The Outdoor Adventure Giving you tips, tricks & recommendations to help make adventuring in the Outdoors fun, safe & exciting for you and your kids.
I’ll be honest. When I first bought this, I was NOT thinking about taking it hiking. To me, the Fold-A-Cup fell into the category of dollar store gifts. The concept was cool and I figured that my kids would love the idea of a cup that folded up very small and that they could use on camping/hiking trips. However, when I ended up using it it became upgraded to a must bring, and not just for the kids.
I’m a DIY guy at heart. I’d rather recycle something or make it myself if it’s going to be cheaper and will occupy my afternoon. I don’t like spending money if I can make something of the same (or better) quality. Yes, time is money, but free time is well… free money! But after making my own DIY mug (made of an old shaving cream can) and burning my lips on a backpacking trip last summer (despite a silicone ring around the top) I coughed up a few bucks and bough myself the “Original” FOLD-A-CUP.
I’m glad I did. Not just because it made a permanent residence on my desk as a therapeutic toy, but eventually because of how great it is for what it does. After getting over the gimmic status, I started to try it out. Not only was it less weight than my DIY cup, but it packed down smaller and wasn’t a danger of burning my lips when a hot drink was in it.
Just the facts:
Just the facts:
Let’s look at the facts:
- It’s a cup. What did you expect?
- Oh, and it folds.
- It’s made of rugged plastic.
- It holds 7 to 8 oz of coffee
- Guaranteed not to leak
- crush proof plastic (also makes julian fries*. it will not break!) sorry for the cultural reference. *Does not actually make julian fries.
- It weighs in at just under an ounce.
- Folded dimensions: 27mm x 70mm x 90mm (1.1″x2.8″x3.5″)
- Price: $4-$7
What I like:
Honestly, I was afraid of how it would handle hot water. I’ve seen thicker plastics fare much worse. This seems just as rigid with boiling water as with cold. It doesn’t burn the lips and even the dinky little handle is easily used and doesn’t get floppy with hot water.
After giving it to the kids to play with and after fiddling with it for a few months, I doubt I have the fear of it breaking on me. It’s easy to fold and unfold and you don’t have to be gentle with it.
Finally, I was worried about a plastic-y taste with hot beverages, but I haven’t noticed any. It could be that my coffee is too strong though ;).
Room for improvement?
There are two things that could improve this cup. The first is increasing the size and the other is offering a different color.
8 oz is sufficient for a cup of coffee, but increasing it to 12 ounces wouldn’t cost too much. It does show that we have been conquered by the coffee industry in the expectation of more beverage. The downside obviously would be a (slightly) heavier cup that was a bit larger.
This cup comes in olive drab (dark green) and also in a yellowy model. I could see this being a problem for the lazy camper. Put it down somewhere and you might just loose it. Something with higher visibility like florescent yellow with florescent green polka-dots would guarantee that you’d be able to find it (if not raise a few eyebrows). OK, so maybe the color suggestion is extreme, but you get the idea.
Conclusions
I know many are snowpeak users, but for those hiking in small groups where a 2nd or third cup is needed, this is a very practical mug that is light and packs up small. You probably won’t even notice it there. It’s cheaper and lighter than a snow peak and keeps the coffee smell out of your mac and cheese! I’ll be looking out for more.
Buy it?
