I highly recommend ignoring basically any trendy item you see on Instagram or TikTok. I find that high hopes usually give way to an inevitable letdown when you open that package from Temu and realize some $12 piece of questionably food-grade plastic isn’t going to save your relationship with your estranged uncle. Unless that package contains the Snackle Box.
It is with surprisingly little regret that I inform you that the ‘Snackle Box’ is good. Maybe great. All those Instagram moms and TikTok matriarchs might be wrong about raw milk and sinister underground pizza joints, but the idea that an easily cleanable and collapsable portable snack device will change your life is real.
Yes, I am talking about a rectangular snack box with removable snack pockets like this one on sale for $9.95 on Amazon (as of this writing). I know it sounds a little crazy. There are plenty of ways to snack and transport snacks. Why is this so much better? I have a theory.
What Is The Snackle Box?
The Snackle Box is a verbal play on the tackle box, which most of you are probably familiar with from fishing with your dad. The difference is that this one isn’t filled with rusty lures designed to send you to the ER (sorry Dad). Instead, it’s filled with tasty snacks!
There are numerous variations out there, but it’s this specific one pictured above that I’m talking about. For some reason, the world has decided that the ideal configuration is a clear plastic rectangle that’s about 11.5″ x 8.5″ x 3″ with a removable, top clasping lid and vaguely beige coloring. Inside are eight equally-sized cups that can be removed and put in the dishwasher.
@jenniesuk snack boxes on airplanes is the best idea ever ???????????? #snackbox #flighthacks #snackideas #snacklebox
In the TikTok video above (or linked here) a woman got 6 million views for bringing one of these identical boxes on a plane with her. She went with a classic mix of sweet and salty treats with a double-load of goldfish crackers (she edits it out, but you can see she also put a folded-up paper towel under the lid, which is a pro-level move). I’ve only used the Snackle Box for sleepovers and road trips, but I get the appeal of taking it on a plane.
I know how this sounds. It sounds dumb. It sounds obvious. When the Snackle Box first appeared at my place I discounted it as another supposedly life-altering item that would end up shoved in a cabinet along with our Soda Stream and poach pocket. Friends, I was wrong.
I’m not too big of a man to admit that. I’m not hangry about being wrong. In fact, I’m not hangry at all … on account of the access to snacks.
My Theory Of Why The Snackle Box Is So Hip
There are a few reasons why I think the Snackle Box has taken off on social media lately. My first theory is purely about commerce. Amazon and other retailers will pay, via a special link, if people buy a product you recommend. Everyone does this, from the New York Times all the way down to your aunt who has a podcast about herbivores. This post contains such a link and we do, sometimes, tag links (although rarely considering that much of our competition has whole sections devoted to it). This is something cheap so I imagine the real money is made on volume.
However, people recommend crap on the Internet all the time. Why, suddenly, is this popular? I think it’s because it actually works on a similar emotional level to what makes it work for social media algorithms.
The portability of the Snackle Box is high, but there are plenty of other snack containers that are even more easy to wield. The little pockets are supposedly dishwasher safe, though I wouldn’t put the outer plastic shell in there with your plates. I found this out the hard way when we deformed one of the lids.
I think the key to the Snackle Box is visibility. Its transparency is the magic piece here. It’s one thing to know that you’ve got a bag full of snacks, it’s another thing to see them all laid out like this. It makes every little shell of goodness in there look so appealing. In a way, the 4×2 grid mimics the grids on social media.
Is it possible that our brains are so broken that we now see the whole world like Instagram or TikTok?
@brooklynrreidhead roadtrip ready????????✨ these are so fun to make!! #asmr #asmrsounds #snacklebox #snacks #aesthetic #restock #asmrrestock #restockasmr #snackideas #foryou
Probably!
The Snackle Box is also great if you have kids. You, as a normal adult, might be happy to have a bag of pretzels as a snack. Your kid is probably happier with three pretzels, six M&Ms, eight goldfish, one baby carrot, and 26 Nerds. Kids, whether at home or on a road trip, crave attention and variety. I’ve found that the Snackle Box has kept my daughter from asking for a snack every 18 seconds since she can get it for herself.
Also, I’m like an eight-year-old and I might be happy with one bag of Zappos, but I also would rather have a fun mix of salty and sweet.
Another perk of the boxes is that the size allows you to swap certain sections for items that are better left in their packages, like juice boxes and seaweed snacks:
Those are Thin Mints btw. I’ve also experimented with shoving protein bars in there for long road trips so I’ve got something to keep me going.
Have you purchased one of these? What works best for you? If you haven’t, what would you put in these for your ideal road trip snack? Let’s get snackin’ folks.
The comments seem to be split into 2 groups:
-“An ad in any capacity turns me into Dennis Reynolds”
-“I’m a parent and this will work well for my kid(s)”
I’m in group 2, but the split is interesting.
Hah, thanks! I was surprised. My motivation for writing this was literally just: Here’s a weird thing my wife bought for road trips I didn’t think we’d use that we ended up using all the time.
I get the fear, though. Our approach to affiliate stuff is almost always passive, i.e. if we have something that can be linked we will link it, but we generally don’t go out of our way to make a post just because we have an affiliate link. Almost all of our competition is the opposite and clog their pages with posts that exist just to serve some specific revenue goal. This is fairly rare for us and I hope it’ll stay that way.
A lot of us have watched the downfall of other websites and are probably hyper sensitive to any sign of impending doom.
We know it ends with a page full of AI-generated articles fully soiled with sponsored links, and see any step in that direction as the start of the infection.
Thank goodness. I usually skip the roundups of “deals” of cheap stuff from Amazon (which I’m no fan of in the first place, but I get why websites do it).
I think Peter might revolt if he had to come up with the 800th different way in a week to frame “here’s some random things on Amazon we hope you’ll click on” for social. (He might know where you live? Seems like he might have odd weapons on hand, too. I wouldn’t put building a Turbo Discombuttulator or something in his shed past him.) The sheer number of deals posts was easily the worst part of that job for me at [different website, but it’s not hard to figure out which private equity hellscape I’m talking about from my work history]. No one who typed out a reply was ever happy to see those obvious revenue plays on social. No one.
Besides, I’m far better at telling people what NOT to buy as someone who actually wants to be helpful (and telling people to avoid Amazon because it treats its workers like garbage). My advice for Prime Day yesterday was “you probably don’t need that thing!” and “go mess with a decent-quality version of that thing IRL if you think you really need it.” (This anti-consumerism-for-consumerism’s-sake streak is why I hated doing holiday gift guides, too. Have you all considered buying less stuff?! My favorite gift to receive is almost always “money in a card.” Everyone can use money crammed into a holiday card! You can even skip the card and raw-dog those bucks into an envelope if you’re not sentimental. It’s a gift that you know will get used. But I digress.)
I’m okay with random thing-posts where you actually found a USEFUL thing, though. Helpful advice! On the internet! It’s like the whole reason why we come to various websites or something. I will, however, regretfully note that opening the Snackle Box en route is how you get ants in the car. Sorry. I have to. All bets are off on a plane, though. My bag comes loaded with enough munchie bars to kill Clif himself, and any high-altitude ants that sneak through for the crumbs have earned ’em.
I still can’t believe you maligned the SodaStream in this piece, Mr. Hardigree!
I am borderline triggered by any mention of a Tiktok trend, but since I avoid tiktok I wouldn’t know about this thing except for the post here. I don’t mind it.
This is like a co-worker buying an interesting product and telling me about it. I do that all the time. As it’s meant for road-trips, this is way more on-topic than me raving about my new home router at my job.
Yeah, I don’t Tik the Tok or Tweet the Twits or whatever. So like you, this is the only way I’d know this exists.
I ate dirt, didn’t everybody?
Uhhh…back to CARS? I don’t care about Tik Tok which I hope is banned
My children are adults who can fend for themselves. I just use ziploc bags in a daypack, or my Camelbak that joins me on most adventures. Out of the car having something with glucose in a shoulder strap pocket is great for preventing or treating a low.
I don’t need that, I have perfected the art or road trip snacks already: Pim’s
They make no crumb and one full pack is barely enough for me to be fed with them (pun intended).
As long as the chocolate doesn’t melt in your car, it’s the ultimate snack. Fight me.
I’m gonna get two of these and they will never see foodstuffs. Being able to lift out the tray of carb jets, o rings or task specific fasteners is gold to me.
Several companies make them for parts storage. You can get them from Harbor Freight, too. All with removable compartments.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20-bin-medium-portable-parts-storage-case-93928.html
Don’t want to pull the whole tray, just one bin when needed. Also I find the overall size fits my storage and packing needs better.
Each of those yellow bins is removable, they also do a smaller one for $6.
Or buy the snack one if it works better for you, I have no financial interest in either of them.
I miss colors. What’s with all the sad beige stuff for kids?
Conditioning them for a lifetime of SUVs and crossovers.
OK, I’m old, I admit it. My solution is to grab appropriate snack foods for trips/lunch/whatever in their original bags/containers (or if too large, dump some into more appropriate-sized plastic zip bags and chuck them all in the lunch container/backpack/whatever. If there are leftovers, they just go out the next day, or get snacked on later. Good enough.
My 30-something-year-old daughter who still lives at home has an obsession with putting carefully portioned servings of snack foods and lunch into various right-size containers and packing them off, all of which takes an inordinate amount of time in the kitchen every day, in everybody’s way, and then fills up the dishwasher with excess stuff later on. Giving her one of these things would probably put her in portion-control heaven, and further annoy the piss out of me and the rest of the household.
I guess it’s a fashionable thing among Millenials/Gen-Z. Mostly harmless, really, but can annoy others with less obsessiveness.
Now, get off my lawn. 😉
Should have saved this for the saturday hot take. Remove snacks from the packaging they already come in to place into a box so the kids can spill all 8 at once?
He exaggerates, but it’s right. Your spoiled brat doesn’t need 8 different snack options for the 45 minute road trip to grandma’s
Milwaukee needs to rebrand their tool storage from Packout to Snackout. The system already offers a cooler and travel cups that attach, and the rolling base would be great for storing all the Costco sized bags of snacks used to fill the bins.
I just came here to post this.
I feel like this is the first step to a family dragging a red rolling cart of snacks everywhere.
oh my gosh, that’s genius
I wouldn’t use this. I spent years traveling full time, and I can’t imagine a scenario where this would be the correct snack carrying choice.
It just seems like a way to accidentally spill eight snacks at once.
I’ll stick to resealable bags in an outer pouch of my backpack. Perfect location for blindly rummaging on a plane or in a car.