Submitted by Eric Daniel
I would have never thought the day would come where I'd sell my soul for a spoon (or a P-38 can opener for that matter) but come it did when, as a USFS firefighter we were airlifted rations on the last flight of the day and what should arrive but 2 cases of Hormel chili - without any means of opening the tins, much less cooking and consuming the contents. Needless to say we all got some practice in cooking Paul Bunyan style (you try opening a can of chili with an axe some day, it's harder than it sounds) and I swore then and there I would never deploy anywhere without a P-38 and a spoon. My favorite, hands down, is the GI issue mess spoon. It's big, so you can eat fast and dig deep into those MRE bags, it's stainless steel so it won't break when you drop it, step on it, or when it gets cold (and it won't melt when it gets hot), and it has a hole in it where I can tie it to my kit so I don't forget it.
