Zojirushi Classic Bento Vacuum Lunch Jar - Black

I bought this on September 3, 2011, and from all the items that I have got from Amazon, this is the one that I use the most, so I really think that I can provide a fair and useful advise, for the people that is thinking about to buy it or not. I will rate each component by separate, and then a will review the product as a whole, so you will get a very good idea about what to expect.Bag:Let's start with the bag, which it is made with some kind of synthetic cloth, very sturdy a resilient, mine it is still look as new as the first day, with no signs of tearing or stains, and not any nasty odors at all, you open and close the bag using a combination of velcro fasteners (one at each side) and two metallic buttons, all of them working as designed, so considering that I use this bag 5 days a week during the last two years, I will rate the bag with well deserved it 5 stars.Metallic Jar:The jar, it is the main component of this set, that will keep the temperature (together with the bag, I think) of your food, and allows you to carry the plastic containers. It is painted black outside, and it covered by a grey plastic inside, in the top it is a plastic cap that seals the jar, and it is attached by a set of plastic latches. For today the jar looks as new, no paint tearing or scratches ( I always use the bag), the plastic cap has just some very tiny scratches, and the plastic latches are brand new, so again 5 stars for the jar, that was built for last.Plastic containers:The set have three plastic containers,that are stored in the following order: the smallest goes in the bottom, and it is leaking proof, then you placed the tallest one that has more capacity, that even it looks like it is leaking proof, is not, and finally the medium size one that goes in the top, not leaking proof either. So when you package your food you should try to keep anything that potentially can leak (soup, stew, etc) in the small one, and forget about it, so even if the jar fell to one side (when you are driving), everything will be contained. Even if you failed to do this the leaking will be minimum ( so you can clean it with a napkin), and will remain for all means inside the jar, but I truly think that is better to avoid any spill at all, so use the container as is indicated.Normally I package my food at night in the containers, and put them in the refrigerator, next morning I will store the containers in the jar, drive to work, and let the jar at my desk. At noon I will take everything to the pantry area, and will reheat the food in the microwave (without the lids), the food will remain cold until noon guaranteed and I never have had anything spoiled it. After I eat, I will wash the containers, dry them and put them back in the jar, and the cycle start again that night.As all plastic containers in a long run , they can get smelly, the easy solution is to wash them once in a while in the dishwasher, and no smell will remain. The containers are working as designed, but I would really like that all of them were 100% leaking proof so I will rate them with 4 stars only.Utensils:It brings a set of chopsticks (useless for me), and an spork. The chopsticks came attached directly to the jar with a clever mechanism, the spork is storaged in a pocket inside the bag. The spork is made of stainless steel, and for today, it looks brand new, if you are missing the knive and a real spoon, you can add any utensil set that you want (I did, I bought one in Amazon too).Even that I already knew that this is a japanese product (made in thailand BTW), I would expect it that included a full set of utensils, a not only a spork (even that the one provided has excellent quality), just for that I will rate the utensils 4.5 stars.Overall:I believe that I got a great deal buying this Vacuum Lunch Jar, you can notice that was engineered and built with quality in mind, it is so close to be the perfect lunch box, that is a shame that you can still find some ways to improve it, anyway I will highly recommend to anybody, it will keep your food heat or cold, and allow you to pack reasonable portions, and as I said before it get the perfect combination of a good design, a quality craftsmanship and materials. My rate overall is between 4.5 and 5 stars.P.S: I found the following product in Amazon: Zojirushi SL-XCE20HG Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tiffin Box, it has 4 containers, 3 of them are leaking proof, it is a little more expensive than this one, but it is the right answer to the leaking issue.

I wasn't expecting such a quality product: it works and keeps stuff warm, just as adertised.However you need to understand that it is advertised to hold a soup in the bottom container, and that is the key as to how it keeps the food warm. If you do not put an hot liquid there then yes the food stay that much warm. I made some tests, like, in the evening I cooked stuff and while it was still hot and stashed them in this bento. Then in the morning (9 hours later) it was still warm, but not hot anymore. Of course to keep as much warm as possible, I closed the bento, put it inside it's thermal bag and stuffed it into my backpack.I would still recommend to have a microwave at work to just reheat your food ya know. Still simpler. But, that bento works very well.Now about the size of that thing, it fits in my backpack with no issue. And I always carry it in it's own thermal bag. It's not too big, and not too small. For me it's okay. For ladies and their crappy handbags, nope it ain't gonna work.The top box is supposed to hold... a desert? I don't really care, I stuff food there as well. When I'm short on stuff, yeah I'll use it for a desert. Usually I chop a banana, put the pieces in the box, and dump/sprinkle some chocolate powder (for the breakfast) on top of them. I add a spoon of honey for good measure, and close that box. What's gonna happen during my transit to work, and until noon, is that the heat from the below boxes will heat that top box; melting the chocolate and honey and creating a nice blend with the banana pieces. I tried with halva instead of chocolate but... I wasn't as successfull :)The middle container is the main dish one. Kinda big enough, you still need to remember that the uhh "cap" stuff is kinda large. Like it has an one 1inch height that will go inside the box. So don't fill that box to the top, leave that inch clear. Not sure what to say about that box. The cap is secured by turning it so it won't open easely. The problem is, if you microwave that stuff the cap will be super hot as well: you will have trouble screwing the cap on the box so hot it'll be.That bottom box is bowl like. It's pretty small, but yeah the cap has a rubber band to prevent liquids to spill. I don't put soup in there, I just uhh put whatever else I got on hand. I try to put as much "wet" stuff there since it's made for that. A saw reviews mentionning spills. The bowl container, it's true, doesn't prevent the liquid to spill. The rubber will stop it from spilling a lot, but some drops could be found in the bento box' bottom when I tested with clear water. So be wary.Remember that I put that whole bento in my backpack, updside, and secured: stuff won't move much in there. And I take the transit, sit down, take down my backpack, lift it up, throw it around on my back. I had a few drops a liquid but not the whole content was outta that box. It's good enough for me.After using that bento for a couple of weeks at work, one of my coworkers bought one. It's a quality product, maybe a bit small as quantites you can store there but it does the job. Not sure what else to say. Uhhh yeah... it's easy to clean too?I don't know enjoy. :D