The Battle of the Travel Cutlery Sets

It feels ridiculous to pack a set of travel cutlery, but I am doing it anyway. I very much prefer picnicking on supermarket foods than waste time and money at restaurants. (Some of my fondest travel food memories: packing cheese sandwiches from the breakfast buffet in Oslo and eating them for lunch outside the museum, visiting Family Mart for eggs and onigiri in Taiwan, and living on reduced to clear Tesco Express couscous bowls in London.) 

But the world of travel cutlery is bewildering. Fork and spoon? Chopsticks and spoon? Or just a spork? Plastic or metal? Cutlery case or no? 

In the kitchen drawer I found this knockoff of the Light My Fire spork, much beloved on OneBag.com. Like the original, it even has a tiny serrated knife on one edge of the fork. But... it sucks. Maybe it's the flimsy material or the flat tongue depressor-style design, but it's useless as anything more strenuous than stirring tea.

Cost: $0

Worth it? No.

So I went to Daiso and got this chopsticks and spoon set with a case (seems hygienic?). After using it to eat packed lunches a couple of times, I realised it is very unpleasant to eat salad with chopsticks. Or anything with chopsticks, really. Even rice is easier to eat with a fork and spoon.

Cost: $2.16

Worth it? No.

Another contender from Daiso. It comes with 2 handles for either fork + spoon, or a pair of chopsticks. I don't intend to bring the chopsticks. The fork and spoon turned out to be the nicest to use. Something about the cuboid (rather than flat) handles? Although small, they feel like real cutlery. Successfully used these to consume a full dinner with rice. 

Cost: $2.16

Worth it? Yes.

Finally: a set of snap-together cutlery from good old Decathlon. What attracted me were (a) the hole, which eliminates the need for a case if you hang it off your bag with a carabiner, and (b) the knife, essential for picnicking - cheese, fruit, spreads. That you can take this knife on a plane was a major plus for me since I prefer to fly carry-on only.

Unfortunately, this product isn't all that great. The thin plastic material and flat design make the cutlery flimsy and difficult to handle - little better than takeaway cutlery. The knife in particular is useless for anything firmer than softened butter, soft cheese or really ripe fruit. Probably better to nick the inflight butter knife and use that.

Cost: $4.40

Worth it? No.

Thus ends my $10 experiment. I am not really sold, but I guess I'll take along the Decathlon and Daiso ones and road-test them. (Regardless, I also plan to use them for civilian purposes like packing lunch to work.)

My tips on travel cutlery:

- Think about what you like to eat and bring the appropriate utensils. Don't end up eating salad with chopsticks or yogurt with a fork.

- Round ("3D") rather than flat handles make eating much more comfortable.

- Don't bother with plastic knives if you have a multi-tool or penknife. Or even a butter knife.

- A hole for hanging is probably better than a case, which needs washing.