Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I would have given this 3.75 stars, if Amazon allowed for it, but I bought this product back last August for back to school lunches and overall, I am pleased with its performance. I thought it might be helpful to post our longer term experience for other people. I used these for a 6 year old and a 15 year old nearly everyday for a year (weekends excepted.) What I liked: -Works as advertised: Originally, I just wanted a small, compact vessel that would allow me to send sandwiches to school and not have to wrap them in creepy plastic wrap for them to maintain their components or allow them to be squished beyond eating. This box prevents both scenarios well. It also allowed me to put things like crackers or little chips or cookies and not see them squished! All of that is very exciting as I am convinced my viking children use their back packs as shields in territorial wars with other viking children at school...or anywhere I am not looking. -Actually sturdy and maintained condition well: A few watermarks, but no dents or scuffs on the lids, NO RUST at all all while definitely keeping my kids' lunch safely in the shape I originally sent it to school. There are a few caveats with this, but I'll get to them later. -Dividers worked very well. It really did keep NON-WET food separate. No more "my sandwich tasted like old cheetos and I didn't eat it..." That was lovely. -I loved the flexible lid was flexible enough for my 6-year-old to open the box without assistance! The lid itself was also a pretty snug fit and didnt allow for food to escape, which is important in territorial viking wars. - Cute! I love the lid styling and the different colors were very helpful in designating which lunch went to which child. I also agree with the reviewer who said they may have been a protective element, because they do give a little more layering to the lids (which is again, a softer, more flexible metal) from dents, scratches or just dropping this hunk of stuff on the floor and hearing the clanging for miles (and revealing your position to the enemy.) The caveats: -We put these in the dishwasher ONCE and just one of the plastic lids deformed enough to permanently reject all future adherence to the metal lid. That's a big bummer, because I haven't found any replacements for just the plastic lid. Also, because we've only hand washed these boxes, that may be why they've stood up so well, because as mentioned before, there is NO rust anywhere. -Handwashing was kind of a bummer. Yeah, we removed the remaining lid each time needed to clean them, but I didnt want to risk it not going back where it should and then having completely non-identifiable lunches. -They are definitely on the small side. These ended up being a supplemental for my bigger kid who ate more food than the smaller one. Both boxes were placed in larger, insulated lunch bags for temperature control that always had additional food. The metal casing here has a definite disadvantage in the heat, - it can get hot quickly. -No liquids or even liquid-like substances. Don't even try. You can get away with washed, dried berries or grapes. Nothing acidic either, - make-em peel those oranges! -While there are some great design points here, it's a little pricey. The takeaway: This is a good little lunch box that held up to my ruffian's treatment and is ready to go another year. I wish it was bigger, I wish it was a little less money, I wish I could run it in the dishwasher, I wish I had another lid. Other than that, this is a great product which has served me and my viking horde very well.