How many times have you stopped to pick up a bite to eat only to discover that the drive thru person didn’t give you a spoon or fork to eat your meal with? I’d still love to know how one goes about eating a cup of chili, a bowl of soup or salad without some type of utensil – even the dreaded spork* would be better than digging into it with your bare hands. Not wanting to drag around plastic baggies of disposable plastic forks, knives and spoons I set out to find an acceptable alternative that I could reuse and have when needed.

The boys had several sets of the Primary Anywhere Cutlery Sets that they loved but outgrew. Sure they still toss them in their backpacks when they have a day field trip or science camp [cut them some slack, they are eggheads] but they’d never pull them out inside a fast food restaurant. Knowing that the primary sets only came with a spoon and fork I was curious to see of the company, Arrow Plastics, made other types of flatware – mainly a knife of some sort. It was just my luck that a friend was working at Wal-Mart and told me that they do indeed make an “adult version” of the primary sets. Strolling over to the storage / plastics / kitchen aisle I spotted these on the bottom shelf next to the divided plates, plastic sippers and animals water bottles. I don’t know how I passed them up so many times in the past but I am sure glad that I found them this time around!

Anywhere Cutlery Sets

If you’ve never seen these I’ll give you a little bit of basic information on them before I go into detail about each element of the set. This cutlery set comes with three pieces – a fork, knife and spoon. The handles are made up of a series of ridges [four on the top, three on the bottom] which allows the individual pieces to “snap” together for storage. Now, the pieces don’t actually ‘snap’ together but they do interlock to keep them organized.

The three items in this set are six and a quarter inches in length, made of a very durable plastic that won’t bend or break easily and cleaning them up after using them is as simple as wiping them off [until you can wash them properly at home]. When you stack the pieces of flatware you’ll notice that they can be arranged in any order – this is due to the recessed design of the top part of the plasticware. The spoon is deep, the fork has a small well at the base of the tines and the knife is flat. I like to try and keep the knife in the middle with the spoon and fork facing inward but that’s just my own personal preference.

Spoon
The spoon is extremely sturdy and will hold up to use with hot or cold foods. One thing I absolutely hate is trying to eat ice cream or chili with a spork or those cheap wimpy spoon that some places give you. The edges of the spoon are seamless so you don’t have to worry about it hurting your lips or tongue when you use it. This is a must have for anyone that spends any amount of time traveling or on the road.

Fork
Most adults will fear this fork since it only has three tines. Yes it does look a little juvenile but it serves a purpose. Have you ever tried to eat a salad with a spork? It’s not very fun and most of the time it’s down right frustrating. You won’t be able to tackle extremely hard food like raw vegetable [broccoli, cauliflower etc] but for rice, salads, cut up meats and steamed vegetables it works great. Holding and using the fork is comfortable and clean up is a snap.

Knife
Don’t expect to be carving beef with this knife but for chicken, steamed vegetables, fish, cheese and butter it works just great. The top part of the blade is serrated and allows you to cut through most foods but it’s still safe for smaller kids to use since – after all – it is plastic. You would really have to sit there and saw at a body part for a while to have it result in some damage – the most that will happen is a small red welt.

Cleaning, Care & Storage

The small cardboard sleeve that these are packaged in gives no indication of whether or not they are dishwasher safe so my general rule of thumb is “if it doesn’t say dishwasher safe then it isn’t”. These are easy to clean and require almost no work to get them back into pristine condition. I do suggest that you use a sponge or soft scrubber on them instead of something that is abrasive or gritty. The plastic is glossy and when you use something harsh on it – it does tend to mar the surface and make it look a little chewed up. One thing to keep in mind is the ridges on the handles. Make sure you rinse them well or they will absorb the smell of your dishwashing detergent. The ridges are not enclosed so you don’t have to worry about water building up or hiding in them – most unpleasant when you are putting the silverware away and end up with water all over the floor.

You can store these in your silverware drawer or pop them into a snack sized zipper bag if you want to take them on the road with you. Since they interlock you’ll rarely have to hunt them down since the pieces are kind of hard to miss. If you are a true storage fanatic you can pick up small plastic containers for the cutlery sets to make sure that they are in mint condition when needed. The Arrow Plastics Sleepover Travelmates work great if you something a little more sturdy than a plastic bag to hold your items.

Price

You really can’t go wrong with these considering the suggested retail price for them is $1.49 for the set of three utensils. This makes them about the same price as a box of disposable plastic flatware [30 count, 10 of each item] but they are sturdier and will cut down on the amount of wasted plastic tossed out. So far I have only seen these packaged in sets of two [spoon and fork] and sets of three [spoon, knife, fork] so if you are looking for individual pieces you are out of luck.

The Bottom Line

These are great for people on the go, parents that have to eat on the run and for anyone that eats at least one meal a week in their vehicle. When you look at the price of these verses the disposable ones you are breaking even but the Anywhere Cutlery Sets allows you to have something that won’t break into pieces when you apply the least bit of pressure.

If you have kids these are a godsend. Giving them their own set gives them responsibility, a feeling of ownership [which my kids loved] and makes mealtime a little more colorful. If you don’t want to spring for the three piece set you can pick up the two piece set [spoon and fork] for about .88 cents.

As always, thanks for the visit!

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2002 Freak369



* - Spork – A plastic eating utensil that is the combination of a spoon and a fork.




Recommended: Yes