spent!
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For lightness and low cost, how about bamboo eating utensils? I have a fork, knife, and spoon of bamboo that are very light. A friend borrowed them from me for her backpacking trip in France (and she reported that it was just the thing, she was so glad she had taken them). I bought mine years ago at a Pier1 store, and I don’t see them on their website today, but there are others out there…
My food co-op sells bamboo utensils made by this company (I’m not sure exactly which utensils they stock at my co-op; this link is just for an example)
If you must have a spork, here’s a small bamboo spork (well, ten of them for $6.75…30 for $15.75…100 for $45.75)
ETA not to mention if you lose a bamboo utensil in the woods, it would eventually just compost itself.
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I got one of these titanium Super Sporks for probably around the same price (certainly less than the current $24) a few years ago:
That was after the dog chewed up my plastic one. It’s as light as the plastic one and it’s certainly held up well. Though definitely a bit of a luxury item as far as EDC stuff goes.
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I’ve just weighed my three pieces (fork, spoon, knife) set made of NON disposable plastic.
Somewhat less than 20 g, they lock snugly togeter
Probably less resistant than the titanium spork, but way way cheaper and more convenient.
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I find the Sparkfun variant nicely open sourced, and for less here at SparkFun S.H.O.V.E.L. (without Paracord) - TOL-17721 - SparkFun Electronics (edit to fix voice dictation)
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Hahaha tell me about it. Last year I spent 29 dollars on a titanium mini prybar for my keychain that turned out be not that useful even with before considering the price (great for opening packages but that was about it)
Since then I changed it out with a wallet tool card that now i’m considering replacing that with an tool that can be used inside of a Orbitkey key organizer (those little sliding slot wrenches in mini multitools kinda suck so you’re better off without them and most of the tools on the card are wrenches).
But regardless, you must admit, Titanium Spork = great band name.
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But a couple of ounces can make all the difference! /s
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I like the K-Bar Tactical spork for my office wilderness meals.
Not only do you get three utensils in one but you can use it as a yawara and defend yourself from the denizens of the urban widerness.
When you get done with a long hike and you could absolutely murder some franks n’ beans. 
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Replying to myself, a few days later: I was at my co-op this morning, and this is the brand of bamboo utensils that they’re currently stocking, as a set with a carry pouch:
I wanted to come back and post that link, because, after seeing them in person, I must say that the To-Go Ware utensils are nice and substantial, and finished smoothly. And I want to add, don’t confuse this type with the disposable type of bamboo utensils (like you might find in the paper-plate aisle of the grocery store). These are substantial and reusable, and IMO a pleasing item, while still being lightweight.
For good measure, here they are sold individually ($2.95 each), or as a set of fork/knife/spoon ($7.50) without the carry pouch:
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