The modular tool box system market exploded in recent years, with the number of brands and product lines doubling.
More options are always good for tool users, as competition drives brands to innovate, iterate, and launch better products.
I put together the above timeline to include all of the major modular tool box systems, but there are even more.
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Amazon, for example, has an exclusive “beyond by Black & Decker” tool box combo, and Purdy has a combo tower for painters. I don’t consider those products true systems, and so I didn’t include them in the timeline.
2010: Bosch L-Boxx
Bosch wasn’t first – it was preceded by the Festool Systainer system.
On that note, Bosch L-Boxxes – and others – licensed IP from Festool’s parent company. You’ll find this bit of information molded into the tool boxes themselves. The same is true for the Makita MakPac tool boxes that resemble Festool and Tanos’ first generation 4-latch Systainer tool boxes.
The Bosch L-Boxx system was very different from Festool’s system, featuring self-actuating side latches. The tool boxes were also far more affordable.
The L-Boxx is part of the BS Systems company a joint venture between Bosch and Sortimo.
2011: Dewalt ToughSystem
Dewalt announced their ToughSystem modular tool box system at a NYC luncheon media event held by Stanley Black & Decker’s hand tools and storage team.
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It launched with just 4 products – 3 sizes of tool boxes, and a rolling cart that allowed for immediate access to any of the attached tool boxes.
2011-2012: Festool T-Loc
When I bought my first Festool power tool in 2011, it came with a T-Loc Systainer.
They definitely shipped in mid-2011 though. I know this because the green T-Loc latch was missing from my circular saw case. I ordered through Tool Nut on Amazon, and called them up on a Saturday morning. They told me to look at the bottom of the tall box, and there I found that the latch had simply popped off during shipping.
Festool USA’s website says the T-Loc Systainers launched in 2012, which might be when the tool cases were first available separately.
2012: Dewalt Tstak
Dewalt quickly followed up and launched a line of smaller and more economical tool boxes under the Tstak name.
They also launched a separate line of Pro organizers. I recall asking the product manager if they would also be launching ToughSystem or Tstak organizers, and they said they wouldn’t.
Dewalt now has Pro organizers, ToughSystem organizers, and Tstak organizers, as well as an adapter that allows for cross-system compatibility.
2014: Ridgid Pro Gear
The Ridgid Pro Gear system, exclusive to Home Depot, was pivotal in expanding interest in modular tool boxes.
The tool boxes were well-made – but not quite on-par with Dewalt – and more affordably priced.
Users beyond construction industries and similar started to pay attention.
2014: Makita MakPac
Makita launched their own MakPac line, which closely resembled Festool’s earlier generation Systainer tool boxes.
2016: Husky Connect
Home Depot launched the Husky Connect system, with lower pricing that seemingly targeted DIYers and consumers.
2017: Milwaukee Packout
Milwaukee Packout changed the game.
There were just 8 products at launch – a rolling tool box, 2 sizes of hand-carryable tool boxes, 3 tool bags, and 2 organizers.
Honestly, I initially thought the system was well-designed, and I welcomed the forward-sliding latching system, but I thought the pricing would be prohibitive.
When initial inventory kept selling out that first holiday season, that’s the first sign Packout was going to change everything.
2018: Craftsman VersaStack
The VersaStack system offered slight improvements over the Dewalt Tstak system, and brought over a couple of options that had previously only been available in Europe.
2019: Dewalt ToughSystem 2.0
Packout seemingly prompted Dewalt to do better. They updated their tool box system with automatic side latches, insert trays, and half-width tool boxes.
2020: Metabo MetaBox
MetaBox is compatible with older-style Systainers.
We haven’t seen much from the line in the USA.
2021: Hart Stack
Hart launched a modular tool box system exclusive to Walmart stores.
2021: Craftsman Tradestack
Craftsman launched their TradeStack line. It was originally a Lowe’s exclusive, but can now be found at other Craftsman retailers.
The TradeStack tool box system is smaller, but does offer user-friendly features.
2021: Ryobi Link
Ryobi Link came to Home Depot.
The system launched with a single 3pc rolling tool box combo and wall-based storage products and accessories.
2021: Harbor Freight Bauer
Even Harbor Freight stepped foot into the modular tool box market.
2021 saw the introduction of 4 new systems from major brands. Aside from Ryobi Link, there wasn’t a lot of innovation driving ideas and integrations forward.
2022: Kobalt CaseStack
Lowe’s launched Kobalt CaseStack. While the tool boxes weren’t revolutionary, Kobalt was first to tout external attachments.
CaseStack products were impossible to find until the holiday season.
2022: Flex Stack Pack
Flex launched the Stack Pack system, featuring externally-mountable accessory rails.
The accessory rails are screwed into the tool boxes’ corner bump guard rails.
2022: Ridgid Pro Gear 2.0
Ridgid upgraded their tool box system slightly but in significant ways, offering wall-mounting as well as a detachable hand cart.
The detachable hand cart can be used with any of the brand’s XL-sized 2.0 tool boxes, including drawer tool boxes.
2023: Klein Mod Box
Klein ModBox advanced the idea that you can attach tools and gear to the outsides of a tool box.
The system features quick-attach accessories and has electrician-friendly features, such as a way to transport conduit benders.
2023: Husky Build-Out
Husky launched a more modern-featured tool box system that also provides the means for external attachments.
2023: ToughBuilt StackTech
ToughBuilt launched their StackTech line at Lowe’s, and also provided a glimpse into their huge roadmap of expansion products and accessories.
StackTech does things a bit differently.
What’s in Store for 2024?
With so many different brands and options now available, differentiation is increasingly important.
Why buy Flex over Packout or StackTech? Why buy Klein ModBox?
Does Kobalt CaseStack offer anything you can’t get from other brands?
The more successful brands will be focusing on 3 areas:
- Innovation
- Expansion
- Integrations
From the teasers I have seen and the hints I have been given, big things are coming, and not just in 2024.
Looking at the launch timeline above, you would be right to think that the market is a bit saturated; we’ve seen 9 brand new tool box systems in the past 3 years alone.
However, there’s still enormous sales potential, and every brand will be competing for a place in your work truck, van, workshop, garage, or hobby room.
The next couple of years are going to be interesting.
Nathan
Question are there any family similarities to them. Like does any of the hart system work with others in the TTI family
As some of the hart stuff is price attractive to diy work.
I like toughbiilt items but so far I’ve stayed out of the modular items. I like bits of a number of the but I don’t do a lot away from home so I don’t really need them. But I need better organization
Stuart
No, except for Tstak and VersaStack being compatible.
Jronman
I heard trade stack is also compatible but I could be mistaken.
IndianaJonesy (Matt J.)
It’s not fully compatible. There is an adapter plate that comes in some of the combos that allows Tstak/Versastack to dock on top of Tradestack.
Jared
I didn’t realize Toughsystem predated Packout by so many years.
The design of Packout seems like it won’t have trouble expanding into externally-mounted accessories (though perhaps not so simple to DIY as other brands).
I wonder if we’ll see another revision from Dewalt to keep up. Toughsystem 2.0 doesn’t seem like it has external accessories in mind.
Jronman
The Tough System 3.0 images floating around suggest external accessories are coming. They also suggest an updated DS Carrier hand cart is coming.
mizzourob
How many of these have the same OEM accross brands? Harbor Freight Bauer, Menards Masterforce (missing from the list), and Container Store Tactix (also missing from the list) are all clearly the same OEM and are intercompatible.
Joellikestools
Menards is pretty localized to the Midwest so they don’t always geta lot of attention.
s
good thing no one lives there!
Ed
You are correct- all these are OEM by the Chinese company Meridian which owns the Tactix brand.
John E
I have mostly Makita teal boxes (20 or so) and Bosch L-Boxxes (around 20). Plus around a dozen Systainers with whatever tools came in them.
The Makitas are decent and very compact. The latches on the early ones were super tight but you can sand the edges slightly and they close just fine. Bought a bunch when they were all $19.99 a piece (except #4s) and Amazon was offering $20 off $100 on Makita – no tax, free shipping. They’re not worth more than that to me.
The L-Boxxes I’m not fond of. Got a bunch for next to nothing and they live in the shop and only store supplies. Leant on one gently one particularly cold morning and the lid just cracked.
Have three older Husky medium boxes which get bashed around in the truck and are pretty indestructible and very water resistant. Canvas totes cover everything else.
Can’t see myself getting into a newer modular system as I’m not a neat freak and not that fond of lugging all that plastic around.
Jronman
Tough System 3.0 images have been floating around. Rumor has it Stanley Black and Decker are taking images down of it which could me that it is actually a real upcoming product. I have heard some say Packout is due for a gen 2.
BrianA
The number of systems/brands is ridiculous and will keep growing. Had the rigids way back and I can’t believe it wasn’t more popular, prolly cause they only had 4 pieces for ages. Bought packout as my store was taking them out of the box the night before they we’re on sale that first year and now I might be the packout king of the USA, has only made my portable organized OCD worse I think.
James
You might have to fight for that kingdom according to YouTube 😂
William Adams
Any word on which systems will be discontinued?
Husky Rolling Connect seems likely to be replaced by the new “Build Out” system.
Travis
The connect still has something I haven’t been able to find with any other brand. Including the build out. Imo their cantilever small parts organizer is the best for small parts. And the removable bins that I didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg extra for.
William Adams
Husky Rolling Connect is definitely winning in terms of value at the low-end — I keep considering, but haven’t tried any of the cantilever options, will have to keep them in mind.
Bill D
I tried every Husky Connect for my handyman biz — loves: compact and durable. Favorite piece: open tote
Least favorite: drawers (just didn’t solve a problem for me and were not great fitment)
One downside was the connect mechanism was not super reliable. Like if it got slammed it could disconnect, which would not be good
Koko The Talking Ape
I think DeWalt should streamline/organize its storage systems, maybe eliminate one line. Something.
Stuart
Dewalt has 2 lines. They emphasize ToughSystem, but Tstak continues to sell.
Why eliminate a product line that’s making money?
Koko The Talking Ape
ToughSystem 1 and 2 aren’t different? Are they compatible?
Stuart
Yes. There are few exceptions, such as the half-width ToughSystem 2.0 organizers and boxes not having any place to latch in the middle of 1.0 tool boxes.
Nathan
Oh and the new tekton system which is systainers but cheaper. I think. It’s interesting but for a shop space
Stuart
That’s just the L-Boxx rack system.
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/tekton-modular-mechanics-tool-kits-storage-system/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
JR Ramos
I was going to call out the Tekton release, too….yes, boring and something of a disappointment, but deserving to be on the graphic probably.
James
What a journey.
I just bought more Packout last week and my stack of empty L-Boxxes is now over 12’ tall.
There’s some small improvements I would like for Packout, but it’s 95% excellent and hope if they make a Gen 2, it’s cross compatible because I’m in DEEP.
Jeff
Double check your info on Festool, hey had the Systainer system out in the 90’s.
Stuart
Not the T-Loc. The T-Loc (Gen2?) came out in 2011-12.
I couldn’t easily find exact launch timing for the 4-latch Systainers, and determined it wasn’t important enough to spend much time on.
Michael F
The Systainer Store has a full history of Systainers somewhere on their site – I believe they started shipping Festool products in Systainers sometime in the 90s?
JonH
1993 according to a quick search, kind of seems important to an accurate timeline.
https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/festool-history-and-innovations
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systainer
Stuart
Thanks, I’ll consider including it in the next revision.
Notthathandyofaman
Wow, it seems like a tight race! Great info. Interested to see what the future holds for this growing product
Nate
Big fan of Systainers. Great for general workshop organization and for transporting finish tools. They take up very little space compared to the construction industry focused boxes.
w00dy
Same here! Lot of Systainers I like the smaller footprint.
But slowly I’m building out my MetaBox kit. As my Metabo machines all came with one.
They are way stronger then Systainers.
An are the the same depth as Systainers but most are wider.
They stack good with systainers but only the smallest widht versions (as wide as a Systainers) you can lock under the older style Classic Systainers with the 4 latches. From there you can stack further with the Metabox’s.
It’s sort of same with the T-loc’s and the current Systainer3 (that is a better fully compatible T-Loc with slightly different height except for the 118). Is that you can lock these on top of the Classis Systainers but not under.
I even bought an adapter that locks on top of MetaBox so I can lock Systainer3, T-Loc or Classic on top to stack further.
I think it is really expensive to stay in one system but I try to.
In realy don’t like L-Box the shape takes up a to big footprint. And there to big most of the time for me. Most houses here in Europe are small…
Michael F
I finally sold the last of my Packout (it’s been a process) and am fully invested in Systainers at this point. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, the Systainers are better for my personal needs and minimize wasted space which I had a lot of in the Packout system. If I absolutely needed bigger boxes for certain things I would probably go with Flex or ToughBuilt at this point. Both of those systems seem very solid and innovative. Both of them feel and look great in person and have excellent latching mechanisms. Both of them offer innovations that Packout and ToughSystem are lacking. It’s a great time to be a tool storage enthusiast!
Rx9
There’s a certain je ne sais quoi about modular tool box systems that makes them enticing. Sure the sturdy construction, lighter weight, and ease of use is great, but there’s a semi-futuristic aesthetic in many of these systems that wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi movie. I honestly think that appearance is something that has helped speed up their adoption in the tool market.
Tony
Thanks for making the timeline. I had always wondered how these storage systems have evolved over time.
Robert Dailey
I use the Tstak/Versa stack system. I prefer the smaller footprint and especially like the price. While I wish there were a few more options the available variety (if you mix both systems) is pretty good.
I like my systainers but they’re 3x the price of TStak and not as durable
Blocky
I‘m waiting for hands-on with ridgid and stack tech drawers to make my next investment.
The tough system and packout drawers didn’t convince me.
I have a tower of tstak drawers. While the haptics are perfect, imo they weigh too much and sacrifice too much volume (handle assembly) for mobile.
I used to use various bags and work carts but modular systems are proving easier to deploy when dispatched in small vehicles or recover by ride share.
Blocky
Did not mean to post the above in direct reply. ^^^ although I agree tstak/ versastack punches above its weight and has a better footprint for finished homes.
MT
I’m not a pro who hauls tools from job site to job site daily, just a DIYer, and I think VersaStak/T-Stak is perfect for my needs. I prefer VersaStack because, at least when I started buying in, it had metal hinges and weather sealing that the DeWalts (confusingly) lacked.
Vards Uzvards
For whatever reason, the VersaStack is lacking a single-drawer box. I think, I have more single-drawer boxes than double-drawer ones, overall (between two places).
JR Ramos
Thanks for drafting this…fun to look back over the years and see the progression/explosion. In my head I was thinking Packout had been around several more years but maybe that’s because we’re just inundated with packout-this and packout-that, and images of vans and workshops/garages just stacked with them.
I find it interesting that this product category took So Long to finally come to fruition. In the 90s people were clamoring for this but everyone had deaf ears. This ramped up when metal cases were almost completely replaced by blow mold cases, none of which could do anything but slip and slide around. When DeWalt started doing the hard plastic cases (mostly similar to the later Tstak) it was a good step up but still so group-mobile. I’m surprised Bosch hasn’t put their financial muscle into a better system yet.
We should probably applaud the efforts and risk taken by Flex and ToughBuilt to introduce their lines to market because both (if successful enough) may prod Red and Yellow to further improve. I wonder how Klein will do…doesn’t seem to be terribly accepted just yet but it’s new.
Stuart
I don’t think any brands are worried about Flex’s storage line, but StackTech might prompt some counters.
w00dy
Bosch is at least half owner of BS group = Bosch Sortimo the maker of L-Box
So they are invested in a System.
JR Ramos
Yes, but I said “better system”…it’s been many many years and they haven’t really done anything different with them. Maybe their global adoption is sufficient or people aren’t upgrading and replacing so they don’t feel the need. Certainly the US market with so much disposable income is the bizarre hotbed for this category (would sure seem so).
Lance Stickle
I’m an airline mechanic and naturally these type of boxes exploded in popularity for taking out to the acft on the flight line. And I can tell you every airport in the country you’re gonna see pack out. I personally have never seen a single other system in use by anyone. Milwaukee really changed in this market and even though newer and better things may have come along, everyone is already invested. Also anyone who really uses these boxes hard every day… can attest that all these little trinkets they keep adding for marketing.. it’s just to much at this point. “Check out our clip on boot brush! Or how about the hot dog holder!?”
Matthew
While I understand Tstak/Versastack isn’t for everyone I still believe it’s the best system for the money period. What you get for that small of a price tag is phenomenal. They just released the large rolling box for Versastack at lowes for $90 that holds two stacks of boxes on top.
Next up the half size Packout options are top tier for the money as well. Not as heavy, not as expensive and take up quite a bit less room than the full size Packout options.
Joe
Id love to use systainers for everything but you drop them once and they shatter
fm2176
My story with modular toolboxes is as follows:
In 2014, fresh back from Afghanistan, my wife bought her first investment property. The Ridgid Pro system was new and the three-box set was $99, so I bought that. Subsequently, I bought one or two other sets, along with stand-alone boxes, organizers, and crates.
In 2015 (or so), DeWalt released the DS450 rolling box to complete a set similar to that which Ridgid offered, at about $129. I then bought the DS Carrier and some other boxes, including at least one more complete set. In 2021 I bought TS 2.0 to include some half-sized organizers.
In 2018 (or so), I bought Packout and VersaStak systems, later adding the TradeStak in 2021.
I’ve had a singular L-Boxx, which was decent enough, but I gave it to my daughter along with the drill and radio it came with.
Of what I own, I’ll provide the following insight:
Price vs. versatility: VersaStak
Price vs. durability and overall ruggedness: Ridgid Pro
Overall feel and variety of options: Packout
General all-around utility: ToughSystem
Now, TradeStak does offer limited compatibility with VersaStak, and is generally more rugged. TS 2.0 offers some more fleshed-out options to better compete with Packout.
In the end, if I had to choose one system, it would probably be the Ridgid Pro. Those are the boxes I’ve used and abused the most over the years. I’ve had to replace one of my DS450 TS boxes, and the Milwaukee ones are priced to the point where I (as a non-professional tool user) don’t want to risk them being damaged or stolen. But then again, we only live once, so I’ll likely just start exhausting all of my current boxes and buying more of those that hold up.
Fiteboss
The problem I’ve found with every system is that the drawer units are too narrow. Those of us doing on site mechanical service (think machine tools, packaging, etc) have the need for an 18″ wide drawer for socket extensions, a few long ass screwdrivers and a pry bar. Every drawer I’ve seen is only 16 odd inches wide. Putting the long tools in at a diagonal kills the utility. I know you can put them in a lift top style toolbox but nobody wants to be lifting boxes off of a stack and then reattaching them everytime you need to move.
Stuart
The wider a drawer, the more reinforcement is needed to prevent sagging.
Fiteboss
Whoever comes up with a decent 18″ wide drawer system on wheels (no cart) will capture a bunch of the market. Lots of us guys are using wheeled cases running 80-100+ lbs and would love to be able to break it down using stackable boxes with a reasonable weight in each. That plus the ability to customize modular boxes according to task would be a game changer in the service world.
Dj
ToughSystem 2 DXL, coming out soon, doubles the size of width/depth .
ACME had it listed in one of their recent flyers, pricy though.