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The Titanium Spork

ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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The Titanium Spork
on: March 07, 2018, 06:10:33 PM
Since we have so many spork threads, I wanted to play too!



Another part of my cheap gear order has arrived, and this one is a titanium spork similar to the Light My Fire type sporks.  This is the third item from this order, which also includes the Teeny Sling Bag of POWER and the cheapo zoom lens doohickey.



Naturally the first thing I did with this cheapo spork is test to see if it was magnetic.  As you know, titanium is not usually considered to be an inexpensive metal, and so I thought I would check to see if the titanium was substituted with cheaper steel.  While I still cannot verify that it is titanium, I can say that it had absolutely no attraction to the rare earth magnets I have, so that is at least a good sign.



It is also remarkably light in weight, although this might also have a lot to do with it’s flimsiness.  And I mean flimsy.  This spork bends when the slightest amount of pressure is applied to it, and I feel as if trying to poke the fork end into something even slightly resistive (hunk of steak perhaps?) would cause this thing to fail.  It should be suitable enough for typical outdoor eating stuff, like the pastas and chilis found in Mountain House and similar meals.



Getting my trusty calipers out I see that this unit is barely 1mm thick- it is hard to make any metal sturdy at 1mm thick, and a relatively soft metal like titanium doesn’t really stand much of a chance.



Unfortunately, this spork, while cheap, has cost me money, in that I immediately was curious how it compared to the real thing so I dropped everything and ran off to my local outdoor gear supply place and got one.  These cheapo knockoffs are really starting to cost me some serious money when I have to by the real one too!

One thing that the real one did prove is that the fake probably is real titanium as they are almost identical sized and both weigh in at 19g or just over half an ounce, so that’s at least a point in the favor of the fake.



Further, the real one seems a lot more resistant to bending.  It still flexes, but not like the knockoff does, despite being roughly the same thickness.  Since I don’t think you can heat treat titanium, I am guessing that this is the result of a better grade of titanium.



All in all, the real one cost about $25 and the fake one probably worked out to less than $5, and it seems like it might just do the same job, even if it does give up a few things, like the serrated knife blade on the side of the fork.  If the price was a bit closer I could justify the real one, but I don’t think the real one is worth 5x the price.  If I was just buying for myself I’d probably splurge on the full on one, but if you have a spouse, friend, kids or anyone else that often ventures out into the woods with you, I’d say grab five of the cheap ones instead.  Just be prepared to sharpen the tines a bit.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


us Offline MadPlumbarian

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Re: The Titanium Spork
Reply #1 on: March 07, 2018, 06:49:20 PM
I have a bunch of the plastic ones, the one thing I noticed and kinda liked was that the serrated side was gone, cause how are you going to stab what ever with the fork and cut at the same time, or cut without holding down? But on the other side, those tines do look a little dull unlike the real thing, and also it’s not polished, I would think that would be easier to clean,, just my thoughts on it, I mean heck if there going to be close in price as the plastic ones I’d go for it and sure in heck break the Dremel out on those tines!
JR
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As I sit on my Crapper Throne in the Reading Room and explode on the Commode, thinking, how my flush beat John’s and Jerry’s pair? Jack’s had to run for the Water Closet yet ended up tripping on a Can bowing and hitting his Head on the Porcelain God! 🚽


us Offline Lynn LeFey

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Re: The Titanium Spork
Reply #2 on: March 08, 2018, 07:50:58 AM
I think I've made my feelings on titanium cutlery known.

But unpolished is even worse. Looks like a breeding ground for nasty funk to me.

At least the design, unlike the CRKT Eat'n Tool, looks long enough to be useful as an actual eating utensil.

Let us know how it works after testing. As in, let us know how that food poisoning from 'crusty spoon disease' goes. :D


nz Offline zoidberg

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Re: The Titanium Spork
Reply #3 on: March 08, 2018, 11:45:25 AM
My kid has a permanent dibs on the EnT.   :shrug:



ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: The Titanium Spork
Reply #4 on: March 08, 2018, 06:46:48 PM
I think I've made my feelings on titanium cutlery known.

But unpolished is even worse. Looks like a breeding ground for nasty funk to me.

At least the design, unlike the CRKT Eat'n Tool, looks long enough to be useful as an actual eating utensil.

Let us know how it works after testing. As in, let us know how that food poisoning from 'crusty spoon disease' goes. :D

I always wondered why so many sporks have the bead blasted finish- even the plastic ones have a pebbled or textured finish to them.  At least the metal ones could be boiled or heated to make sure any nasty critters lurking in a scratch are gone.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


us Offline Nix

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Re: The Titanium Spork
Reply #5 on: March 08, 2018, 07:50:11 PM
Honestly, not something I've ever worried about.

I prefer a polished Spork or spoon because they feel better to me. But, if I'm hungry enough, it don't matter.  Sporks seem to clean up nicely by licking them clean and then rubbing them dry on one's pant leg. If a spork gets too grungy, stick it in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, then wipe it on your pant's leg when cooled off.  At least that's always worked for me.



gb Offline Fast Bill

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Re: The Titanium Spork
Reply #6 on: March 08, 2018, 09:39:51 PM
I tend to agree Nix, and makes sure my titanium sporks get just as much cleaning as my ordinary cutlery. And as my old Gran used to say you have to take a peck of dirt before you die ... and that's quite a lot I gather !
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