Brass spoon?

I dunno, MB. I've never gotten sick from a toothbrush, so it isn't possible. Also, soaps contain fats, and I've heard that fats can give you heart disease. Further, I knew a guy who got some soap in his eye and became obese. So better to stay away from those brass spo…I mean soaps.

And I am learning something also. Please, continue.

Anyone been hiking lately?

Yup, but this is GREAT tent reading at night!

The more I think about it, the more I think this is a pretty cool idea. I know dying from spoon bacteria isn't a crucial backcountry issue, but it might just be a little insurance policy for no appreciable added weight. Why not do it?

Glad to see the debate. I agree with both sides. I don't wash my hands unless I've been handling raw meat, wounds, blood, or bike oil. I eat food that falls on the ground. I credit my brilliant immune system to a gauntlet of pathogens supplied by my deliberately unsanitary lifestyle, and I never get sick.

That said, this still seems like a good idea. Necessary? No. But we all sleep on air mattresses.

Someone is gonna make a buck plating titanium spoons in brass. If there are any metallurgists, go nuts. I don't need or want credit.

Just picked up a brass spoon on Ebay for $4.

It'll make a nice gift for Kelley. Though she is far from a hypochondriac as demonstrated by several long trips, the magic of Brass has entranced her. She'll love it.

I'll let you know when she doesn't die of infection. Wait…

Now I'm getting all curious as to the method needed to plate brass on Ti… Not all metals will plate with each other, for instance to chrome plate steel requires that the steel be plated in several other metal layers first as chromium will not bond with iron. (I believe it is copper and then nickel as copper will bond with iron (but not chromium) and nickel. Nickel will bond with copper and chromium.) Where is the resident scientist of the forum, maybe he can take a break from measuring hydrostatic head forces of cuben and try this one out? ;)

Holy crap. This might be the most BPL thread ever.

Vaya con dios with this idea. Maybe you've solved a problem that I never knew existed.

I use a home-made electroysis bath to derust stuff. It can also be used for plating I believe – may be the way to go for a MYOG.

Anyone been hiking lately? Not since November but pack ready to go for this weekend. Spoon will be Ti & unknown level of sterility. ;0)

Ross, your avatar may require a brass-plated food bowl.

–B.G.–

Hi Kate

It is possible to plate brass onto other metals, but the chemistry can be a bit toxic. One process uses a cyanide bath. Not fun stuff. The alternative is to buff the brass nice and shiny and then to apply a very thin barrier layer over it to stop oxidation. 'Laquer' is traditionally used.

You CAN plate chromium direct onto steel: it's not a problem. However, people usually plate the steel with nickel (over copper) first because nickel 'levels' or smoothes the surface out, while chromium does not. Copper and nickel can be polished very nicely, so the chromium layer looks like a mirror.

Cheers

I lick my plastic spoon clean, and I've taken a college microbiology course. As long as I don't use it to stir the cathole, I'm good.

I actually prefer to use a wooden spoon though. Many woods have antibacterial substances. I plan to carve one next time I'm out…

Max,
I don't know about your brass spoon, but…

I have done quite a bit of plumbing work and I seem to remember a big deal about brass alloy water faucets containing lead. I believe laws were passed to reduce, but not eliminate the lead. So I am not sure by any means, but, at least in my mind, there is a chance that your brass spoon will have some lead in it.

Something to consider. If you search the web for "lead, brass alloy" you will find some stuff on it. While lead not be necessary to fashion brass into a spoon, who knows if the maker of your spoon thought or cared about that.

Billy

Have you ever watched a really long movie where all the events and facts are SO OBVIOUSLY leading to a particular conclusion but frustratingly none of the characters seem to be catching on?

Brass African bushmeat grill.

Boom.
Kick that with your starter.
You are welcome world.

(PS: All joking aside, this thread is much more interesting than discussing bear-combat techniques with full-tang knives in the wild. Exploring the unconventional and outlandish is sorta the birthright of this site and community. Brilliance has derived from less.)

Good point Chris which is why I'm working on a brass plated ninja throwing star which will replace my knife for processing food, I'll lay it on some rocks and bam… pot stand replaced, and I can now leave my AK47 at home for ninja defense. The good news is that after I've dealt swift justice to these lesser ninjas, they need not worry about infection.

I wasn't joking to the OP. Run with this. Having crapped my pants on a couple different continents, it's entirely possible that a contaminated utensil was the culprit. Doubt it but maybe.

But we all know that 10 out of 10 hikers will get mauled by a marmot at some point in their backpacking career…

Whoa…

Ninjas in need of a knockdown…
Pants piled with poop…
Monster mauling marmots…

Forgive me Ian, but I don't think you need a brass spoon.
I think you need a new place to go hiking.
:)

You will never know true adventure until you've soiled your pants, on foreign soil.

"Foreign Soiling"

>I don't know about your brass spoon, but…

>I have done quite a bit of plumbing work and I seem to remember a big deal about brass alloy water faucets containing lead. I believe laws were passed to reduce, but not eliminate the lead. So I am not sure by any means, but, at least in my mind, there is a chance that your brass spoon will have some lead in it.

Billy,

Now I'm much too nervous to give my girlfriend the spoon. Any way you know of to test for lead?

I hope everyone else gets new brass spoons instead of buying antiques like me…

Jon already suggested it but why not a silver spoon since they are anti microbial as well?

Some quick/lazy googling revealed that you can pick up a lead test kit from a hardware store.

Yes, as Ian said, you can get LeadCheck swabs at a hardware store, but they start at $10, which is more than twice what you paid for your spoon.

You could really easily make a spoon out of lead-free brass sheet. You could gouge a bowl into a wooden block, sand it smooth, hammer the brass sheet into the wooden cavity with a ball peen hammer, and cut the design out with a dremel. That would actually be a fun, easy one-afternoon project, and you'd end up with a lighter brass spoon than anything you could buy. I might try it.