UKC

After frustratingly staring at the pieces of another broken Spork, I wrote an email to light my fire to ask that they strengthen the design a bit to stop the breaking, reducing the amount of plastic waste kicking about, especially as they describe the Spork as extremely durable on their website. 

The response was quite positive, and I was wondering if the great and good of UKC would be able to support my arguement for a more robust version by posting below if they have snapped a Spork, how many have they broken (roughly,) and whether people don't buy them because they don't last?

How are you breaking them? Mine is too old now that I could complain about it being broken. 

Maybe get aluminium/titanium spork next time?

I bought 3 in the space of 2 years and when the third one broke I moved to an Alpkit Lhoon which I have been using for 7 years.

Cut some teeth in a stainless spoon, it'll outlast our civilisation.

jk

Mine died on the second or third outing. 

Alpkit long handled titanium job for me now. Will probably be buried with it!

I've snapped a couple - both on porridge (which probably says more about my porridge)!

Don't know if I'm imagining it, but they seem to get brittle over time : /

Bloody hell, hope they keep you well refrigerated as it will take them ages to dig a grave with the weird bit of cutlery known as a spork...  

Gave a spare spoon from this cheap, cheerful and durable set to someone on an expedition who broke his in the middle of nowhere.  Most inconvenient for him if I’d not had it in the bottom of my cooking bag.  

£1.20 for 6 knives forks and spoons.  Can’t go wrong!

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/childrens-ikea-products/children-3-7/ch...

Quite possibly you’ve identified the issue there.  Not ideal as if I was to buy one I’d expect it to last.  

Alu one is ace. After burning the tips of several plastic ones.....

Digging peanut butter out of the bottom of a jar is the acid test for lightweight cutlery. And no, that isn't a euphemism.

spork?

Im still on my Clog nut key 

I've had a couple break, either in use or in the rucksack. The plastic ones are pretty rubbish imo.

Sporks break and are thrown away,
replacements break, and are thrown away
replacements break, and are thrown away
replacements break, and are thrown away
replacements break, and are thrown away
replacements break, and are thrown away

I'm a little thick, but have learnt the lesson now. Never again!

I take a knife,  fork and spoon from my cutlery drawer at home. Environmentally friendly and very robust, plus I can actually cut things.

I got through five in about eighteen months (to be fair, two died in exceptional circumstances when a lorry clipped my bike) and watched my little brother break three or four in the same time.

As I found myself eating spaghetti using a spoon fashioned from a competed packet and a tent peg, I decided enough was enough and resolved to get a cheap titanium job. £8 and two years later, I've broken even. Plastic sporks just don't deal with torsion, compression, or collision well enough.

Seen lots break. They're also horrid to use. The fork is useless for anything more than soft things, and the knife is worse. So its a spoon with an uncomfortable handle. Which breaks.

Alpkit titanium cutlery set has a proper K F and S, and weighs flip all. OK they're a bit more expensive but they will last forever, and you can even use them for eating.

My family and I have broken more than I care to remember.  Think we've only got ti ones left now - although they aren't all 'light my fire' sporks.  I've melted quite a number over the years too ..... 

Anyway - buy metal ones.

Pure filth you nasty nasty piggy wig 

yep I've had a couple, they both broke fairly quickly and for no particular reason (just in a bag maybe? cant remember). got a metal folding spoon and fork (separate) from decathlon a few years ago for very cheaps, good but annoying the locking mechanism sometimes fails. usually at a critical moment, which makes them good for doing things like dropping fried eggs on the floor

I’ve had an Alpkit titanium one for at least the past 10yrs. It obviously has never broken but also, I don’t think there has ever been an occasion where a normal spoon would not have been just as effective.

So, just use a spoon?

I wish they'd make a simple spoon version because the spoon shape is the best thing for eating yoghurt with.  My last spork broke a tine when I dropped it on the hard canteen floor at work from waist height.

I'm amazed by the number of people on here who have actually bought these things to eat with. I always assumed they were bought by well meaning relatives as stocking fillers at Christmas, as they are plainly useless as cutlery. 

Isn't that a Runcible spoon (as in "The Owl and the Pussycat")

Yep, that's how we accumulated all ours. Still trying to find something useful to do with them.

Titanium sporks are awesome. 

Yes, I've had 2 and both broke unexpectedly. Like the design but wouldn't buy another.

Had one for a while, and while it didn't break it was so annoyingly uncomfortable to use holding the knifey end that I got one of these:

https://seatosummit.com/product/alphalight-spork/

Much better design imho. And comes with a bonus comedy mini krab.

Snow peak titanium spork! 

Obscenely priced but absolutely fantastic!

CB

Great idea. I've broken about 3. Often with <10 uses. 

I use a Sea to Summit titanium spoon now. Way better. I actually don't really understand why there is such an obsession with sporks - a spoon is more or less as functional, easier to eat from etc.

As they cost about 7p each from china, I do not suppose you can expect too much https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&Cat...
The titanium ones seem to be costing circa £2.30 https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&Cat...

Seems to me that being in the spork industry is a good deal.

I've always quite fancied some of their camping chopsticks

Yes! They are the ultimate example of useless outdoor gear, but certainly massively overengineered like all their other stuff. FFS, if you need chopsticks in the woods, make yourself some!

BC

I have a titanium spork made by Light my Fire. It seems pretty robust, and crucially has no sharp edges. I think it was quite expensive but it'll probably still be going strong several centuries from now.

For backpacking I take a titanium spoon and fork (separate, not a spork) made by MSR. Weigh almost nothing, covers a range of foods (e.g. fork good for noodles), and having two pieces of cutlery is good backup in case i lose one.

For years just used an ordinary spoon with no trouble. Then half inched one off my son as a spare/complementary implement but first time out broke it pressing too hard while scouring it. My son is a keen scout/D of E person and said that they often break. The point about uncomfortable handle was relevant plus more messy to eat with if using both ends at one meal. Obviously a titanium version might be better at cutting food and be worth it over the years, though the spoon with built in prongs looks as if it might be harder to eat with than a normal spoon.

So far, none.

The kids both have the Light My Fire set of 3 kiddy size ones (Xmas pressie from Auntie) and they've so far survived a couple of years of use. Kept in the baby bag and used occasionally, but childrens food isn't much of a challenge for them, so they should last a good while yet.

I've got the LMF titanium one, even though I hate Sporks as a concept. Bought on a quest to minimise weight on a bike packing trip, although never actually needed it while away. Out of all the designs I looked at, it seemed the best shape to hold and use, as looked like it might actually hold liquid without slopping it down your front. Should outlast me, anyway.

I also have the LifeVenture titanium KFS set, bought for previous not-quite-so-weight-consious ski touring trip - probably my preferred kit.

The general camping box just has an old set of kitchen cutlery, complete with matching serving spoons, and a selection of found teaspoons.

I keep them in the car - they're better than the wooden forks if you grab fish and chips anywhere.

if you know any squaddies that get ration packs, the chances are they don't eat them and if they don't bin them they will have a mountain of long handled sporks. Just take two at a time in case you break one, probably still lighter than a metal one. (i use a alpkit one though and its great) 

The plastic ones are to flimsy for mixing drop scone batter, ( killed 2 in a row ) but the metal version scratches my non stick pan.

Seeing as they cost about £1 each, I think you might be expecting too much.

anyone remember the scene in "Micro Men" where the Acorn engineers racing to get the BBC micro working were eating their takeaways with pliers, wirecutters and meter testprods, while Herman Hauser frowned on?

I only mention this because I thought the tradition required eating using a piton

Sea to summit plastic sporks are much better reinforced but don't work so well as a spoon, light my fire ones are made to snap

Plastic Sporks can be joined back together if you melt both ends with a lighter and stick them together quickly. Still a suspect item I guess.  I reckon a bit of hot wire added to both sides lengthways will strengthen them.

I carry two; one in titanium. Man with no spoon eats slowly.