Lusikkahaarukka

A spoon-fork combination used by Finnish military

Lusikkahaarukka (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈlusikːɑhɑːrukːɑ], spoon-fork) is a stainless steel, folding spoon-fork combination issued together with a mess kit in the Finnish Army. It is widely used in camping and outdoors activities.

The spoon portion is a slightly oversized soup spoon which makes it useful for stirring when the mess kit is used to cook rations in the field. The fork portion is rarely used as most foods are more easily eaten with the spoon. When folded, the lusikkahaarukka can be inserted in a fitting slot on the Finnish army mess kit, although this is discouraged because, more often than not, it slips off from the fittings and starts to rattle around. The Finnish army conscripts are allowed to carry their civilian puukkos while in uniform, and everyone is assumed to own one, so a separate knife is not needed.

Originally invented along pakki (mess kit) in Imperial Germany in late 19th or early 20th century it came to Finland along Jägers in 1918. The copy of original model of the lusikkahaarukka is manufactured by Hackman and is one of the oldest items still in use by the Finnish army.^[1] The lusikkahaarukka are very hard wearing, indeed current conscripts are commonly issued with lusikkahaarukka manufactured during World War II.

Also known as

• LuHa – portmanteau analogous to spork
• Lusikkahaarukka-mysteeri – Translates as "spoon-fork mystery".
• Mysteerio – literally "mystery play".

References