AardWolf Ultralight Dyneema Spoon and Spork Covers
I have a hard time keeping my backpacking spoon or spork clean between meals because I store it in my Ursack or bear canister, which contains all my food and garbage, as well as the dirt and duff that clings to my cooking gear and other smellables. While I use plastic bags to keep the contents separate and organized, somehow my spoon often gets dirty between uses.
But then I saw Aardwolf’s Dyneema DCF Spoon and Spork Covers at Garage Grown Gear and instantly knew that my dirty spoon days were over. These spoon and spork covers are tiny stuff sacks that cinch closed over the head of your camping utensils or even your toothbrush and keep them clean between uses.
Plus, they weigh nothing! How can that be? When I place two of these spoon/spork covers on my digital postage scale, they weigh less than one gram (the scale remains at 0g).
I’m normally immune to all of the faddish accessories that are popular in the ultralight backpacking community, but I couldn’t resist picking these up. They let me replace a disposable item, like sandwich bags, with a reusable one (and I’m hellbent on getting as much plastic out of my life as possible.)
However, these spoon and spork covers do not work with all of my backpacking spoons. While they are perfectly sized for long-handled titanium spoons and sporks, they’re a wee bit too small for the big GSI Plastic Spoon I like to use, and I expect they’re probably undersized for the bamboo spoons some hikers use too. If there’s one change I’d recommend, it would be to make the covers a little larger for larger spoons.
Disclosure: the author purchased this product.
SectionHiker never accepts payment for gear reviews or editorial coverage. When you buy through affiliate links on our site, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Help us continue to test and write unsponsored and independent gear reviews, hiking and backpacking FAQs, and free hiking guides.
Hilltop packs also makes one for the entire spoon, as well as a stick on sleeve to hold it in your bear bag or can so it doesn’t get buried at the bottom. I like to make sure I have the handle covered too, since the first few inches of it always winds up in your food. It’s not ultralight though, since it weighs 2-3g instead of 0. Another beginner tip someone gave me to keep my spoon sanitized is to just stick it in your boiling water for a few seconds before you make your food and eat it.
Is that the Paria Outdoor spoon in the photo? I blows my mind they’re the only one that makes the entire spoon polished. The $13 “upgrade” over Toaks (and the dozen others that sell polished bowl, matte handle spoons, probably all rebranded from the same manufacturer) was justified for me. It’s a struggle to get stuck on food off the matte handle.
Can you tell I’ve gone down rabbit hole on this topic?
Tries to get rid of plastic in his life.
EATS with plastic spoon.
;-)
There’s a huge difference between the GSI spoon and a plastic sandwich bag in terms of durability. That spoon will likely serve its user for decades, and the plastic it’s made from is recyclable. (Good luck finding a facility that will accept it, but technically it’s recyclable.) A plastic sandwich bag will break down relatively rapidly because they’re not made to be durable.
I’m also trying to sharply reduce the amount of plastic I introduce to the waste stream, but it’s virtually impossible to eliminate plastic from our lives. Every appliance in our home has plastic parts. Our vehicles have plastic parts. It’s everywhere.
My long handled titanium spoon came with a blaze orange cover that also weighs next to nothing. If I lose that, I might do something like this.
I have to say when reading this I thought it might be April 1. Nope, mid-January…
I kinda hate to admit this, but I just lick the spoon off and throw it in the ditty bag (nothing in there nasty) and go on about my business.
I have been making assorted gear from RipStop By The Roll. With all the bits and pieces of fabric left over, I now have an excellent little add on project.