Lunchbox (Fallout 3)

The lunchbox is a miscellaneous item in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.

Characteristics
This was a promotional item created by Vault-Tec before the Great War and used in the company's advertisements. With the right schematics, it can be used to make bottlecap mines.

In Fallout 3, a lunchbox can be used to make a Bottlecap mine at workbenches.

In Fallout: New Vegas, a lunchbox can be used to make a caravan lunch at campfires or a bottlecap mine at workbenches.

In Fallout 4, attempting to take a lunchbox will first make it pop open in a shower of confetti and spawn a random small item. This is a reference to Fallout Shelter.

Fallout 3
Lunchboxes may appear randomly as toy or kitchen clutter, as well as in the inventories of "miscellaneous" vendors like Crazy Wolfgang, Knick Knack, Karl, and Seagrave Holmes. There are 121 guaranteed places where they may be found. Some locations with guaranteed lunchboxes are:
 * 9 in Vault-Tec headquarters: Seven in Administration, in a closet in the most northeast location; two on tables in the second-floor cafeteria area in Guest Relations.
 * 7 in Fort Constantine. Four are in Personnel Offices: on a counter in the western dining area, on a counter in the south near a pool table, on the bottom of a rusty shelf in a room slightly north of the center, and on a table in the southeast next to a chessboard. One is in the kitchen of the CO Quarters. Two are in the Launch Control Bunker: one on a desk in the same room with the Fort Constantine Launch Control terminal, and one on a shelf in a room west of the terminal.
 * 5 in Franklin Metro utility: three in the western section, among many other workbench items; one on a table next to the generator; and one in between beds in the abandoned raider camp.
 * 4 in Arlington Library. One in the lobby on the front desk, one in the children's wing in the northeast room; two in the media archive on the northwest second floor in the room with the pool table.
 * 4 in the Warrington station area. Two are in Warrington tunnels, one in the south end of the Metro employee section, on a shelf next to two ammunition boxes; one on the top shelf in a closet in the southwest tunnels past some radioactive barrels. Two more are in Warrington station: one under the desk with the Big Book of Science, and one in Roy Phillips' sleeping quarters, which must be stolen.
 * 4 in L.O.B. Enterprises: one in the main area next to the Pugilism Illustrated; one in the East Wing, on top of a bookshelf across the hall from the CEO's office. Two are in the Archives: one on top of a bookshelf in the northeast room, and one on a table in the southwest dining area.
 * 3 in RobCo facility Offices and Cafeteria: two in the northmost room, one on a pool table, one on an upturned table; one in the kitchen in the west, next to the refrigerator.
 * 3 in the Roosevelt Academy building proper: one in the Headmaster's office, on the desk; one in a room on the ground floor next to a hallway filled with lockers; one on the third floor, next to a rigged terminal.
 * 3 in Minefield: 2 in the Benson house, 1 in the Gibson house.
 * 3 in Mama Dolce's. One in Processed Foods, in the southernmost section next to a couch. Two in Food Distribution, one next to the encrypted Chinese spy terminal, and one on a shelf just west of there.
 * 2 in Arlington House, both by a single bed.
 * 2 in Bethesda ruins Offices West: one on the ground floor northeast, in a doorless tool cabinet above a first aid kit, one on a third floor shelf next to three rigged shotguns.
 * 2 in Corvega factory proper, one on a counter in the east, one on a shelf in the room just north of that.
 * 2 in County sewer mainline, in Gallo's storage closet.
 * 2 in Farragut West station, both on a shelf in the same room with the locked safe.
 * 2 in the raid shack, one in the kitchen, and one on the floor next to a bed and a desk.
 * 2 in Lucky's, which must be stolen.
 * 2 in the National Guard depot entrance, both on desks in the lowest level, toward the north.
 * 2 in the Smith's house, Andale, not considered theft.
 * 2 in Rivet City on the walkway gantry outside the bridge tower, accessed from the southernmost exit hatch on the 1st level of Rivet City security's sleeping quarters.
 * 2 outside in a scavenger's hut north of the Red Racer factory, west of Falls Church Metro.
 * 1 in the sniper shack.
 * 1 in the drainage pipe chamber southeast of relay tower KX-B8-11.
 * 1 in the burnt out bus north of Grisly diner.
 * 5 in the Abandoned apartments in The Pitt Uptown. Two are in the common area near the western exit, and three are in the first floor southeast apartment (in the kitchen, on a dining table, and above the bathtub).
 * 6 in the Mobile base crawler: 3 in the base area on a shelf next to the workbench in the; 2 in the Launch platform base, one in the southwestern storage area, one in the northwest sleeping quarters; 1 in a crate on the bottom floor of the Satellite Control Tower, next to the staircase. A seventh lunchbox can be found on a mail cubby in the interior of the Air control tower.
 * An unlimited supply can be obtained from Kenny in Herzog Mine, as he always sets up a new one to shoot upon the player entering the mine. Three more are on the ground in the path leading to him, and one is on his shelf.
 * 5 can be found in Mothership Zeta. Two are in the Cargo hold near the food shelves, along with two bottlecap mines. Two are on shelves in the Cryo lab, in the area beneath the cryo pods near the center of the map. One is in the engineering core, inside a crate in the northeast corner of the main hub.

Fallout: New Vegas

 * 8 in Vault 11, five in a large room at the entrance to the living quarters, two in the lower level near the reactor and one on a shelf in the Overseer's office.
 * 5 on a shelf in the Vault 21 gift shop. May also be sold by Sarah Weintraub and found inside lockers in the vault.
 * 6 inside the REPCONN headquarters, four on the 1st floor in the gift shop, two on the 2nd floor around the area.
 * 3 found inside the Dino Bite gift shop (must be stolen).
 * 2 at Powder Ganger camp east, with one inside the refrigerator and the other directly in front of it near the plank of wood.
 * 1 north of the Boulder City train station, just under tanks.
 * 1 in the Hard locked room right after entering the Bison Steve Hotel over to the right, on the shelving.
 * 1 inside the train tunnel, first room on the right with the glowing one. On the floor behind the back corner shelf.
 * 1 inside the Primm house closest to the road ramp, on the kitchen counter.
 * 1 inside Michael Angelo's workshop at the top floor small room, on the shelving.
 * 1 at the Old Mormon Fort, South-Eastern tower top floor, on top of the book case.
 * 1 inside the Ultra-Luxe Casino, in an easy-locked storeroom just to the right past Mortimer.
 * 1 inside The Gray, upstairs on a table in a room in the north.
 * 1 inside the NCR Embassy, in a storage room on a shelf, next to the dining and recreation area.
 * 1 inside Zapp's Neon Signs, upstairs on a shelf where the terminal is.
 * 1 inside Harper's shack
 * Found in various cabinets and lockers amongst the wasteland.
 * Sold by all traveling merchants.
 * Sold by Cliff Briscoe.
 * Sold by Carter.
 * Sold by Ralph in Freeside.
 * Sold by Joshua Graham in the Honest Hearts add-on.
 * 10 in and around the crashed scout bus

Behind the scenes
The Fallout 3 Collector's Edition is packaged in a real-world Vault-Tec lunch box. See Fallout 3 promotional items.