Summary: A ubiquitous piece of gear that is inexpensive and meets most needs but has some shortcomings. What much can be said about a spork?
Pros:
inexpensive
easy to find/purchase
Cons:
in using one end, grimy hands are placed all over the other end, making it somewhat unsanitary.
melts easily when exposed to high temps.
handle too short to eat dehydrated foods out of the bag.
We all love gear that serves double-duty in the backcountry, yes? And I believe the intent of a double-ended utensil was in good following with this idea. This spork is one of the most ubiquitous pieces of gear out there, so apparently a lot of people agree. I was at first sold on the idea, as well. But after a lot of use, the detractors started to outweigh the multi-function.
My main criticism of this design is the short length of the handle and that fact that the handle is the other utensil. This is a big deal because your trail-grimy hands end up getting all over the surfaces t
hat you eat from. Likewise, in switching between utensils mid-meal, you may also end up getting foodstuffs all over your hands...unless you give it a really thorough licking. And honestly, I so rarely used the fork side that I switched back to using a long handled spoon. Not once have I missed the fork.
I will also warn that I've seen one of these melt when used to fry bacon in hot grease...so don't do this! For stirring noodles in hot water, it's fine. Not one broken yet.
Understanding that this spork is nothing much more than a plastic spork, you won't be disappointed.
