DESIGN MIAMI 2011
TOKYO DESIGN WEEK 2011
DUTCH DESIGN WEEK 2011
VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2011
So what is the ultimate in mobile tool storage? In our research, the absolute best, most useful, and well-designed thing we've found is this:
I know that looks like the lovechild of a 1980s Xerox machine and an X-Box, but in fact that's a basic building block of the Systainer mobile storage system, found here and here, by German company Tanos. (You may see it cross-marketed as a Festool product, as they are sister companies.)
The Systainer system was designed for people who work with tools both in a shop and on-the-go. There are five basic containers, each one scaled up in size from the one below it on the price ladder.
You can use each box as-is, or fill them with a variety of inserts--pre-formed, user-arranged, or "pick & pluck" foam for customization--to subdivide their contents.
If pull-out drawers are more your thing, there's also a line of Drawer Systainers, again with steadily-increasing capacity.
As for how all of these become a system:
See those little green latches? When you stack one of these on another, the latches, rather than holding their own lids shut, slide up and lock to the case above it. This makes it handy if, say, you want to carry a few of them together.
If you then want the entire thing to roll, they make a wheeled base.
The downside to having say, five of these stacked up is if you only needed to access the one on the bottom. For that eventuality--these guys really have thought of everything--they make a Systainer Port, which enables each Systainer to be pulled out like a drawer.
And yes, they're sturdy enough to stand on.
Lastly, so you can get a sense of how these things are made, you can check out this video we found of a guy disassembling/re-assembling them:
Comments
I've been working with this system for about 4 months now and It really is the best for organization. Even the tools under the FEST name are very good and have plenty of thoughtful design like setting to turn on the vacuum only when you turn on the tool
In a vacuum, this would be great I suppose. Unfortunately, in the real world you would be laughed off of the job site for looking like such a dork. I also question the look, which resembles some type of medical container, where is the relationship? Where in this set of storage containers do the tools generations old, passed down from parent to child go? Certainly not in the hermetically sealed pill boxes. Who am I kidding, if you have these you surely own stock in Festool, and park these babies right next to the Harley that you take out once a year.
Festo- the maker of these also has a very nice line of tools with dust collection built into every tool (the tools come in systainters). The vacuum that does the dust collection also supports the systainers. They snap on to the top of the collector and the whole thing rolls to the worksite on the wheels of the vacuum. The tools are high quality and very well thought out. Way better than the crap we generally see here in the USA.
Sheldon
@Charles
Systainer is the Euro standard for storing and transporting tools and hardware, so professionals certainly do not 'laugh people off the job site' for this. These can also store handed-down tools very well indeed, not sure why you think they can't.
I am sure there is a different product for you, one which values aesthetic conceits more than utility.
@ Charles- Noone on a jobsite laughs at Festool- they are highly prized. Any real construction perfectionist or woodworker knows that Festool makes the tools that Hilti want's to beat. Especially in the days when Craftsman is highly laughable as a brand~ even the almighty DeWalt has turned out some crappy tools lately.