Monday, March 30, 2015

Awesome Lunchbox and Water Bottle Review!




**I am an affiliate of PlanetBox, they provided me with a BottleRocket water bottle at no cost to me in return for an honest review. I purchased the Rover complete system myself and am sharing my review because I choose to. This post contains affiliate links, if you click on a link to Planetbox and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission, this will not affect your purchase in anyway. Thank you for helping support this blog.**

I have a fun new product to share with you all today. I know many Montessori and Homeschooling families are often also interested in environmentally friendly and health conscience products. A while back I shared another product from the same company and I will also do a follow up on that product. 

Planetbox Rover lunchbox with BottleRocket water bottle. T's lunch includes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, cheese crackers, carrot coins, fresh mozzarella balls, strawberries and kiwi, plus a few reese's pieces. 

We have been using the Rover lunch system from Planetbox for about 8 months now. T (8) takes it to his Montessori school with him every single day. I can not even tell you how many little plastic baggies were saved over the course of this year. I also didn’t have to bother with a bunch of smaller containers that would each need to be cleaned separately. The Planetbox systems are made of stainless steel and its all connected so you just open it up and place it in the dishwasher or hand wash super quickly. I have not been disappointed with this product at all, its awesome! T loves using it and it makes it easy for me. When I make lunch, it takes about 5 minutes to place it all into the divided spaces in the single tray and close the lid. When I used baggies or separate containers, it would take triple that amount of time. 

We purchased the complete Rover system which includes the tray with attached lid, two water proof containers, carrying bag and magnet set. T used the magnet set for about a month and decided he didn’t really care for them. While it is cuter with the magnets, I think it looks really nice without them. I also was quite happy because they are just an extra step when cleaning because you have to remove them first. The small water proof containers are great for things that would leak like yogurt and juicy fruits. I also have placed things like taco meat, pasta with sauce and mac & cheese in them (of course you’d either have to eat these cold or place them on a plate before reheating since the containers are metal). The lunch bag is the one part that I am not totally thrilled with. I do think its held up nicely but its not perfect. The insulation on the bag gets bent when a water bottle is placed in the pocket. The front pocket next to the water bottle could be a bit bigger (i like to put fruit in it and its a tight squeeze). It is difficult to clean making it not look new for very long. I think that while the metal lunch system will definitely last years and years, the bag will most likely need to be replaced each year to keep it looking nice. I still think this is a good deal because most fabric lunch bags need to be replaced at least once a year. When my son was in primary Montessori he went through 3 lunch bags in one year because the zippers broke or the fabric ripped. These hold up nicely, they just look a bit dingy after a while. I also think he’ll want a new color next year anyway.



The new product I want to share with you is their new water bottle. When it first came out, I wasn’t planning to buy it. We have been using the Thermos Funtainer water bottles for years and love them. Planetbox offered to send me a bottle in exchange for a honest review so we gave it a try. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this water bottle. It is about the same size as the Funtainer bottles and has a similar button pop lid. The Planetbox BottleRocket (goes along with their space theme) has a little metal latch that locks the lid so it won’t pop open in transit. This is a necessary part because this bottle is NOT spill proof. The BottleRocket has a silicone spout that opens directly into the bottle so you tip it to drink rather than suck through a straw. It also has a rubber piece in the lid to keep it from leaking. I have found this bottle to be totally leak proof even when laid on its side. In the past my son would bring home his lunch and lay it flat on the counter leaving his Funtainer on its side, it would leak out the top all over his lunch bag. When he does the same with the BottleRocket, it will not leak. Another big benefit of the BottleRocket, is that it has no straw. I know I’m not the only one who hates trying to clean those Funtainer straws! No matter how well I clean those straws, they never quite seem clean enough. No straw in the BottleRocket makes it so I know it is clean, and it can all go in the dishwasher.



The Gray Planetbox BottleRocket compared to a blue Thermos Funtainer

Planetbox BottleRocket has No Straw

No Straw, easier to keep clean

The price tag of the PlanetBox BottleRocket is a bit steep, but that is true for the food systems as well. This bottle costs about $10 more than most Funtainers but the benefits may make it worth the cost. I personally, never paid full price for the Funtainers I bought. I paid about $5-10 for each of our Funtainers which I thought was a much better price for what I got. If I had to pay more than that I think the BottleRocket would be a better quality bottle for the price. I definitely think our Rover system was well worth the cost for the year we have already used it and will use it again next year. 


Right now I am considering purchasing a Launch system which is a larger version with a glass dish that is microwavable. I think it would be nice to have two difference systems to choose from depending on the food he is taking. It works well right now for him to put foods to reheat in his metal container since he has plates to transfer foods at school, I think it would be easier to just reheat in the glass container though. Check out the full Planetbox lineup at their website PlanetBox.com

Not only will I give you my review but I will also share my 8 year old's review since he is the one who uses these products on a daily basis. T says "Tell Planetbox that I love my lunchbox and new water bottle. It works great and its the coolest in my class. Tell everyone on the blog that they should buy their kids these lunch boxes and water bottles because they are fun and make it easy for kids to pack their own lunches. They keep the food separated and nothing gets squished and the water bottles don't leak. The only thing I don't like about it is that sometimes the lids are a little hard to take off." The lids he is talking about are the big and little dipper containers that go with the rover box, they seal really well and are sometimes hard to get off if a tight vacuum has occurred. The top of the water bottle can be a little difficult to remove as well, it twists off but the rubber part inside also create a vacuum.

5 comments:

  1. I may actually get that for my husband. www.fiveoaks-montessori.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so impressed with the original writer of this post.
    I think this article easy to understand that reader could get useful information and learn lots of things. Stay away from Adware by using Best Anti Adware. Also read about packers and movers in Salt Lake.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I read this Post, Your post is excellent and Knowledgeable about Steel lunchboxes. I feel happy about learning this topic. Thank you sharing your Article. Stainless steel lunchbox

    ReplyDelete
  4. Custom Boxes World is provides you the best 30ml dropper bottle packaging in all sizes and shapes.These 100ml bottles packaging boxes are multipurpose packaging boxes that are used for different purposes. We will make custom 100 ml bottle boxes to keep your liquid product safe in the best possible way.We can also offer drop shipping,fastest turnaround time all over the USA.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Get Dropper Bottle Packaging & Labels from one place with Best Quality Stickers and Printing. Call us on WhatsAPP. Dropper Bottle is specially made to provide a professional look to the product such as essential oil, tests of Labourites, chemicals.

    ReplyDelete