Review: Gerber - spork set

I treated myself a while back to a fancy new set of eating tools. Now, I am all for food on a stick, or if needs be, wrapped into a burrito or schwarma, especially when it comes to outoors cooking and eating. Every extra piece of tablware or cutlery you use is one more piece you have to bring, wash and haul back. A stick is good but limiting and eventully marshmallows and sausages loose their luster. Whilst I am also very fond of one-pot/one pan cooking, there are times when a fork and spoon are the right tool for the job, beans, scrambled egg and porridge don't work well on a stick. 

Gerber had an offering that I was keen on. A combi-tool set combining the Gerber Devour set with a plain spoon and spatchula to make a set called the Compleat.

The Compleat is made up of four individual tools; a Deep basin spoon, a long tined spork a spatchula with a serated edge and a multi-tool. the fork, spoon and tool all nest into a slot in the base of the spatchula securely until needed.

The spork has longer tines than im used to on a spork which is a nice change, making it easy to stab food and not drop it and loose it. They aren't yet so long as to be loose stiffness.  

The spoon has a nice straight edged tup, allowing it to scrape the bottom of a bowl or mug to get the last skeriks of food. The dish was deep enough to eat soup with and shovel food into my mouth without bulging out too much when nested. 

Both spork and spoon have a pattern of  stamped into their anodized 7075 T6 Aluminium handles. The spatula component is made of a high temperature nylon with a silicone overmold along the leading edge and one side. One edge has a serrated edge to use as a knife. The  knife isn't great but it'll do and the spatula isn't going to win any awards but it'll flip a pancake and get your eggs over-easy if you're patient. The nifty thing about this tool is that combining the fork or spork with the spatula will create tongs on one way and an extended stirring tool combined longways. Excelent for stirring with your face out of the smoke and for picking sausages out of a pan, respectively. 

 

The spatula's notched ends are directional and prevent the tools from falling apart mid-use. Though the spatula has an arrow molded into it but I routinely try to put them together the wrong way. I think  will scratch arrows into the spoon and spork end surfaces to remind myself in future.

 

I found the metal utensils comfortable to use, did not transfer too much heat to my hand and were certainly sturdy enough to both cook and eat with. 

 

They're also capable of lifting cast iron pots' lids off with ease thanks to both their curved cross-section but also the grip-improving texture lending them strength through engineering. I think I'd prefer the spoon and spork to be titanium rather than aluminium but it works just fine. The spoon/spatula combination tongs work well for fine tasks as well more standard kitchen tong uses. They work just fine ,with the plastic of the spatula providing sufficient "spring" for use, though they lack the "clack-clack" safety test-feature.

 

 

The last component of this set is the utility tool that serves to lock the other tools together. This powder coated steel tool features the following components; bottle opener of obvious utility, a sharp plane-style Veggie peeler, a Serrated cord-cutter and package opener hook/ can-opener and the all important bottle opener. 

 

All-over is sits at 20cm (7.75") long ant weighs in at a mear 65g (2.3 oz) which will neither overload or over encumber any but the most hard-core ultra-light packers.  

 

 

The set comes with Gerber's Limited lifetime warranty, but given its sturdy construction, youd have to be pretty careless with it to need that. The spatchula componant might burn/melt if left too close to your fire for too long, but it worked fine for my cooking needs.

 

Find it here on Amazon:

Cross-Post: DIY Rattlecan Paint Job in Multicam Arid by FDE

Few would argue that good camouflage, used well is both effective and useful. One thing I've noticed if that done poorly it sticks out like a sore thumb. Camo patterns not matched up is one thing, as is not suiting a pattern to fit your surroundings. Another aspect is only doing portions of your kit. But we don't all have the spare currency to custom cerakote or hydro-dip our gear.

The resourceful people over at Fifty Shades of FDE (Flat Dark Earth) have put out a DIY guide for putting multicam style camo paint onto items with spray-paint cans.

• Primary Arms Stencils: MultiTerrain Stensil
• Rustoleum Flat Spray paint in French Beige, Khaki, Dark Taupe, Earth Brown and Green. (This mix for Arid MC)
• Masking Tape
• Newspaper for backing.

They put together a very informative and step-by-step clip on YouTube you should totally check out. Watch as they turn a scary black rifle into innocuous background foliage. Nice!
DIY Rattlecan Paint Job in Multicam Arid by FDE

Review: County Comm - Minnow Gripper

String, rope and string accessories. I like them. One such accessory that caught my eye was the Minnow Grippers offered by gear treasure source County Com.

What are they ? They are tarp clips. Clipping onto tarps to provide an anchor point where grommets don't exist. They can be used to hold onto and fasten plastic sheeting, drop cloths, tarps. canopies, awnings, pool covers, towels, BBQ covers, sails, cables and bags, netting and hunting blinds. All manner of covers you don't want flapping about.

 These clips clamp down on a surface  by means of  a two piece jaw which closes on the surface with friction locks on the back end of the scissor arms, much like those found on locking forceps. The jaws of the Minnow are cross-hatch grooved to provide "teeth" by which it holds fast  to many materials.

Made from molded fiberglass reinforced polypropylene, the Minnow is a dense and sturdy piece. The central pin has a over-hang lip and channel to feed through at full-open position, otherwise holding the clip together with little or no lateral movement. The jaws themselves open wide enough for clamping materials up to ¼" thick and the molded locking teeth have 6 positions to allow it to cinch down onto material in increments for a very secure bind.

At the back of the jaws, behind the "teeth" where cables can be secured without damage from  the teeth. This gap can also hold paracord to create a perpendicular attachment on a running cord.  Either in the locked teeth or in the gap behind the teeth in a sliding configuration.   The material is reported to crack resistant to 35° below zero (-37C). it is chemically stable and resistant to most solvents and marine conditions.

The tail end of the Gripper features a hefty hook on each arm for capturing cordage. the tips of the hooks are double wide, matching the maximum width of the Gripper. This means it is stable and flat on it's side. the base of the hook features a hole which is a perfect match for standard paracord, but will also accommodate thicker cords, especially if they compress a little. The hooks are 15mm deep and are angled, providing a depth of capture to reduce slippage of cord coming loose in vigorous flapping.

The twin tail hooks allow cordage to be looped over, one, the other or both hooks as the need arises or situation permits. Fixing one guy line or two or rigging  a single cord perpendicularly from the clamped material. The twin hooks also allow for some creative knot-free attachment, not unlike those possible with the Fishbone and Piranha knotless ties. Forces pulling back on the Minnow will act to tighten their grip , with an action not unlike squeezing on a pair of pliers.

The locking teeth of the Minnow Gripper first engage at around 9mm (4/10") at the tip which is about 6mm at the " back" of the jaws. That puts the maximum thickness of material they can close on, but each Minnow Gripper is purported to hold 175 lbs (80kg) whist only weighing 0.35oz (10g).

I haven't tried this for max weight, but the sail-cloth awnings I strapped down with it flapped a fair bit in the wind overnight without coming loose. That seems fit-for-purpose to me. Not a single Minnow came loose, in several configurations. I'm quite pleased with the utility, form factor and ruggedness of The Minnow

 

They come in two colour options: Tactical black and Coast Guard Orange. I opted for dont-loose-me orange for my 8. (two tarps worth) half od which I store clamped to my redoutable Mystery Ranch 1DAP  it's my regular day to day and Get Home Bag  so it seemed apt to keep some there too.

Review: Heavy Cover canteen and mug set

 As well as lights and blades I seem to collect bottles. I like to have my own reusable and reliable hydration source to hand. In my EDC bag, my desk at work, in my car and so forth. My usual go to bottles are my wide mouth Nalgene bottles and my venerable SIGG bottle.

Each have their benefits and drawbacks. Nalgene bottles are made from the sturdy Tritan plastic. Light and shatterproof, with a high capacity and easy-fill wide-mouth. They aren't fireproof so cant be used to boil water or cook in. The SIGG bottles are aluminium with an internal plastic coating and a finely threaded cap I've found to be delicate and prone to thread stripping. The Aluminium bottles are sturdy but ding and damage easily. They also do not support cooking or boiling due to the lining.


A solution I found is the Heavy Cover US GI Style Titanium Canteen Mess Kit. Over the last  hundred years or so  the US GI style canteen mess kit has served millions of military service members as well as millions of outdoor enthusiasts. Originally made from tin, aluminium or stainless steel or plastic, the Heavy Cover model replaces this with titanium. The kit is comprised of a 37oz (1.1L) canteen with Tritan Plastic and Titanium Canteen Cap options and a nested Canteen Cup 23.7 oz (0.7L) and lid, also titanium.


Combining time tested design with the high-strength to weight ratio material results in a light weight yet durable mess–kit. Perfect for those counting grams on the trail and people who break gear, like me. Both Canteen and cup can be heated and used to boil water or cook food.

Made from 0.5 mm thick titanium,  the Canteen with Tritan Cap weighs a slight 6 ounces (172 grams) and the titanium Cup Lid weighs a mere 4.8 ounces (132 grams). As well as being exceptionally  light, titanium has the advantage of being biocompatible (BPA Free, nontoxic to the human body) provides a non-porous, non-stick material for easy clean up when cooking. being thin walled and a rapid heat conductor , less gas/fuel is needed and you get a  faster boil time than with steel or other pot materials. It is anti-corrosive and will not rust. The mug has folding wire handles to assist in cooking and handling when hot.

The titanium cap of the canteen features a wide, thick thread to ensure ease of opening and removal as well as maintaining  a tight seal and resistance to incidental damage.  The lid itself features a titanium D-loop for clipping to a belt or pack, dummy-cording or perhaps even suspending over fire to boil water (beware steam and pressure build ups!) The canteen neck and mouth are quite wide which make for easy filling and drinking. The titanium cap sits quite high above the lip of the opening, I don't know why. It is hollow and floats, unlike the tritan lid which sinks like a rock. The titanium lid has a flat-folding wire lid loop for retention or for use as a float.

The canteen has a jutting rib around its mid-line which corresponds to the lip of the cup, to seat it. when nesting the cup lid is obviously left out, but I found that any pouch i could fit the canteen and cup in will also fit the lid in the bottom, ready to deploy to be a lid your cup for bean or noodle cooking. I don't know wat purpose that rib serves, except to possibly prevent rattle between mug and canteen on maneuvers.

I found the canteen had an off-flavor from manufacturing so I needed to give it a good wash and rinse out. Kraken rum worked nicely. The mug didn't have any such problem and cooked several meals without issue, and relatively non-stick and was easily cleaned.

Over-all I am really happy with this set, they're light, rugged as all get up, cook well and not bulky at all. I really like the traditional form factor and compact design for considerable volume capacity.

Find one on Amazon here: