Sturdy long handled soup spoon?

[Jim Colten]

For first meal on last weekend's three day snow camping outing I poured hot water into a freezer bag and stirred the contents with a beefy old REI plastic spoon … only to have the scoop immediately break off.

Lucky for me there was a long handled Ti spoon that had hitchhiked inside my freezer bag cozy. Unluckily, slurping gumbo using those tiny scoops on Ti spoons is a pain in the backside.

I'm not finding a long handled real soup spoon anywhere. Anyone know of a source?

Alternatively, how sturdy are the bamboo spoons sold for camping?

[Mark Heiser]

I bought a couple bamboo spoons for about $1/piece or so at farm market that caters mostly to Asian/Hispanic populations. My GSI lexan spoon was lighter at 7g, but at 15 grams I get twice the length and a capacity slightly larger than your typical tablespoon.

[Alex Wallace]

I've had an REI Lexan soup spoon for a couple of years and it's always been up to FBC tasks. Heck, I've used it to flip countless trout steaming over hot coals yet it remains unscathed. How old was yours? It might be worth grabbing another from REI.

[Bob Gross]

Yes, the REI soup spoon (gray). I also have the REI regular teaspoon and also the fork. The good thing about it is that it will not scratch up the finish on the cookware.

The soup spoon is about ten years old now, so it is starting to look like it has earned a trip through the dishwasher.

–B.G.–

[bradmacmt]

"The soup spoon is about ten years old now, so it is starting to look like it has earned a trip through the dishwasher."

Bob, that's Gross. (grin)

Yeah, the long handled REI spoon is what I use and is the best I've found.

[Nick Gatel]

Is a soup spoon different than a regular spoon? Serious question because I never heard of a soup spoon.

Anyway, my favorite spoon is a Sea to Summit Alpha spoon.

[James Volk]

I got one of the new Optimus folding titanium spoons. I really like the way that they did it… a perfect blend between the old folding spork and my regular long handled spoon. The only thing that could be better is that it's about 1/8" too long to go into my Fosters Can Pot, aside from that it's a great piece of kit so far.

http://www.optimusstoves.com/en/optimus-products/products/katadynshopconnect/optimus-kochgeschirr-und-besteck/optimus-titan-falt-l246ffel-lang/

[Tim Skidmore]

In this case by soup spoon they're referring to a table spoon, some of the backpacking spoons are more tea spoon sized which makes shovelling food (in this reference soup) down a hungry gullet slower.

In tableware a soup spoon is generally round and slightly smaller than a table spoon, but slightly off topic here.

[Tim Skidmore]

I've also been using been using those grey plastic spoons for years and yup I've broken two of them. As already stated they are cheap, light, don't scratch coated pots, you just have to be a little careful with them.

I may pick up the GSI aluminium spoon/fork/knife set and toss the fork and the knife in the salvation army box. It's hard to find a normal table spoon in light metal. I want a deep bowl, roughly table spoon sized, normal spoon length, no cut outs in the handle, and no unless spork notches.

I dislike sporks immensely, who thought it was a good idea in the first place, and why does everyone ruin perfectly good spoons that I would buy with them? End curmudgeon spork rant.

[Alex Wallace]

"Made from break-resistant, Lexan® polycarbonate, the set includes a fork, knife, soup spoon and teaspoon."

From REI's Utensil Set above, the larger of the two spoons is noted as a soup spoon.

[Jay L]

I tried a bamboo spoon – dont recall from where – but the bowl broke. Contacted the manufacturer and they sent another. Broke in the same place.

Then I discovered the McDonalds McFlurry spoon! The bowl is kind of small but the handle is nice and long. Plus the handle is square and hollow so it is strong and you could put a stick in it if you needed additional length. With the little locking tab cut off it weighs 0.20oz

[Jim Colten]

ACK! I lost track of my own thread! So many replies needed:

Apologies to all for the vaguely worded question.

@Mark and Jay: Thank you for relieving me of the expectation that bamboo would be indestructible:-) Oh well …

@Alex: I have that set of grey lexan flatware … the soup spoon's bowl is a nice size but I'm looking for a longer handle

@Nick: I trust that Alex and Tim explained soup spoon well enough. Tthe size of my long handled Ti spoon is similar to the Sea to Summit Alpha

@James: that folding spoon is long enough but the bowl is still small.

The following photo compares sizes. The grid is 1" x 1". From left to right:
* pretty typical long handled Ti spoon
* grey lexan soup spoon from REI
* three spoons from our kitchen, tea spoon, soup spoon, serving spoon for side dishes.
The spoon that broke was as long as the ti spoon and had a bowl a little larger than the kitchen soup spoon.

[Rex Sanders]

You might be interested in this thread:

Yes, you can break a Lexan spoon

I just bought the MSR Titan fork and spoon set made with polished titanium to reduce that yucky mouth feel. The fork and keyring will stay home. The spoon bowl volume is about halfway between the teaspoon and tablespoon in our kitchen drawer, which is good enough for me.

Not long handled. Unfortunately, most long-handled titanium or aluminum spoons have tiny bowls.

Your best bet is probably the REI or GSI "it's not Lexan anymore" long-handled spoon, and tolerate occasional breakage.

REI Campware Long Spoon

— Rex

[Author]

Posts