Disposable plastic utensils aren't just eco-unfriendly, they're also flimsy and easy to lose inside gear-filled bags. The Kopak Utensil Set is designed to be a greener and more practical alternative, with a nesting, magnetic-coupling, machined-aluminum design.
Currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign, the Kopak set is manufactured by Boston-based outdoor gear company Lucaya.
It consists of a serrated knife and a 4-tine spork (a spoon-fork combo), both of which are made of precision-machined, hard-anodized 7075-T6 aluminum. When not in use, the two utensils slide into one another to form a single 1.5-oz (42.5-g) oblong-shaped unit that measures 5.5 inches wide by 0.9 in wide by 0.26-in thick (140 by 23 by 7 mm).
The utensils are held in that configuration via integrated neodymium magnets, and are simply pulled back apart when it's time to eat. In the meantime, the setup can be tossed in a backpack, slid into a pocket, or hung by an included paracord lanyard.
Assuming the Kopak Utensil Set reaches production, a pledge of US$40 will get you one – it's important to note that shipping is only available within the US at this time. The planned retail price is $50. You can see the system in use, in the video at the bottom of the page.
And of course, Lucaya is far from the first company to offer modular utensil sets.
Other efforts have included the S+ Cutlery set, in which a set of chopsticks double as handles for fork and spoon heads; Picnic+, in which fork and spoon ends are slotted into a switchblade-like handle; Uphold, in which origami-like fork, spoon and knife ends connect to flat-pack handles; and Magware, in which a full-size knife, fork and spoon stack together via integrated magnets.
Source: Kickstarter
