Hard-sided lunch boxes are the answer to squashed sandwiches

Get a rigid metal or thick plastic lunch box if you’re stuffing it in a backpack. Flexible insulated bags are fine for keeping things warm, but they’re just fabric — they’ll let a textbook compress your Tupperware into soup.

What you want is a hard shell with a tight lid. Two solid options: a stainless steel bento box like PlanetBox (expensive, but indestructible and leak-proof), or a thick plastic locking container like Sistema’s hard-sided bento line (cheap, stackable, and handles a decent drop). Both survive being at the bottom of a crowded bag without crushing your fruit or cracking the crackers.

One thing to keep in mind: hard-sided lunch boxes take up more empty space than a bag that squishes flat. If that bothers you, get a bento-style with compartments so every inch is doing something. And don’t assume “insulated” matters much — unless you’re packing yogurt or dressing, a sealed hard box keeps a sandwich fine from breakfast to noon.

Your lunch shouldn’t come out looking like it was run over by a commuter.