Anyone into this Packout craze?

[Zeke]

I guess "Packout" is Milwaukee proprietary. DeWalt and others have their own names for modular storage systems. I have a couple of Festool sanders and they come in what they call "Systainer3." I have no idea what that means but they do stack and attach to one another as high as you want to go.

That's the thing though, if you have a stack of anything something has to be on the bottom and at some point you will need the bottom tool.

Frankly, having had to carry a LOT of tools for remodeling, especially finish carpentry, I don't see the advantage. I think I did better with different systems I had that included milk crates and/or duffle bags. I do believe in molded cases. I kept almost all the cases that the tools came with if they had handles and were rugged enough. Never saw the need for everything to look alike and stack in a modular arrangement. I could carry in a Sawzall case along with a multi-tool case and more and never thought about different sizes or colors. It's all stored in cabinets now (pretty much in rows of vertical cases) and easy to fetch one w/o moving anything other than what I'm grabbing. Stacking them would be awful w/o individual shelves separating them.

All the hand tools are in caddies, one for electrical, one for plumbing and so on. Even one for gardening.

What say you?

[Scott Douglas]

I have a tool box with drawers and work bench with hard to reach shelving underneath but with big drawers as well.
I never accumulated enough big tools to worry about storing them. I never had the room to store them so never bought them.

[URY914]

I take my projects to my workshop, not my workshop to my projects. I don't need to spend $1000 on plastic boxes.

[masraum]

I think I've seen/heard of the Milwaukee packout stuff here on the board sometime in the last 2-3 years, and now I've seen it all over the place. I don't have any, and I don't think it'd be useful for me.

I can see how for contractors that are always working in different locations how it might be useful. I think the deal is that you can get a stack that would be like having a full dolly of stuff, and some of the stuff is accessible without having to remove the stuff on top.




Looks like this setup allows you to access any of the containers without having to unstack anything. This seems pretty handy.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by URY914

I take my projects to my workshop, not my workshop to my projects. I don't need to spend $1000 on plastic boxes.

Yeah, doesn't seem like something that your avg homeowner needs, but I can see how it would be handy for contractors or folks that work with their tools where ever the work needs to be done.

To tell you the truth, I could almost see using it myself. My garage is not "exposed tool friendly" Anything left out will end up rusting, so everything needs to be in some sort of container. And my garage is detached from the house, so I invariably end up having to cart tools from the garage to the house if that's where the work is, so something like the last photo that I posted above might be handy. But I'd be better suited to one with "off road" tires.

But, I'd rather spend $9 on a few of these.

[Zeke]

Yes, you can get just drawers but in the pics above ^^^ the tools are stacked and latched. The way I see it is the stack is going to be dismantled somewhat no matter what.

I see now that Festool has some drawer units that jibe with their system. I don't see many drawers here but they could look just like the top opening boxes:



Of course this is silly and another one:



Here's my bottom line on this, there is not one tool company that makes the best tool for every category. Sometimes you want a Bosch, sometimes you want a DeWalt and sometimes you like a Makita. And each brand tool usually fits nicely in the case it's sold with.

Getting deeper into this it has become quite humorous. I see beach wagons, entire vans wall to wall and pick ups with full load slide outs. I even saw a Packout with a drawer full of beverages and a microwave on top. So far Milwaukee has not made one but Makita does along with a battery coffee maker.

Another jumped the shark trend.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I used to do remodeling pre-college where I was frequently carrying tools in and out of houses. I had 5 gallon buckets with stacking organizers inside, each one stocked with different stuff. One would be tools, one plumbing, one fasteners, one electrical, etc. I had a zippered bag for my cordless tools, a toolbox with a handle for my hand tools, and kept less frequently used stuff in my truck toolboxes. So I can definitely see the appeal of having a single hand truck to roll your stuff in/out of the job each day, one trip and you’re done. But for a homeowner with a garage to store stuff, I don’t get it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Getting deeper into this it has become quite humorous. I see beach wagons, entire vans wall to wall and pick ups with full load slide outs. I even saw a Packout with a drawer full of beverages and a microwave on top. So far Milwaukee has not made one but Makita does along with a battery coffee maker.

Another jumped the shark trend.

Yeah, I've seen photos online of over the top setups. Seems silly to me. Kind of like the folks that were paying $50 for a "Yeti" branded 5 gal bucket.

[look 171]

My guys seem to really like it. They just roll it all into the job site. We leave all of our tools at the job until its finished or near finish for the finish floor installation. We get it out to another job or back to the shop . If heavy wood work is involved, we leave our Powermatic 66 saw there as well as a drill press. Our Blum hinge machine is there now, but I like to get that back to the shop due to dust and dirt. That isn't exactly cheap to purchase or repair. I even have have our Festtool Edge bander there for some of the small stuff we need to do to make correction and such.

Its easy to organize given that if the person is putting their own stuff away. If not, no one will ever be able to find anything once its buried into the abyss. Its not my thing but if it work for those who like it, why not. Its better then me when I started. We had bulky metal tool boxes for portable power tools. Now, I live those metal boxes, better then the molded plastic one or the soft tote bags. I jsut threw everything into the back of the truck and sort it out later. Thankfully, I no longer have to do that.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Or, prove to the world that you know how to use tools and build something like this, instead of filling your shop with fancy toyboxes..

[masraum]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Or, prove to the world that you know how to use tools and build something like this, instead of filling your shop with fancy toyboxes..

Or the Studley...

[herr_oberst]

If I had the wherewithal, it'd be kind of a fun art project to design a Studley-esqe nesting tool arrangement into a PacOut. I'd source as many of the same tools as Studley, but with brand new, modern variations sourced from Amazon, Rockler, **** and the like. Design it in the spirit of the Studley, with layers and cubbies and fitted niches. Maybe design the inserts in cad for a 3D printer.

I have neither the money nor the cad skill nor the printer to do such a thing, but I can imagine variations of what it might look like

(And, of course, it would be tacky in comparison. That'd be the point of the project)

[Zeke]

I've seen those 2 pics for at least 10 years. The hardware hoarder must have had something in mind that we all face when we save or stock lots of goodies. I have too many different funky bin/drawer organizers that it looks pretty helter skelter.

Funny, Studly built the ultimate portable chest but it was not for moving around. It may have been so he knew he put away everything and didn't leave a tool in a piano, like aircraft mechanics do, or maybe he felt that his tools were more secure when he went home. I hope he didn't work in a place where that would be a problem.

I'll never know, but he likely built it because he could. It is reported that the chest was under continuous construction and refinement for 30 years. I know when I built one not even close to something like that I fitted it with vintage and antique tools because they don't get changed and replaced. So it's a display completely gratuitous in nature. Closed up it looks like an old laundry room cupboard. All the wood is over 90 years old. Adding patina to fresh cuts was a bit of a PITA, but it looks like it's been hanging there since before WWII. Just as it was supposed to be.

I ought to roll that sucker on the job with all the packer stuff. They'd probably think I apprenticed with Colonial cabinet and furniture makers in Boston circa 1700. In reality the tools are 19th and early 20th Century.

I wonder if Roy Underhill is a closet cordless drill owner.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

If I had the wherewithal, it'd be kind of a fun art project to design a Studley-esqe nesting tool arrangement into a PacOut. I'd source as many of the same tools as Studley, but with brand new, modern variations sourced from Amazon, Rockler, **** and the like. Design it in the spirit of the Studley, with layers and cubbies and fitted niches. Maybe design the inserts in cad for a 3D printer.

I have neither the money nor the cad skill nor the printer to do such a thing, but I can imagine variations of what it might look like

(And, of course, it would be tacky in comparison. That'd be the point of the project)

I think to get the new tools, you'd need tools from Bridge City Tool Works, Veritas, Rob Cosman, Lee Valley?, etc.... I don't think you'd find much worthy of that cool a box on Amazon.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

I've seen those 2 pics for at least 10 years. The hardware hoarder must have had something in mind that we all face when we save or stock lots of goodies. I have too many different funky bin/drawer organizers that it looks pretty helter skelter.

Funny, Studly built the ultimate portable chest but it was not for moving around. It may have been so he knew he put away everything and didn't leave a tool in a piano, like aircraft mechanics do, or maybe he felt that his tools were more secure when he went home. I hope he didn't work in a place where that would be a problem.

I'll never know, but he likely built it because he could. It is reported that the chest was under continuous construction and refinement for 30 years. I know when I built one not even close to something like that I fitted it with vintage and antique tools because they don't get changed and replaced. So it's a display completely gratuitous in nature. Closed up it looks like an old laundry room cupboard. All the wood is over 90 years old. Adding patina to fresh cuts was a bit of a PITA, but it looks like it's been hanging there since before WWII. Just as it was supposed to be.

I ought to roll that sucker on the job with all the packer stuff. They'd probably think I apprenticed with Colonial cabinet and furniture makers in Boston circa 1700. In reality the tools are 19th and early 20th Century.

I wonder if Roy Underhill is a closet cordless drill owner.

It's an amazing toolbox/cabinet. I have to think he was a true craftsman. I suspect if he was into cars, he'd be one of those concourse dry with a diaper kind of folks (not that there's anything wrong with that). It's certainly beautiful.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Zeke

They'd probably think I apprenticed with Colonial cabinet and furniture makers in Boston circa 1700.....


I wonder if Roy Underhill is a closet cordless drill owner.

Of course, as you well know, each of those master furniture makers built custom chests as a flex to display their skill and imagination...and that chest went from job to job. But that was a long, long time ago.

I think that that Festool array that you posted a picture of actually belongs to Roy Underhill.

[vash]

nope. I bought one as a box for the back of my kayak.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by masraum

I think I've seen/heard of the Milwaukee packout stuff here on the board sometime in the last 2-3 years, and now I've seen it all over the place. I don't have any, and I don't think it'd be useful for me.

I can see how for contractors that are always working in different locations how it might be useful. I think the deal is that you can get a stack that would be like having a full dolly of stuff, and some of the stuff is accessible without having to remove the stuff on top.




Looks like this setup allows you to access any of the containers without having to unstack anything. This seems pretty handy.

I use that system for my astronomy kit. So, not a workman's application. It lets me keep everything I need to operate a viewing site in one stack.

[A930Rocket]

I see stacks of them in the back of pickup trucks all the time. No idea what’s in them. That said, for the right person and job, it might be a good idea.

Personally, I have everything piled up in the second row of my truck and the pick up bed. I like to make 10,000 trips back-and-forth, to get what I need. Just like when I’m working on cars. Get my tools, get under the car, and have the wrong tools. Get out from under the car, go to the toolbox, and get back under the car. Repeat, until I have half my toolbox under the car. And if I drop a nut/bolt/socket, I know it will stop under the middle of the car. 🤪

[sc_rufctr]

If I was a pro with a truck that traveled for work then yes (building trade, electrician etc).

Or if I was a many time over millionaire, maybe.