Best Camp Utensils for Survival
When you have your food sorted but find yourself in a survival situation, the last thing you need is for your eating utensils to fail. Relying on the best survival utensils is the way to go, with durable and versatile cutlery to keep you fed without using your fingers. Survivalists get to pick from a wide range of sporks and other tools, but some models are better than others.
This is where we come in. We’ve researched the best survival utensils, tested them, and now the results are in: the overall best, a budget option, and an upgrade option. If you need a lightweight spork with durability that you can trust, one of our suggestions will help you feast.
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Best Camp Utensils
UCO Switch
Nesting, Long, and Versatile
Take your survival utensil to the next level with this versatile 3-in-1 spork that easily reaches into the deepest MRE pouches.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
These little guys are cheap, effective, and stow away to virtually nothing. They have a bit of flex to them, so they are forgiving to pack pretty much anywhere in your pack without worrying about them breaking.
Specifications
- Utensils: Fork, spoon, serrated knife, and shock cord to hold the pair together
- Material: Reinforced glass nylon (dishwasher, microwave safe)
- Color Options: 4
- Pack Length: 7″ length
- Weight: 0.5 ounces
The cord to keep a pair together is a smart design, and having a pair in your bag works out quite well. You can use the pair as tongs with the cord or loop the cord through the holes to hang the utensils from a mess kit.
The best part about them is how they nest backwards as well to give you over 10″ of reach- plenty for MREs or backpacking pouches.
With great versatility packed into a durable kit, it’s easy to see why the UCO Switch Utensil Set tops the rest.
Budget Survival Spork
MSR Folding Spork
Compact, Lightweight, and Proven
This small but handy spork stows easily, plus it comes at an unbeatable price.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
Extend the MSR nylon spork out to 8″ by unfolding it, where it locks into place. Unlock it by squeezing the red part of the handle close to the hinge point, and then you can fold it up to its 4″ length for storage.
Specifications
- Utensil: Spork
- Material: Nylon
- Reach: 8″
- Weight: 0.5 ounces
It’s not the sturdiest spork, but it’s compact, lightweight, and comes at an unbeatable price.
If you are looking for a lightweight and inexpensive option for any survival kit, this MSR Folding Spork is the best option.
Best Titanium Spork
Toaks Spork
Lightweight, Practical, and Indestructible
This lightweight titanium spork gives you reach and versatility with unmatched durability.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
If you never want to worry about a spoon or fork again, just grab some titanium! This Toaks spork is lightweight, but not so light that it compromises durability.
Specifications
- Utensil: Spork
- Material: Titanium
- Reach: 8.5″
- Weight: 0.65 ounces
Durability is no question, as you can’t get these to break. It’s long enough to reach into the corners of any camp food pouch or slimy MRE menu without getting your hands dirty.
The nicest part is the polished finish on the spoon itself- most titanium sporks continue the matte finish onto the eating surface, which is great on the handle for grip, but less than ideal for taste/texture.
If you need a bomb-proof spork, the Toaks Long-Handle Titanium Spork will outlast us all.
Comparison Table
| Survival Utensils | Recommendation | Price* | Reach | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCO Switch | Best Overall | $9 | 10.3″ | 0.96 oz |
| MSR Folding Spork | Best Camping Spork | $6 | 8″ | 0.4 oz |
| Toaks Spork | Best Titanium Spork | $10 | 8.5″ | 0.65 oz |
The Utensils We Compared
Our research narrowed the field down to a few brands and types of forks, spoons, and sporks that we compared: UCO, Tapirus, CRKT, Snow Peak, CMB, Kershaw, Roxon, humangear, Sea to Summit, TOAKS, and more.
You can see our full list of review criteria below in the What to Look For section, with an explanation for each.
We considered a wide range of silverware, multitools, and utensils. Many prioritize storage profile and weight over usage, and you can tell just aren’t practically suited for regular use without being limited in what you could do with them. (Looking at you, tiny spork keychains!)
We’re always looking for new and better gear, so if you have a spork or utensil set that’s versatile and effective, let us know in the comments. We review most of our tested gear annually so we can try to get it in the next roundup and see if it will beat out our top picks.
What to Look For
The best survival utensils have a few features to look for:
- Value
- Durability
- Material Type
- Size & Weight
- Versatility
When you get the right blend of these, you can find the perfect utensil set for a wide range of survival tasks. Below, we break down what each of these features means for the sporks that truly set themselves apart.
Value: Cost vs. Benefit
The amount of money you spend on something like eating utensils shouldn’t blow out your entire budget. Most of them are inexpensive, and our budget pick is a screaming value that should fit any budget.
Even in a pinch, regular old silverware could fill the role just fine. It may weigh a bit more and take up more space, but it’s practically free out of your drawer.
You never want to spend too much money on one type of tool, even when it comes to eating. It’s better to diversify your spending to make sure you are covered for a wide range of scenarios.
Durability
Like most survival tools, you want your cutlery to last. Whether it is an inconvenience or your life on the line, broken simple tools just don’t cut it.
Durability is pretty easy to test through regular use. Tines break off the end of forks, knives lose their edge, and spoons can bend. Most of our testing was done just through daily use and noting failure points.
The utensils with moving parts are especially prone to breaking, and the testing proved the point. We didn’t end up selecting any, mainly because moving parts are a weakness unless they are manufactured with high precision and quality.
Material Type
Most survival utensils are made of metal or plastic. The metals that are most commonly found are aluminum and titanium- both very lightweight. Titanium has the edge when it comes to durability and not bending.
Plastic does have the leeching concern, so we did not consider any with BPA. Nylons and other polymers without BPA were tough enough to bend slightly to prevent breaking, making them more forgiving on packs as well.
If you don’t keep sharper metal utensils covered or in a case, you may end up with a hole in your pack.
Size & Weight
We can borrow a lot from the backpacking community when it comes to utensil size and weight. Ultralight backpackers have been getting weight down or pitching their forks and spoons for years.
Many of the utensils we compared were camp utensils, proving that they were ideal for bug-out bags, get-home bags, and more, since they are also designed to stow in packs and be as lightweight as possible.
Nothing we saw went past a few ounces in weight, so utensils shouldn’t be a concern, weight-wise, in your survival bags.
Versatility
There is a surprising amount of versatility out there for survival utensils. Sure, we have the spork touting its fork and spoon combo (how versatile!), but some manufacturers are really packing in the functions.
Knives, pot holders, pliers, clips, straws, can openers, and wrenches were common for multitool-style utensils, but none of them were impressive enough to merit all of the weight.
Our top pick did impress me and still came in under two ounces. It featured a “good enough” knife and a ferro rod- great backups and convenient to have with the spork.
DIY Survival Utensils
Tools, utensils, and other gear are great for many survival tasks, but especially come in handy around a campfire or camp stove. But you might not always have what you need. Don’t let that stop you from eating since there are plenty of workarounds.
In a pinch, funnels are always a good way to get food and drink into your mouth. Cutting the corner of the MRE or survival food pouch to turn the pouch into a funnel can work as well.
If you are looking to craft something more permanent, you can make a fire fork out of wire, whittle a spoon out of wood, and even (God forbid) use your survival knife. Just make sure you clean it afterward.
Felix shows off his hand-carved cutlery using a Swiss Army Knife, and it’s a fun watch:
Who Needs Survival Utensils?
Nobody needs survival utensils. As we pointed out before, you can grab silverware for your drawer, or if you’re the crafty type, you can whittle yourself a spoon out of a branch.
Although they aren’t considered essential for survival, I do suggest that you consider one for your survival kits:
If you have more than you need, you’ll find that they are useful for camping or hiking. The plastic ones also make great kids’ utensils.
How We Review Products: We research thoroughly before selecting the best products to review. We have vast prepping and survival experience and bring in outside experts when needed. Hours on end are spent testing gear in stressful conditions and using specialized testing gear to verify claims. We assign performance criteria and impartially rate each tested item. Learn more about how we test.
Sources & References
All of our experience and the testing we do to determine the best survival utensils are useless without listing our research sources and references. We leaned on these for the book knowledge that we paired with our hands-on testing and practical survival experience:
Hitchens, A. (1942). The Sanitation of Eating and Drinking Utensils. The Journal of School Health. Volume 12. Issue 8. Pages 259 – 264. (Source)
Feagans, J., et al. (2010). Meals Ready to Eat: A Brief History and Clinical Vignette With Discussion on Civilian Applications. Military Medicine. Volume 175. Issue 3. Pages 194 – 196. (Source)
Mellergård, E. (2017). Development of an extendable outdoor cutlery set and matching eating kit. Chalmers University of Technology; Gothenburg, Sweden. (Source)
Conclusion
The first multitool (made by the Romans) was centered around eating with a knife, pick, fork, spatula, and spoon, built over 2000 years ago. It is heavier than what we have today, and humans have refined spork technology over the years.
Here are a few other gear reviews and guides our subscribers have found helpful:
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