So I found that I was finally running out of my supply of Liquid Forks that I've used for years, as
I'm now using up at least 4 a week instead of every couple of months. Came back to Penguin to order
a larger supply and found them out of stock (no surprise), so I bought 2 boxes of Killer Forks
instead.
Not exactly thrilled, but I guess they'll do as backups if I run out of Liquid
Forks before I receive a new order of them direct from the UK. Here's my evaluation.
To
start with, Liquid Forks are strong enough for laymen to agree that they're genuine metal forks,
look almost exactly like an inexpensive restaurant fork, right down to the shaped printing on the
back of the handles. Bend force needed for handle, tines and corkscrew bend always seemed perfect --
most important, handle width narrow enough for fairly easy corkscrew (similar forks with wider
handles at that point VERY hard to corkscrew by comparison).
So, now Killer Forks... first
off, Appearance: they seem strange -- oversized tines, a flat stamped appearance of handle (unlike
more authentic 3D shaping of Liquid Fork handles) and lack of writing on back of handle all make the
fork look a bit fake to me. The whole business end (tines) of the fork looks really oversized to me,
never have seen a restaurant fork with these proportions. Also, the printing on the box saying "the
ideal fork for practicing metal bending" was a surprise, as I got these for performance, not
practice.
Bending: Also strange. Handle is oddly very easy to bend, TOO easy if you ask
me. Corkscrew okay, but again that flat stamped metal feels weird to me. Strangest is that while the
handle seems soft, the oversized tines are VERY hard to bend, especially one handed (with the
thumb). I can quickly bend two tines with my right thumb, one-handed, with my old forks, but these
are really hard to do without major strain, and only bend part way.
So I know many others
may love them and disagree, but I just contacted David Penn in the UK and was able to order two more
boxes of Liquid Forks direct from World Magic Shop. I really hope that Penguin can reestablish that
connection, because I'd prefer to buy them right here. Killer Forks will stay in the drawer as
emergency substitutes for now.
10 of 10 magicians found this helpful.
I like these forks. They work as advertised. I've never used Liquid Forks so I have no basis for
comparison but these forks are sturdy enough to pass off as regular silverware and the tine bends
are easy to do(I've always struggled there). My only issue is that the forks are quite long in the
handle and I have small hands and wrist. I would have made them slight shorter but that's just a me
thing. They do make metal bending easier to perform. I plan to buy more in the future.