Screw-top thermos beats any snap-lock for soup

Screw-top insulated food jars are the only thing I trust for soup or curry in a backpack. Snap-lock containers with silicone gaskets are fine for the office fridge, but they open too easily under pressure and tend to leak around the lid after a few months of abuse.

Look for a wide-mouth food jar with a threaded lid, not a push-button latch. Thermos, Stanley, and Hydro Flask all make ones with thick rubber seals that hold up. The screw threads give you a tight seal that won’t pop open when the jar gets squeezed against your laptop.

One catch: even the best jar can leak if you lay it completely sideways with hot liquid inside. So tuck it into a zip-top bag or a dedicated insulated lunch sleeve after you screw the lid on. That also keeps your backpack from smelling like last week’s dal.

For curries with rice on the side, get one of the bigger wide-mouth models so you can actually eat out of it without a bowl. The narrow ones are fine for drinks, not for food.

This is not the place to save money. Buy the well-reviewed one and you’ll use it for years.