The must-have EDC item for people who eat out
Before ‘coronavirus’ was part of our daily vocabulary, I was weird about shaking hands, eating at buffets, and just being too close to people in general. The pandemic sort of sealed the deal for me when it comes to being overly cautious in public places and my teenage years taught me how unclean restaurants can be. There have been too many times that I’ve unwrapped silverware to find spotty, dirty utensils. Needless to say, as a germ-a-phob, I started the search for the perfect EDC silverware kit so that I could have my own, clean utensils anytime I was out dining. That’s what led me to the Forkanife sets from Cold4Ged.
DETAILS
Cold4Ged started life in 2018 with the dedicated mission of eliminating the need for plastic cutlery. In the process, they developed two great sets of cutlery – the travel edition and the sport edition. Both sets are credit card-sized and made of stainless steel and aluminum. The sets replace harmful single-use plastic utensils. Both sets are also easy to clean and dishwasher safe. A portion of the proceeds from every sale goes to support Plastic Oceans Charity to help clean up the oceans. The Forkanife Sport features a sharp, serrated knife while the Forkanife Travel comes with a simple butter-style knife. The other main difference between the two sets is their size. The Sport version is a little slimmer (0.116” vs. – 0.1299″), but weighs more (59 grams vs. 56 grams). Aside from those differences, the two sets are designed the same.
USER EXPERIENCE
The unboxing experience was quite plain as the products were packaged inside cardboard envelopes. This is not a negative thing by any means. Honestly, it’s nice to see companies putting their product inside of something that will be biodegradable and good for the environment. I just mention this as someone who does enjoy the imagery and details on boxes. After getting the sets out of their packaging, I could tell the Travel set felt slightly lighter weight than the Sport set. Once I reviewed the specs, I was able to see that the Travel set was indeed the lighter of the two sets.
Because of the pandemic, I just recently started venturing outside our house to visit some local restaurants again. My household has been vaccinated so I felt comfortable enough to enjoy a meal with my family. Because I am still being overly cautious about spreading germs, I decided to take the Forkanife Sport with me. We went to a Mexican restaurant and I ordered a fajita quesadilla. These are typically loaded with meat and vegetables so I knew the Forkanife would have its work cut out for it (no pun intended). Once the food was delivered, I removed the fork and knife out of its sheath and started using them to cut through my meal. Even though the set is quite a bit smaller than standard utensils, the set performed like a champ. I didn’t really have any issues with the fork and knife collapsing on me or faltering in any way. I made it through the entire meal and said, “These have a permanent spot in my EDC collection.” I was so incredibly impressed by the set that I immediately relaxed because I realized I never had to worry about dirty, reused silverware again.
I would say the only downside to the set is having to clean them after a meal. After I was done eating at the restaurant my daughter asked me what I was going to do with the set since it was dirty. I took good care wiping off the set with a clean napkin before folding it up again to get it home. Then I placed the set in our dishwasher so that it was clean and ready the next time. I want to go out. The quality of these fork and knife sets is outstanding, I do have trouble getting the utensils back into the sleeve – it’s a tight fit – but that’s me not being able to see to line them up just right. Over time, I am sure that will not be an issue for me. I also think it would be really cool if somehow a spoon could be worked into the set.
CONCLUSION
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that one of these two sets will be with me always. They are extremely portable, durable, and easy to clean. At the time of publishing this article, the Forkanife Sport retails for $24 while the Travel edition is $20. This is an incredible value to me.
