Campfire Toasting Fork

This instructable tells you how to make a really easy toasting fork, for use on campfires. It takes about 30 seconds to make and can be made with just a penknife.

Step 1 Tools/Materials

You need:

A penknife, preferably locking for safety. (I used  Victorinox Skipper)
A stick, about 1/2 an inch thick and as long as you want the fork to be.
Another stick, about 3 inches long and 1/4 of an inch thick.

Comments

[fmurillo gomez]

u can also make in bigger scale to catch fishes at a river but use preferebly a bamboo stick with a diameter 1.5in or 2ins.

[feibiao]

simple and useful i'll have a try next camp

[yugiohmaster2323]

im camping this friday

[steve_tupper2010]

Nice job, AntMan232. If you want to go one stage further, would point out that this can also be used for spearing things, fish mainly, if you trim the points a bit and maybe make the project a little larger overall. Instructables like this are great - useful but simple. I shall be using this on my next camping trip, that's for sure.

[yugiohmaster2323]

GOOD IDEAR

[ostomesto]

im doing the fish thing! great idea

[Purple Guy]

I made this today. The main bit of wood was perhaps a bit thin and also wasn't very straight so I might make another tomorrow? : )

[AntMan232]

Wow, someone actually liked it enough to bother to make it! it makes it all worth the effort. Lets see some more pics guys...

[yugiohmaster2323]

thats not nice its a great idea IM GOING TO MAKE IT HUMPH

[ostomesto]

of course someone's gonna make it. this is one of the things that are useful, awesome, and creative yet take only a couple minutes to make. im bored and have nothings to do so im gonna make one now. its easy and useful, thats what makes a good ible'

[CamWaite]

I will hopefully take this design to scout camp in the next few weeks!

[Purple Guy]

Thanks for the patch! :D

[Purple Guy]

what sort of wood did you use? just so I know

[AntMan232]

Not a clue.(sorry)

[ninja_maker]

Hey also u can soak the front in water so that it doesn't catch on fire.

[ninja_maker]

ive gone cmapind before and never seen someone make this. this time im goin to be roastin 4 marshmallows at once while they're still roasting one.

[chuckr44]

Hm. I bet if I put a hotdog between the "tines", then remove the cross sticks, the tines will squeeze the hotdog enough so it won't fall into the fire.

[Coliflower]

Great 'ible, 5 stars.

Good idea and design, I may try this when I go camping this coming summer.

[dropkick]

Great hotdog or marshmallow spear, and it would work for holding and cooking meat. But if green willows are available I'd rather make a grill and fry my burger on it. Bend a larger branch into a u-shape, tie the ends together, and weave smaller branches through each other and the u-shape. (Bad drawing below) While traditionally used for frying fish, I've cooked burgers and steaks on them before.

[AntMan232]

I've used the same contraption as a snowshoe as well, maybe this winter that'll be the next instructable...

[spenfisher12]

this can also be a frog gig

[Pentacle]

Very true!

[janettetsmith]

Ew.

[spenfisher12]

dont go camping if ypu cant handle the grosser things

[janettetsmith]

I go camping plenty and never found the need to gig a frog. However, that doesn't mean I wouldn't eat me some frog legs if someone else did it.

[AntMan232]

Thanks, however two other people have said almost the same thing, could you please read the comments next time!

[spenfisher12]

if there are less than 5

[brickman93]

so what exactally do you toast with this?

[AntMan232]

Whatever you like, bread, sausages, fish, burgers...

[kumo]

Concerning the choice of wood, hazel is a favorite around here. (I'm from Switzerland). In Europe, you're never far from an hazel tree, which technically looks more like a bush. Easy to split straight shafts with straight grain, very flexible wood, very workable with basic tools (say, a pocket knife of the swiss variety), tasty edible nuts. Birch, once stripped from its bark, would be be very usable as well.

[Purple Guy]

Good 'ible, I might try tomorrow but I can tell that I'll just end up splitting the wood in half or it snapping with my luck!

[Broom]

Make sure your stick is green, and it should be less likely to snap.

[Purple Guy]

thanks : )

[fireraisr]

this is more commonly known as a frog gig or fishing spear. I'm sure it makes a great campfire fork as well. an important thing to note is the type of wood you use for this. Sure you can make it out of anything but certain woods are toxic and can actually poison your food. If you aren't sure, pine is always a safe bet (outdoors-man fact: every part of the pine tree is edible, from the needles to the inner bark. Many campers enjoy pine needle tea)

[Foaly7]

Yeah, you can set up camp by a river, make one of these, stab a fish, then take it straight to the fire and cook it up.

[AntMan232]

Yeah, I knew the stuff about pines, but which woods are toxic? Also, I would have barbed it for a fishing spear, but thanks.

[Broom]

Cashews, yew, black cherry twigs (but mostly the bark, so peeling the bark off the sticks should make them safe), and a few others. Most are perfectly safe.

[Cimarron_warrior]

if you are out in the bush you could use some small vines and tie around the base of your splits and that would also help to kep it from spliting further.

[AntMan232]

Thanks, I considered this but decided it was nice to be able to change the width between the spikes by pushing the sticks up or down.

[jbrecken]

Do you stick all four points in the same marshmallow, or is this for toasting more than one at the same time?