Topic: The Best Camping Utensils of 2022 (Read 122 times)
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Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
A knife, fork, and spoon all-in-one gets an upgrade with a bottle opener and can opener, and the knife on this set soared during the test.
Pros
Cons
Product Description
Despite the unusual appearance of the Outdoor Edge ChowPal, this well-designed utensil is both co*pact and versatile. When the two pieces lock together, the knife and fork stow safely, so you don’t have to worry about stabbing yourself, yet they’re still easy to deploy. And the knife/spoon separates from the fork for a proper dining experience. I really appreciated the knife, which is more akin to a pocket knife than a traditional table knife. And realistically, that’s what I want when I’m ready to slice into my salami in the backcountry anyway.
The only true ding here is the spoon, which is significantly shallower than others I tested—it will work well for scarfing up mashed potatoes, but if you’re planning on a lot of cold-weather soups, you might be disappointed.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
This ultralight duo only weighs a smidge lighter than my best overall pick, and I also appreciated the slightly longer spoon for digging food out of my pot.
Pros
Cons
Product Description
Sure the Snow Peak set performed better in every test over the MSR Titans, but I know that’s not what you gram counters care about. So if you’re just after that sub-10 pound base weight, the Titans will help get you there, saving you a precious .2 ounces with plenty of functionality and durability for that big adventure (the spoon I took on the Colorado Trail is still kicking several years later). And there is one more upside—the spoon is slightly longer than the Snow Peak, making it that much easier to get the last of those Idahoans out of the bag.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
This affordable, lightweight, durable spoon is long enough to reach into the far corners of your favorite freeze-dried meal bags without taking up a ton of space in your pack.
Pros
Cons
Product Description
You know who you are, you backpackers (likely thru-hikers) that have been singing the praises of the disposable spoon scrounged from that last roadside gas station after you lost your titanium one somewhere in the Sierras. And I get it—I’ve done it too—but here’s the thing: that’s supposed to be a stop gap when you lose your spoon, not your new UL hiker trash gear plan.
This is the spoon you want. It’s dirt cheap, surprisingly durable, and springs right back into place no matter how far I try to bend it. It’s even pretty long—definitely longer than that piece of white plastic. Even better: it’s BPA, BPS, and BPF free, so there won’t be as many chemicals leaching into your body with each bite.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
The Quechua MH500s felt surprisingly sturdy in my hand during the test, and when folded, it fits inside the smallest cooking pot in my camping box.
Pros
Cons
Product Description
Packing a pot box, trying to stuff in towels, plates, cooking pots, and camping mugs is the camping version of tetris. Which makes the foldable design of the Quechua MH 500s a real game changer. These easily fit inside a cup or cooking pot without an awkward spoon poking out the top and preventing you from closing the lid fully.
I also liked that these were among the cheaper sets of the full-metal camping utensils I tested, and they’re affordable enough to buy a set for the entire family. Unlike other collapsible utensils I’ve tried, these are surprisingly rigid when unfolded and felt just as sturdy as the other full metal sets in this test.
Key Features
Why It Made the Cut
A bargain basement price and good functionality makes the Klipp utensil set a great choice for car campers on a budget.
Pros
Cons
Product Description
If you’re buying utensil sets for the whole family, and you don’t want to have to buy them twice, the ust Klipp merits serious consideration. For a quarter of the price of similar sets, it provided great durability and only bent slightly during that test. The fork and knife both rated “good” during the pasta and the salami test, respectively, while the spoon was one of the best I tried for slurping up soup, which held a high volume of liquid with a nice angle on the grip.
The only ding here is weight, which I measured at 1.2 ounces above the stated manufacturer weight. I don’t think these make the best option for backpackers (the MSR Titans, the Snow Peak, or the GSI Pouch Spoon fit better for that category), but for car campers and picnickers, these make an excellent, ideal budget option.
I also tested the following camping utensils:
All of these products had their pros, but they either broke during durability testing, were over priced, or were not designed as smartly as a direct co*petitor (or all three). Any product that broke during durability testing was disqualified from making the cut.
Camping utensils can cost as little as a couple of dollars for a simple spoon to as much as $30 for a titanium spoon and fork set. While the price differentials between a single set can be small, these add up if you purchase multiple sets at a time.
Titanium marries the best of both aluminum and stainless steel, as it’s both lightweight and durable. However, titanium is generally more expensive than either aluminum or stainless steel. While this might be a limiting factor when choosing a cooking pot, the price differential between stainless steel or aluminum utensils and titanium utensils is less significant (as is the weight savings).
While you’re camping, you can hand wash your dishes with soap in either your portable camp sink or at the campgrounds designated camp sink (usually located by the restrooms). For backpacking, you can, if you want, take some of your filtered water 200 feet from the nearest water source and use the tiniest amount of biodegradable soap to clean your utensils properly, perhaps even with a cut-off chunk of sponge. Or you can do what the rest of us do and just rub it off with your bandana and toss it back into your pack for the next day—I won’t tell.
To find the best camping utensils, I looked at sets from GSI, Hydro Flask, Snow Peak, Gerber, Coleman, Sea to Summit, MSR, Decathlon, UST, Industrial Revolution, Full Windsor, and Outdoor Edge. I began by independently confirming their weight and length against manufacturer specifications. As such, there are some discrepancies noted in the key features for each write-up. Next, I tested the functionality of each utensil and measured how much liquid each spoon could hold before it spil*ed over the sides, how effectively each fork picked up olive oil-coated al dente penne pasta and some of the best backpacking food, and how well each knife sliced into a salami.
Next, I tried to break them by bending each utensil at its weakest point (usually the neck). If it bent, I would then bend it back and forth several times to see whether the material would weaken. At the end of testing, I considered which utensil would work best for a variety of outdoor activities, including car camping, backpacking, and thru-hiking, as well as which utensil set would work best for someone planning to engage in all three.
While several of these camping utensils included extra functions, like bottle opener or wrench, I did not consider these in determining which was the best for each category.
A camping utensil has but one job: transport food into your mouth. So, if you’ve carried this utensil around all day in your pack, only to find out that it has broken on you when you’re at your very hungriest, well, you’re going to be one unhappy camper. That’s why I’ve put such a premium on durability in my review. Clever designs and lightweight materials are cool, but they do you no good when your spork is busted into three pieces. Choose the best camping utensils for your activities and prioritize durability above all else.
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