Sep
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you will have seen the spork – the readily available fork/spoon combo that is ubiquitous amongst outdoor enthusiasts.
Generally the simple design is as follows: a spoon with tines. Personally I’ve always had a bit of an issue with this design as it seems to be too much of a compromise.
I mean, it’s just a spoon with some of the usefulness of the spoon removed. You might as well eat with a colander.
Whilst it has some use, eating soup and watching aghast as most of the liquid loveliness simply dribbles through the space between the tines is an abject lesson in frustration.
If I wanted to spend an hour on a small bowl of minestrone I would have made it from scratch instead of opening a can of Heinz.
Let’s face it, a spork isn’t a spoon. It’s just a really fat fork.
This is why I really like what Kershaw have done with their take on the spork.
One side is a spoon, the opposite side is a fork. It’s two usable and very separate utensils in one unit.
So if I need to use a fork, there it is. If I then need a spoon, I’ve actually got a usable spoon. Not a slotted spoon that offers as much utility as an ashtray on a motorbike.
The Kershaw Ration is available in a number of funky colours including orange, green, teal and silver.
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Green Kershaw Ration -
Orange Kershaw Ration -
Teal Kershaw Ration
It’s also available in an XL size which is the same design but elongated.
Kershaw have’t skimped on the materials either, each Kershaw Ration is made from 3Cr13 stainless steel which has been bead blasted for a attractive matte finish. This is one tough unit, it’s not going to bend, buckle or crack. Unless you lose it you’ll never need to replace it.
The Ration also has a handy carabiner so that it can be conveniently hooked to a belt or bag so it’s always on hand. No more digging around in your pack while your chilli goes cold.
In the hand you can feel the quality of the build – it feels solid – and when I tried to bend it, I failed. The smooth feel and the bead blasted stainless steel suggests that it’d be easy to clean too.
Surely that’s enough, but no!
As if that wasn’t enough, Kershaw have added yet more usefulness to an already great little tool – a bottle opener.
So, that’s a fork, a spoon, a bottle opener and a carabiner in one tool.
Spoilt? Yes you are. In my day we used a bit of bark if we were lucky. Most of the time we scooped burning hot liquid into our faces with our bare hands!
I jest, but this type of innovation is streets ahead of the crappy, thin camp utensils of my youth that would bend so easily it felt like I’d been cursed by Uri Geller.
It’s a seriously cool piece of kit that you should definitely have on you when you’re out an about.
I’m tempted to get one to eat my lunchtime yoghurt.
I’m simply not using a teaspoon when these exist – what do you think I am? Some kind of animal?
The Kershaw Ration beats the standard spork hands down. Tough build, quality materials and a smart design add up to a great tool that is actually usable.
