With its thoughtful design, the MSR Folding was our favorite collapsible model. Although the nylon material gives it a flimsy feel, it held up to regular use. The locking mechanism is oriented so that the weight of food reinforces the open position and it never once collapsed on our testers during use. While unfortunately prone to breaking and melting, this product is compact, lightweight, and inexpensive; all things backpackers can get behind.
If you're committed to the compact nature of a folding design, this is a great on-the-go utensil. There are equally light, but more durable backpacking options available.MSR Folding Review
Both comfortable and functional this model is a great collapsible utensil but some added care is needed to avoid breaking
Photo: MSR
Price: $4 List
Pros: Compact, lightweight, inexpensive
Cons: Prone to melting & breaking, difficult to clean
Manufacturer: MSR
Cons: Prone to melting & breaking, difficult to clean
Manufacturer: MSR
By Leslie Yedor ⋅ Review Editor ⋅ May 17, 2018
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Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
MSR Folding | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  |  |  | ||
| Price | $4 List | $9.95 at REI Compare at 2 sellers | $11.95 at Amazon | $10.95 at REI | $2.95 at REI Compare at 2 sellers |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Compact, lightweight, inexpensive | Familiar feel, long lasting, versatile | Super lightweight, quality material, comfortable to eat with | Great for JetBoils and dehydrated food bags, lightweight | Durable plastic, excellent value |
| Cons | Prone to melting & breaking, difficult to clean | Too short for deep pots | Doesn’t reach the bottom of dehydrated food bags, pricey | Awkward shape for eating, doesn’t pack well | Uncomfortable to hold, not very sanitary |
| Bottom Line | Although lacking in durability, this product is comfortable, lightweight, and highly packable | The best model for your on-the-go meal needs | This model has an exceptionally low weight and top-notch durability, making it the ideal backcountry utensil | While not the most comfortable utensil to eat with, the extra long handle is ideal for backcountry cooking | This sturdy plastic model offers the best price to performance ratio |
| Rating Categories | MSR Folding | Snow Peak Titanium Spork | Vargo Titanium ULV | AlphaLight Spork - Long | humangear GoBites Uno |
| Eating (35%) | |||||
| Durability (30%) | |||||
| Cooking (20%) | |||||
| Cleaning (15%) | |||||
| Specs | MSR Folding | Snow Peak Titanium... | Vargo Titanium ULV | AlphaLight Spork -... | humangear GoBites... |
| Material | Nylon | Titanium | Titanium | Aluminium alloy | High-temp nylon |
| Measured weight (oz) | 0.4 oz | 0.6 oz | 0.3 oz | 0.4 oz | 0.5 oz |
| Length | 8"/4.5" | 6.5" | 6.5" | 8.5" | 6.5" |
| Dishwasher safe? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes - Top Rack |
Show full specification detailsHide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
The MSR Folding is a collapsible nylon spork that weighs 0.35-ounces and measures 8-inches when extended and 4.5-inches when folded. It's lighter, longer, are more packable than many of the other competitors. Plus, it received decent scores across the board and was above-average for its comfort while eating. It would be the complete package, but it's just a little too fragile to expect a long-term relationship with this piece of cutlery.
Performance Comparison
This well-designed folding utensil outperformed our expectations, yet still fell short of snagging an award.
Photo: Nicky Bunn
Eating
We admit we were surprised by how much we enjoyed eating with this model. At first touch, the design feels flimsy, but it proved to be comfortable to hold and held up to a multitude of cuisines. The bowl has a natural fit in your mouth, and the tines did well when stabbing protein despite their dull feel. It also never collapsed on any of our testers during a meal or while cooking. While certainly not a piece of standard metal silverware, this product does nothing to take away from whatever meal you are enjoying.
The ergonomic bowl and wide handle make eating with this model feel relatively normal.
Photo: Leslie Yedor
Durability
This product was regrettably easy to break. Although it stood up to all of the cooking and eating during testing, it quickly failed our weighted break test. We were sad to see it go when this good thing came to a quick end.
5-lbs had this model bending over backwards
Photo: Leslie Yedor
Cooking
With the handle extended, this model is 1.5-inches longer than the average spork, which is a bonus for cooking but doesn't distract from eating. The flexible material bends while stirring even something as lightweight as scrambled eggs. A thick meal that provides a lot of resistance might be a tough match for this utensil, and the nylon is also prone to melting when sauteing.
The flexible material was prone to bending, but didn't break with regular use.
Photo: Leslie Yedor
With such a soft edge, we had high hopes for this model and the surface of our non-stick pan. Alas, the Teflon coating was no match against the repetitive abrasion that resulted from cooking with this product.
Cleaning
Like all of the other plastic models we tested, proteins cling to the material a bit more than to the metal versions. We're not recommending you skimp on sanitation, but cool water and some finger friction are all that are needed to get visible food particles off of the main body. The folding joint, however, is a different story. With hard to reach crevices, it's hard to get clean without the diligent use of a sponge. Once you're home, sanitization is simple as this model is dishwasher safe.
The folding joint and the nylon material make this model somewhat harder to clean but it is dishwasher safe.
Photo: Nicky Bunn
Warm soapy water or the dishwasher are instrumental in removing oils from the bowl. Embracing our inner dirtbag, this didn't bother us much in the backcountry, but it was noticeably oily until we got it home.
Value
This product boasts an inexpensive price tag of $3.95. You might have to replace it eventually, but it will outlive its BPA-ridden fast-food cousins. It's a great option if you're dipping your toes into the world of hybrid utensils, or you are looking for a to-go utensil that slips discreetly into your pocket.
Conclusion
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed using the MSR Folding. Its flexibility was immediately off-putting, but it held up to use and was surprisingly comfortable to eat with. As far as collapsible, travel-friendly silverware goes, this was our favorite model.
— Leslie Yedor