Using a Leatherman Multitool to Carve a Spoon From Muskox Horn

By: Chris Bray of ChrisBrayPhotography.com

Eight weeks into a wheeled-kayak haul across Victoria Island, in the Canadian Arctic, and the spoon that I had been so reliant on as part of my polycarbonate “unbreakable” cutlery set... broke.

I managed to melt the two broken ends together and fuse them, but that only lasted another day or so before failing me again. Each time I melted and re-melded the parts together, the spoon got shorter and shorter until eventually, it was beyond repair. A spoon was a must, so I had to get thinking, and get creative…

While passing through the Tundra, I had found a piece of Muskox horn, and I remembered a local ‘Inuit’ refer to Muskox horn as, “a natural plastic” - I had an idea. I set to work, trying to make a replacement that was hopefully more unbreakable than my recently departed spoon. First, I tried to heat the horn over our stove, hoping that it might become a little soft and flexible like plastic, but this only stunk out the tent with a choking burnt fingernails smell.

Next, I unfolded my trusty Leatherman Charge Multitool and started to carve, shave, file and saw the muskox horn down. It took a while, but we were tent-bound and there was a storm raging outside - so I had plenty of time.

Soon enough, I managed to fashion the old piece of horn into a reasonable shape that resembled that of a spoon, but with the natural curve of the horn. I then carved out the spoon head, and filed down (with the Leatherman) any rough edges. Though it may still have smelt a little of burnt fingernails, my new and improved ‘unbreakable’ spoon worked a treat, and lasted me the rest of the trip.

My Muskox horn spoon now sits on my windowsill at home as a reminder that nature can sometimes offer the best materials - you just need the tools and creativity to bring them to use!

You can purchase Chris’ book, ‘The 1000 Hour Day’ about his 128-day Victoria Island crossing, or get the award-winning DVD documentary film on his website ChrisBrayPhotography.com.