Optimus Titanium Long Spoon Review

Overview

The Optimus Titanium Long Spoon is a plain, one-piece titanium spoon with a handle long enough to reach the bottom of a freeze-dried pouch. It is for backpackers who eat most dinners straight from the bag and are tired of wearing some of the sauce. The trade-off is simplicity against pack-ability. At 21.5 cm it is a rigid stick with no hinge to fail, but it does not shrink to fit a mug.

Key Specs

Spec	Detail
Weight	19 g (0.7 oz)
Length	21.5 cm (8.5 in)
Material	Titanium
Finish	Matte handle, polished bowl
Construction	One-piece, no moving parts
Lanyard hole	Yes, for a cord or carabiner (not included)
Warranty	Limited 2-year
Typical price	About $9.95 list in the US; roughly €12–14 at European retailers

Performance

The spoon exists to solve a messy problem. Stand-up pouches are deep and narrow, and a standard 15–17 cm spork forces the hand into the bag as the meal runs low. Optimus designed this spoon for resealable stand-up pouches, and the 21.5 cm handle lets a hiker scrape the corners of the bag with a clean grip. The same length works for stirring rehydrating meals in a tall pot. A cozy-wrapped bag of boiling water is a poor place for fingers.

The finish is a quiet strength. The handle is matte for grip, even with wet or gloved hands, and the bowl is polished. Polished titanium feels smoother on the lips and teeth than the bead-blasted bowls on many budget spoons, and it wipes clean with less effort. A UK retailer’s review singled out the polished bowl for the better mouthfeel. A French retailer lists the spoon as easy to handle with gloves on and suitable for trail running and bike touring. Titanium also imparts no taste and does not react with food, which matters for anyone who has eaten coffee-flavored oatmeal from a plastic spoon.

At 19 g it is not the lightest long-handled spoon around, and it makes no attempt to win that contest. It is also not a spork. There are no tines, so anything that needs cutting, such as a tortilla or a block of cheese, calls for a knife. A flat-bowled, deep-reaching spoon also does better with rehydrated dinners than with a thick peanut-butter jar, where a shorter spoon gives better leverage.

The lanyard hole is useful in practice. A loop of cord lets the spoon hang from a pack strap or cook-kit pouch, where it is less likely to vanish into a food bag.

Durability is what titanium delivers. The spoon is a single piece of metal with no hinge, slider or locking collar. Optimus’s folding and sliding long spoons, which pack smaller, add moving parts, and one used folding unit on a resale site was listed as having trouble staying open. The fixed-handle version has nothing to loosen or bend out of shape, and a French retailer notes it works in cold temperatures without risk of breakage.

A practical note on availability: several US retailers, including B&H, list the spoon as no longer available, and one outdoor shop says Optimus has discontinued it. European retailers still sell it, and the folding version has been discontinued as well. Buyers who can’t find it will find the same 21.5 cm, 19 g format from other titanium makers.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 19 g (0.7 oz) and made of titanium, so it won’t corrode or hold flavors
• Reaches the bottom of standard freeze-dried pouches without a hand in the bag
• Polished bowl cleans easily and feels smooth in the mouth
• Matte handle gives grip when wet
• One piece, so there is no mechanism to break
• Hole in the handle for a lanyard

Cons

• Rigid 21.5 cm length does not fit as neatly into small pots and pouches as a folding spoon
• Spoon only, with no fork or cutting edge
• Optimus has discontinued it in some markets, and it is harder to find in the US
• Costs more than a plastic long spoon that does the same job

Who Should Buy This

This spoon suits the backpacker whose menu is mostly freeze-dried dinners, rehydrated in the bag or in a tall pot. It also suits anyone who wants a long spoon without a folding mechanism to worry about. It fits cyclists and trail runners who carry the spoon in a jacket pocket as well.

Hikers who cook in a wide pot and eat from a mug or bowl gain little from the extra length, and a short titanium spoon is a better use of weight. Gram-counters who want the smallest packed size should look at the folding or telescoping long spoons, which trade a few more moving parts for a handle that shortens to pocket length.

Verdict

The Optimus Titanium Long Spoon is a well-finished, durable tool that does exactly one thing well: it keeps a hiker’s hand out of the pouch. It is a solid buy for the freeze-dried crowd at 19 g, and a good one if it can be found at the usual price. Hikers who do not eat from pouches can skip it.