Consider the tools you use every single day. Most of us would say items like a knife, scissors, a flashlight, or a screwdriver. However, there's another category of tool which we all use many times each day, but often overlook due to its ubiquity. You'll find them in every home, office, hospital, and restaurant. They're known as utensils, and if you've ever tried to cook or eat a meal without them, you'll understand their importance.

Finding utensils in urban areas shouldn't be too difficult — plastic spoons and forks are plentiful in every fast-food joint. But, in a wilderness survival situation, they'll be a bit harder to come by. It's wise to carry a small metal spork in your mess kit, but it's also a good idea to know how to craft backup utensils. It's possible to get by without a fork, but a spoon is especially important for eating soups and stews, or for stirring and tasting items as you cook them.

The process starts with a straight tree branch or sapling, with its bark shaved off.

In the following video from David's Passage on YouTube, the host shows a technique for making a bushcraft spoon without special tools. Many other YouTube videos show how to make a wooden spoon with a curved spoon knife, but if you already own and carry a spoon knife it seems likely that you A) should know how to make a spoon and B) should probably have ditched the spoon knife and carried an actual spoon instead. So, this technique is more practical for a real outdoor survival scenario.

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Obviously, it's going to take some patience to carve a spoon this way, but it's also a rewarding process. In addition to creating a useful tool, carving projects like this can keep your mind occupied and focused during a survival situation.

Written by Patrick McCarthy