What is in your solo kitchen kit?

[Doc.]

The invention of the camp "spat": I gave up on sporks quite some time ago. It hit me one day that a good 1" SS paint scraper would make a good spatula and mouth shovel. So off to my local hardware store I go; purchased their best scraper ($4.59), rounded the sharp edges, and the rest is history. If it can't be drunk/slurped out of a cup, stabbed with my knife, or shoveled with my spat, it must not be edible. Along with my spat my entire solo kitchen fits in a Crown Royal bag (which is a whole different story).

 

[snapper]

To Red's point...years ago I forgot my spoon so each day I'd carve a small set of chop sticks. At the end of the day they'd get tossed into the fire so I didn't even have to worry about cleaning them

Until next time....be well.

snapper

 

[forest runes]

Its amazing what You can fashion on site with a little imagination but after all nature is man's storehouse. ( the only one we've got incidentally ! )

 

[latremorej]

Another story for Red here. Years ago when lows lake had the only fire ban that I can remember, my father and i reached grass pond and realized that all of our cooking and eating utensils were at home. It took about 3 hours but we found some good hardwood limbs and carved a couple spoons and a spatula to cook and eat our eggs and fried fish with for the week. I still have them somewhere, ugly but funtional!

 

[Abenakiregion]

latremore,
Even more awkward, I was assistant guide on an Allagash trip years ago, when it was discovered, at the first campsite, that the utensil bag was not packed. We were very busy with a crooked knife, and jack knife for a couple of hours or so before dinner! Luckily the clients found humor in the situation.
Dave

 

[Guest]

Utensil stories

Even more awkward, I was assistant guide on an Allagash trip years ago, when it was discovered, at the first campsite, that the utensil bag was not packed. We were very busy with a crooked knife, and jack knife for a couple of hours or so before dinner! Luckily the clients found humor in the situation.

One of my early backpacking partners habitually carried a whittled wooden spoon. He had neglected to bring any eating utensil on a previous backpacking trip and his companions bedeviled him by refusing to share their only spoons around the one pot meals.

Same guy on a latter backpacking trip. We had, gawd knows why, decided to bring pancake mix for breakfast but had no spatula or even a fork to flip them. He disappears, we hear CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG and he comes back with a metal spoon beaten flat with a rock.

Not his spoon, it was still whittled wood.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

 

[Guest]

Uh, Glenn. . . . .how to carve a spork (and lose a finger to toe)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhvH5C5IaHQ

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Uh, Glenn. . . . .how to carve a spork (and lose a finger to toe)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhvH5C5IaHQ

Uh, that hermaphroditic contraption is not a spork, and deserves to be vituperated by the McDIY-Conk axis of oval.

This is a spork . . . and I worship only titanium ones. They are only true Gifford's ice cream killers.

After watching a few spoon-making videos -- and even though I have a Bahco saw, a few bushcraft knives and a useless axe -- I am convinced that the far more efficient course is to buy a second titanium spork for $1.25.

 

[Guest]

I am convinced that the far more efficient course is to buy a second titanium spork for $1.25.

I would hate to see you chopstick uncouth in the backcountry. Perhaps the back up utensil should be a platinum dessert spork, or a silver seafood spork with the MacGrady Family Crest.

Classy!

 

[Guest]

Upon reflection, I also do take the same insulated metal mug I use in my car, though I could get away without it, using the JetBoil pot/mug instead.

The insulated Bodum coffee mug I carry is distinct from my truck travelling mug. I want to know I’ve packed my tripping mug in the kitchen kit (with the first morning’s oatmeal, Via and breakfast bar stuffed inside) and not forgotten it in the console in a rush to get gone. Not having an insulated coffee mug would suck worse than forgetting my salad spork.

Whatever the reason, probably because I have my solo cooking needs down to simple rehydration, I have never use the JetBoil pot for anything except boiling water. I rinse the coffee mug and Circle K “bowl” and spoon after scraping/licking them clean.

Having never “cooked” anything except boil water in the JetBoil makes me feel better about residual odors or taking the fuel canister into the tent on cold mornings.

 

[red langford]

$1.25 Ti spork? I think the last one I bought was almost $15

 

[yellowcanoe]

The minimalist spork
http://www.made-in-italy.com/italian...scardino-spork

Though how you get to the bottom of a pouch of Mountain House freeze dried without needing a bath is beyond me..

Here are a couple of hopeful sellers. Ti spork for over a grand
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000CDH8PU/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

 

[Guest]

The minimalist spork
http://www.made-in-italy.com/italian...scardino-spork

Though how you get to the bottom of a pouch of Mountain House freeze dried without needing a bath is beyond me..

Simple

https://www.google.com/search?q=sho...ei=S_DSV9juKsfleq-uhNAP#imgrc=_1w_E_yPeX9EvM:

I need to find Glenn’s address. He needs a rhinestone and glitter bedazzled spork.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Spork wars!

Sporkgate!

What is a "spork"?

CTN's investigative pot stirrers have uncovered two different utensils that carry the "spork" name. First, there's this hermaphroditic thing:

I had one of these about 35 years ago but lost it, or castrated it, but in any event never used it. I don't advocate it, and generally agree that the "spoon-ness" of a Neanderthal eating utensil is more important than its "tine-ness".

Second, this sacred titanium utensil is also called a "spork":

This is the exact spork I have and is still sold retail for $6.95 US by REI. I got it on sale from REI six years ago with an accompanying titanium bread knife, which is completely useless, for about $8. This true spork is obviously dominated by "spoon-ness" with only micro-tines, which are, as I've said, very useful for gouging into Maine's famous Gifford's ice cream, which now is blessedly sold in my home town. Indeed, I'll be using my "real spork" on a quart of it in a few hours -- and I don't switch hands when I do.

 

[red langford]

MEC has two Ti sporks. One is $15 and the other is $21.

That first spork you have there I highly recommend avoiding. They break way way too easy.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

MEC has two Ti sporks. One is $15 and the other is $21.

Red, I don't know about shipping charges to Canada, but Sunny Sports has the Sea-to-Summit titanium spork for $4.95 US. REI has a whole selection of sporks, now including a new long-handled Sea-to-Summit titanium spork for $8.95 US, which (YAY!) I might get as my backup.

This is without even searching for coupon codes, discounts or sales in the many, many other camping supply stores in the US.

There are many titanium sporks from China on eBay in the $7 - $9 range with free shipping.

Are you limited to MEC in Canada? That chain seems expensive for almost everything.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Gear prices in Canada are generally dictated by the number of middlemen it has to pass through on the way to the retailer. Some gear comes from the (usually asian) factory via a Canadian distributor to the store. This is often priced similar to the same product in the USA or elsewhere. Other stuff comes into the USA first then to a Canadian distributor then to a retailer. This will be marked up at each stage plus incur additional shipping and handling charges.
There are other gear stores, I recently discovered ma order from altitude sports for backpacking gear not stocked in Winnipeg , but they are usually forced to buy from the same sole distributors.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

A longer (8.5") utensil sounds like a good idea for dehydrated food bags and big tubs of ice cream, and since I already have a 6.5" spork with an unpolished bowl, I've ordered this long handled titanium spoon with polished bowl from Optimus for an $9.95 delivered price from an Amazon affiliate. MEC also has it.

You can get the same spoon with a Toaks brand plus a nylon stuff bag for about $3 more.

 

[red langford]

$4.95 USD(x1.3 for CAD) for the spoon
$15.00 USD(x1.3 for CAD) flat rate to ship to Canada
$33.00 CAD brokerage fee charged by FedEx or UPS

I am not limited to MEC, and I have bought from US retailers but only after carefully considering all my options and the true cost. I will only accept things shipped via USPS, otherwise it had better be a great bargain or an absolute necessity (= I really really want). It's not a protectionist thing, just a cost thing. Other Canadians will confirm this. Then there are websites like Alibaba or AliExpress where you can buy a $4 ODBII reader for your vehicle which includes shipping from China. No idea how that works.

The way the economies of different countries are and how it affects international shopping is an interesting thing. Cell phones in India are cheap like Borscht yet here they seem to be a sign of wealth and extravagance. Anyways, I veering way off topic.

I also bring a 2 cup measuring cup with a screw on lid I will use as my main eating dish. I think it's called a "Fair Share Mug" or something like that and bought it from Europe Bound about 15 years ago.