Review: Sea to Summit - Alpha cutlery set

Having to "rough it" shouldn't mean having to tear at semi-raw food with your bare hands (satisfying as it can be). I was lucky enough to be the recipient of some new eating tools for Giftmas this year. Here's what I received: These are the Alpha Set cutlery from Sea to Summit and a more gorgeous set of metal to stick in my mouth I have not seem for a long while. The set includes a stand alone fork, spoon and serrated knife, connected through holes in the ends by the supplied carabiner. I've been caught out with my packed lunch, or in fact picnic having not thought to pack cutlery, or in fact the staff-room fork-goblins having visited again.


A set of these stashed in my bag would render any such disappearance moot. I really like the smooth lines and delightful feel of them in the hand. Made from hard-anodized ultra-light & very strong 7075-T6 aircraft aluminium alloy, they weigh only 37g and have a smooth, satin finish. Holes perforated through the handles add to their stiffness whilst reducing their mass, and this is further expanded but a fuller that runs through the middle of each utensil. The most exciting part however is that the ends of each utensil features a different size hex wrench (3 mm, 4 mm & 5 mm). Multifunction eating tools? Yes please! Being aluminium, I wouldn't be putting these to hard, frequent use but simply them being there, and thus, in my EDC, means I have another set of tools at my disposal should the need arise. Which it does, with recurring frequency. I like that the utensils take a break from the knife-spork utensil as seen in the Light My Fire meal-kit, which whilst serves a great function in minimalist design, can make for messy lunchtimes. The knife is serrated with a series of comb-like notches cut into it, and I'm curious as to how good a cutting edge this will give the aluminium blade.

 A full set of grown-up sized cutlery adds a certain amount of comfort in a desperate situation. Anyone caught with a broken plastic KFC fork and spoon from the bottom of the glove-box will know what I'm talking about. That said, I will not be giving up my titanium "battle-spoon" spork by SnowPeak which has been a feature of my CSI folder for some time now, and whilst I have been able to eat most everything with it (up to and including steak), so I look forwards to being able to do so using both hands at once with my new set, and I'll be interested to see how they compare. Dual wielding spoons, anyone?

Possum, dandelion and turnip stew again as you shelter in the ruins of what used to be a mall? Best have something decent to eat it with, and these are light, tough and portable enough to keep on you no matter what happens in your life!