School Year-End Survey: Lunchboxes and Backpacks

[Anonymous]

There isn't one in my kid's part of the school. He would have to go to the other side of the building to find one that works.

[Anonymous]

We're also looking at bentos. I'll be honest. I am cheap as hell. I saw the Rubbermaid lunch bloc ones in Giant. They are 25% less expensive than the bentos on Amazon.com. I think I'll just buy a couple of those. And the cute little silicon muffin cups.

As for drinks. DD isn't a huge fan of juioe. She likes milk or water. She has a reusable aluminum water bottle that hooks onto her lunch tote. We will reuse that.

[Anonymous]

Klip-it containers from the Container store are great for lunches. They are sturdy and easy for little hands.

http://www.storables.com/kitchen/kitchen-food-storage/plastic-food-storage/klip-it-collection.html

[Anonymous]

Honestly, we sprung for a planetbox lunch box for my husband and he loves it. If I could promise my kid wouldn't loose it I say it's the best bet for long lasting, non smelling lunch box. But they are crazy expensive and I would never buy one for my kid. We use target. We've been very happy with the GAP backpack/ lunchbox combo, but it has ripped the backpack since my daughter insists on snapping them together. And she carrys a 12 oz water bottle in her lunch its on the heavy side...

http://www.planetbox.com/shop

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have an LL Bean lunchbag. It's worked great but it stinks! I try to keep it clean but ugh. Not to hijack the thread but any suggestions on how to keep those nylon lunchbags clean?

Spray the empty lunch bags with Shout/other stain remover, let sit for an hour, then throw it into the washing machine (unzipped) with a load of towels. Wash in warm/cold and remove after the load spins dry. Hang (I use a knob) dry open overnight. Works great!

[Anonymous]

My favorite bentos are laptop lunches, but they are crazy expensive IMO. We made it two years with one though.

For backpacks I always buy ll bean. I have five kids and they've held up great so far and the one that didn't LL Bean was fantastic about replacing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LL Bean backpacks are very sturdy, they do free shipping, and I think that the store replaces old or broken backpacks for free.

For lunch bags, we used a Wildkin lunch box for awhile, which has held up ok, though I've had trouble cleaning stains off of it:
http://www.amazon.com/Wildkin-Olive-Trains-Planes-Trucks/dp/B004NWLYRO/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1368479176&sr=1-1&keywords=wildkin+lunch+box

But then we started sending DC with a thermos of food, which didn't fit as well in the rectangular Wildkin. So we switched to this lunch "sack," which is more unstructured and has held up well but doesn't seem as well-insulated as the Wildkin:

http://www.amazon.com/Sugarbooger-Laminated-Lunch-Sack-Matryoshka/dp/B004KSRNNU/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1368479087&sr=1-2&keywords=sugar+booger+lunch+bag

sugar booger? Too funny....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another vote for LLBean. For containers, we have different sized Sistema containers. You can get them at Container Store and a few other places. Also at TJMaxx on occasion for less money.

Good luck in K!

That's what we do. LL Bean and Klip It from Sistema. They are great and durable. My only complaint with Sistema containers is Sharpies don't stay on permanently. I resorted to labels.

[Anonymous]

Anyone use Lunchbots for their kiddo?

[Anonymous]

LL Bean lunchboxes. I put mine in the washing machine about once a month, throwing some non-chlorine bleach in the load.
Ours has held up great for one year. Would be on year 2 but our first one was taken at summer camp.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the llbean backpack. Late summer, they will have a huge assortment at Tyson's. You can debate about which size. Big enough for the lunch box, a regular size folder and a few books. For the lunch box I always let my kids decide...and get them a new one each year.

[Anonymous]

which labels are best? I am eyeing the Itz ones.

[Anonymous]

I will give a thumbs down to Lands End lunch boxes. We had them for several years but the lining always ripped part way through the year..by summer they were ready to go. This year we have 1 LL Bean and 1 PBTeens- both are holding up fine.

[Anonymous]

I actually preferred the pottery barn kids backpacks in small for my kindergarteners.

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/fairfax-backpacks-navy-green/?pkey=cshop-all-backpacks&

[Anonymous]

Another vote for LL Bean. We have an LL Bean lunch box and an LL Bean backpack that have really held up great. The backpack often gets dragged, and has a small hole, but is still in pretty good shape!