In our every changing world of living plastic free, now more than ever, people are choosing alternatives to plastic, even reusable plastic products, and instead, going for things that are made from metal, glass and even bamboo. In this blog, we will out line the basic pro's and con's of choosing a stainless steel lunch box.

Longevity

This is where your stainless steel lunch box investment truly shines. If you stick with something simple like the Lunchbots or the Ever Eco in the same style (no clips), these lunch boxes should literally last a lifetime. The only thing that would stop them from lasting a lifetime is if they were lost or badly dented. For the investment in stainless steel, you could get your kids through school with one lunch box from the start. As they get in to high school, you may decide to purchase them a second one or something larger.

With our double decker bentos with clips, each brand is strong and sturdy but can potentially be bent and broken if children are potentially rough or careless with them. We have spoken to so many parents over the years as they get their Back To School products, some tell us their children have the same bags and boxes that they've had for 2-3 years and others tell us they get stomped on, lost, broken and treated very poorly, so just keep this in mind when you choose which lunch box is right for your child. If they're going to lose them, forget them, jump on their bag and forget there's a $30 metal lunch box in side, then this may not be a good investment.

FINAL RESULT - choose simplicity for a true once in a lifetime purchase.

Price

As a rough guide, we have stainless steel lunch boxes priced from around $23 up to $65. We do see this type of product as an investment. When compared to a plastic lunch box, especially one you can buy from the supermarket, they are significantly more expensive. Over the course of 5-6 years, if you add up the cost of ALL the plastic lunch boxes you need to buy, then the number changes.

FINAL RESULT - they are not a budget option, but we do have brands in store priced at the Luxe end of the market and more entry level prices for smaller boxes.

Weight

When compared to a glass food storage containers, stainless steel would have the significant edge on the weight of glass, but in most instances, this isn't what we're comparing it to. For very small children, take in to consideration what else they need to carry in their lunch cooler bag - the food, the ice pack, a drink, and make sure  you're not giving them too much weight to carry.

A thin, single wall bpa free plastic lunch box will be the most lightweight option, and the stainless steel will be on par and possibly lighter than many of the bento boxes on the market that are plastic as they are thicker and have an outer shell and inner compartments.

FINAL RESULT - we're only going to be beaten on weight here by thin plastic lunch boxes, so don't be overly concerned about the weight of a stainless steel lunch box.

Find all our stainless steel lunch boxes and all the other options available as comparisons in our lunch boxes category.