The Best Sporks and Travel Utensil Sets

The lightest of the metal three-piece utensil sets, this model truly provided the best of both worlds. It is compact and didn’t weigh down our bag, but having a true fork, knife, and spoon allowed us to eat a wide variety of meals. The fork was light and comfortable to hold and its sharp tines easily stabbed both steak and beets. We were able to cut bites of steak easily with the serrated knife. The bowl of the spoon was a bit small for eating soup but was a good size for eating ice cream; its wide handle provided us with more than enough leverage to scoop from a frozen pint. Our two favorite features of this set were that the pieces were held together by magnets and the case with the hook-and-loop closure contained them well. The only downside is that this set is not dishwasher-safe, as its colorful anodized aluminum coating can come off with harsh detergents.

Although this product is called a “spork,” it isn’t actually a true spork. There are two pieces: One piece features a knife on one end and a spoon on the other, while the second piece is a fork. The benefit is that, unlike a true spork, you can use the knife and fork at the same time. Plus, you can connect the two pieces end to end to create an extra long utensil with a fork on one side and a spoon on the other. This feature comes in handy when eating a bagged backpacking meal.

The cutouts in the handles of each utensil made this the lightest of the stainless-steel three-piece sets we tested, but this design also made them less comfortable to hold. The head of the fork was a bit narrow, so chunks of food fell off at times. The serrated knife was one of the sharper versions in our lineup, so it quickly cut a bite of steak. Instead of a case, the utensils are kept together with a simple lanyard that came unfastened during the durability test.

This stainless-steel utensil set closely resembled typical flatware with a traditional fork, knife, and spoon. The fork was well-balanced and comfortable to eat from. The spoon’s bowl had an appropriate capacity for eating both soup and ice cream, but it was a bit top heavy and tended to tip forward when we held it because of its thinner handle. The knife serrations could have been sharper, and they struggled slightly when cutting a piece of steak. This set comes with a fabric case which tends to get dirty easily in a backpack or in the grass.

This spork was made of sturdy titanium and weighed only ⅝ ounces, striking a balance of lightweight and durable. On one end is a spoon and on the other end is a fork with a serrated edge, making it more multifunctional than most sporks. The serrated edge easily cut salad ingredients like beets and apples, but it took some effort to cut a bite of steak. The spoon’s bowl capacity was adequate for eating brothy soup, but it was slightly uncomfortable to hold onto the fork end while using the spoon. When reaching into the deep pouch of a backpacking meal, this spork was a bit too short, so our hands got a little messy.

This stainless-steel set is essentially traditional flatware in a case. The head of the fork was a standard width and featured pointy tines, so it was good at stabbing food. However, it was fairly flat, so it was more difficult to scoop saucy noodles from a bagged backpacking meal. The serrations on the knife were finer than those of the other stainless-steel models, so it was trickier to cut a bite of steak. The spoon was well-balanced and its bowl had a good capacity for eating soup. The set comes in a protective plastic case, which helped to keep the utensils clean and organized, but it popped open when thrown around in a backpack. With the case, this was the heaviest set we tested, so it might not be suitable for backpackers and campers.

The only plastic utensil set we tested, it was the lightest of the bunch. The tines of the fork were on the thicker side, and when we used the fork to eat salad, it just broke the chunks of beets and apples instead of successfully stabbing them. The serrated knife was fairly dull and required extra force and time to cut a bite of steak. Some testers liked the spoon’s deep bowl for taking large bites, but some found the depth uncomfortable to sip soup from. Instead of a case, this set was attached with a carabiner which remained closed when we tossed the set around in a backpack, helping us to keep track of all three pieces.

This three-piece set came with a sleek, brightly colored case, but the top popped off when we threw it around in a backpack. While compact, the utensils in this set were the shortest of all the models we tested. Its shallow fork head required us to take smaller bites of salad. The spoon was comfortable to hold and its bowl had a good capacity for eating soup while the knife ably cut steak. Because the utensils were short, our hands got a little messy when using them to eat the backpacking meal.

This spork featured a fork on one end and a spoon on the other with no serrated element. Therefore, its versatility was limited since we couldn’t use it to cut tougher foods like steak. Its fork tines were also a bit thick and dull, requiring more force to stab a chunk of beet or a bite of arugula. When using the spoon end, we found that the fork was fairly comfortable to hold onto, but the spoon’s bowl capacity was small and made it tedious to eat brothy soup. Even so, backpackers eating simple meals might enjoy this inexpensive, featherlight option.

The design of this classic spork harkened back to that of disposable plastic sporks from our school lunch days, with a simple handle and a spoon-shaped head and short fork tines. Although efficient, the skinny, short handle made it difficult to get leverage to scoop heavy or frozen foods. The fork tines were too short to easily stab foods, and combining the spoon and fork in the same element meant liquidy foods like soup dribbled through the tip.

This bamboo set included a fork, knife, spoon, and a pair of chopsticks. Although each utensil, and the set overall, was extremely lightweight, none of the utensils worked well. The knife lacked serrations, so it couldn’t cut anything. The fork tines were very thick and failed to stab any type of food. The spoon had a tiny capacity, so eating soup with it was nearly impossible. Lastly, the bamboo material felt weird in our mouths and we could detect the natural fibers in an unpleasant way.