Tekton has launched a new system of modular mechanics tool kits and storage products, featuring stacking drawers, custom foam inserts, and more.
The new Tekton system is based on and fully compatible with Bosch and Sortimo L-Boxx products.
Tekton’s first wave of products features individual components for everything you see here, plus a 239pc mechanics tool set with 6 drawers, removable open-top tool box, and a grab-and-go top box with a 105pc SAE and metric socket set.
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In typical Tekton fashion, the brand makes it crystal clear what you’re getting.
The drawers can be removed, allowing you to bring your tools and parts with you.
Or, roll everything over on the 4-wheel dolly.
There are two drawer insert options. Shown here is the covered drawer with a clear lid and basic latches.
There’s also an open drawer, which helps facilitate access to your tools.
Both drawers are sold separately.
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When building a custom tool kit, you can add as many drawers to a stack as you wish. The drawers and stacking drawer docks are sold separtely.
There are 5 tool sets to start – a 15pc inch combination wrench set, 19pc metric combination wrench set, 78pc bit driver and hex key set, 10pc high-torque screwdriver set, and a 12pc pliers set.
Each tool kit comes with a custom-cut foam tray.
The foam has two layers – a 1/4″ top layer that is heat-laminated to a 1-1/2″ bottom layer. The contrasting colors make it easy to see if any tools are missing.
The tray inserts are made from closed-cell 1.9 lb/cubic foot density polyethylene foam.
Tekton is also offering a couple of different parts tray options.
This 105pc socket set is available separately and as part of the larger tool set shown above.
It features two foam inserts, with the top designed to be easily removed when you need to access a socket from the lower tray.
You can also buy empty L-Boxx tool boxes which can be fitted with parts trays (different from the one shown above or customizable foam.
Tekton’s foam, as shown here, is very different from the spongey foam that used to be available for customizing an L-Boxx tool box. The foam insert has 6 layers, each 15mm thick, that are aligned with foam studs. Hot glue or CA glue can be used for permanent attachment.
The foam can be cut with a knife, with guide marks making it easier to cut along 90° or 45° angles.
Tekton has full country of origin details on their website.
For the 239pc tool set:
Made in Taiwan: Sockets, accessories, ratchets, breaker bar, spinner handle blade, wrenches, L-keys, bits, bit rails, bit driver blade, cutting pliers, long nose pliers, lineman’s pliers, locking pliers, and mini pliers.
Made in USA: Drivers, spinner handle, bit driver handle, slip joint pliers, groove joint pliers, nut jaw pliers, and foam.
Made in Germany: Lid insert, open top drawers, and stacking tool box.
Made in Poland: Stacking drawer racks.
Discussion
I was lamenting the other day, about how Bosch’s L-Boxx stacking drawers have become hard to find. Little did I know that Tekton was building a new modular tool kit system around them!
This seems like the perfect way to leverage the L-boxx drawer rack system!
If you want to build your own storage solution with empty tool boxes, racks, and drawers, I’d say that Tekton’s pricing seems reasonable, and even very good.
I checked a couple of L-Boxx SKUs, and found Tekton’s rack components to be comparably priced if not less expensive. There are some exceptions – the L-Boxx dolly is less expensive on Amazon.
Tekton also has a deep open tote L-Boxx. I’m not familiar with this style.
It will be interesting to see how Tekton expands this line in the future. There are all kinds of convenient L-Boxx products, such as this tool box with 2 drawers, and accessories.
In my opinion, the L-Boxx is no longer competitive with modern modular tool box solutions for mobile use, but their drawer solution works very well for workshop needs.
Everything I’ve seen so far looks good. I’m excited about this, and also for what we haven’t seen yet.
There is huge potential for Tekton to expand this system. There’s already a world of L-Boxx accessories and integrations that are presently available, with two major downsides – cost and availability.
I also feel that this is a very clever approach. Tekton leveraged the best parts of an aging modular tool box system, and they did so in a way that makes it not only relevant again, but compelling.
Need something Tekton doesn’t offer (yet)?
Tekton’s stacking racks can also fit Gedore’s L-Boxx-compatible drawers and trays.
Robert
Good development to have more options. But because it’s plastic instead of steel, it seems somewhat space inefficient. For example, the black slide in drawers into rather fat red sides on the cabinets, or in the Bosch box near the bottom, the two blue slide in drawers into the blue Bosch “tool box” cabinet. Didn’t see any quantified cost info in your article. Maybe the plastic construction gives enough of a price advantage over traditional steel garage storage units that the space inefficiency is a good trade off for the DIYer that isn’t heavily using these Tekton units.
Randy
I think they clearly had space efficiency in mind. The wrenches and pliers are stood on their sides to fit more in. The Gedore box at the end holds half as many pliers as a the Tekton box. Maybe it’s not the most space efficient option, but they did a good job within the limitations of a standardized form factor.
Robert
Ok, I’ll take that one on the chin. I wasn’t interested in their packaged tool sets, so I didn’t notice they oriented the tools vertically in the foam. But, if you don’t buy their package tool sets, it still has the space disadvantage of the thick plastic sides. Which may be a perfectly acceptable trade off on price.
Michael F
It’s incredibly refreshing to see a brand go with an international standard instead of reinventing the wheel yet again with another Packout clone. I wish other brands would do the same! For example, why is Makita USA filing a patent for a Packout competitor when they could just update their existing Makpac system to the more modern Systainer 3 platform?
You pointed out one of the major overlooked benefits of using the Systainer or L-Boxx platforms: interoperability with other brands that support the same platform.
I think the difference in storage platform tendencies between the US and International markets stems from how the different manufacturers package their new tools. European manufacturers tend to package their new tools in storage box solutions whereas US manufacturers tend to package their new tools bare (or in a bag) and offer modular storage solutions. If all of your new tools come in storage boxes, wouldn’t you want them to work together? It does make sense.
Scott K
It seems like there’s a lot of potential here – nice to see what looks like an efficient storage solution other than heavy metal cabinets/carts. The mobile modular storage space has become so saturated. It’ll be interesting to see how the pricing works out.
MT
Those drawers will be the platform’s “killer app”. My concern would be how long Tekton will be committed to selling them. I would hate to invest in the system and have them be orphaned.
Jim
I think the ability to and an additional drawer or drawers is genius.
Their foam seems like it would easier to work with in a custom application.
I like the compatibility with different manufacture’s offerings.
I wouldn’t like the two layer socket set case. Maybe I’m just too used to working out of one large top drawer.
The only drawback I see is not unique to this tekton offering, no real provision for decent security.
Mike
>I wouldn’t like the two layer socket set case. Maybe I’m just too used to working out of one large top drawer.
Yeah, that jumped out at me as well. It would get frustrating to have to always find a place to set that upper insert. Would have been better to put in 2 drawers, though maybe it would have to be 3 to fit which is a lot. A folding side table would help at least giving you a place to set it.
Patrick T
As someone who hasn’t invested in any modular system but, also needs “something” that is better than what I have, I’ve been curious about the L-Boxx system. It seems nice to see a company work with a standard rather than reinvent the wheel. Seems pretty flexible.
Like Jim said, I think the drawers are slick. I like the idea that you can basically take the drawer out and move it to where you’re working.
I’ve been leaning towards the new ToughStack stuff since they are black and seems pretty minimal in their styling. I may have to reconsider.
James
Do you live in the Northeast? I’ve guy about 15 L-Boxxes ready for the lowest bidder here in Montreal..
In fact I just bought a Packout mounting plate today to replace the last L-Boxx “bay” in the van with Packout.
Stuart: the open totes are LT-BOXX and come in all the same sizes / heights as L-BOXX. They have a top handle and are excellent for bringing parts and consumables onto jobs – they are not part of the giveaway?
L-Boxx Review, pros:
– square corners; space efficient
– light when empty
– flat bottom so easy to stack perpendicular to each other when you don’t need or want to clip them all together
– lots of configuration options
– adopted by several tool brands
Cons:
– brittle / fragile (I’ve broken all kinds of clips and handles and corners over the years without being abusive)
– they’re more toy box than toolbox
– the clipping mechanism means they can’t be side by side in a vehicle etc because you can’t get your fingers in there
– the clipping mechanism is very difficult if you have any kind of arthritis and will give you arthritis if you don’t already have it.
– the clipping mechanism gets quite stiff and sticky over time and sometimes fails and needs replacement springs (spare parts available)
– both the clipping and the fragility are exacerbated by any freezing temperatures
– same drawbacks as most modular systems; you have to unclog to get to anything – this is made worse by the uncomfortable clipping mechanism.
Overall: the open totes are excellent for parts and consumables and I’ve been quite pleased with the 1 drawer unit I have as well, so good on Tekton for using the drawers and the open totes. The regular L-Boxxes: I still have about 5 or 6 in shop use on a couple of dollies but if I didn’t already have the L-Boxxes that stuff would be in Packout crates. The plastic is too brittle in Canada and the clipping (unclipping, specifically) is literally a pain in the fingers.
I think Tekton is taking the best of the L-Boxx offerings here though, and I repeat that the open totes are great. I just did an install tonight where I filled a couple up with all my install bits and the ability to one hand them with the top handle like a bucket is really an advantage at times.
Peter
While it is a bit odd that they go with this older box design my experiences with them is very different from yours.
I only managed to break one so far and they are going back and forth to job sites.
I had their biggest one fully loaded drop on its corner while unloading and it survived with minor damage.
James
Are you in the north or south?
I may have skewed negative there, which I guess is why I moved away from them. They were revolutionary (game changer 🤨) in their time.
Do you need any more? Pay the shipping and away they go.
Peter
Southeast and that depends how much shipping is these days.
Stuart
L-Boxx isn’t bad, but its connectivity can be awkward and clunky. The drawers and racks are the best part, everything else is compromised.
My issues stem from trying to align and connect heavier boxes. A power tool or two, or couple of hand tools shouldn’t have you cursing at it the way I do.
I’ve been switching over to Packout, but haven’t and will not give up my L-Rack systems.
They’re also not weather sealed – I had a couple of things rust in L-Boxxes that were left in an uncontrolled environment, but nothing happened to the contents in my ToughSystem tool boxes.
James
Haha yeah it’s so weird how close they can get without actually clipping together. And when the boxes are loaded they can sort of deform, and one side clicks but not the other.
When I started my business in 2017, Packout was on the horizon but not yet launched. I went all-in on Sortimo because that was the best at the time. No regrets because hindsight is 50/50, but a little patience and maybe using some Walmart bins until Packout was released would have saved me a little bit of $$$ and a lot of cursing at those awkward clips.
My first vehicle was a Mercedes Metris before I was finally able to upgrade to a Sprinter. That meant a lot of what I called Metris Tetris, sliding around stacks and trying to unclip (or re-clip) boxes that were behind other stacks, sometimes in -30 C.
Oh man I do not miss that setup.
AP
I have 5 or 6 of the Bosch boxes and never much cared for them ’cause I’m mobile more than stationary, but, this does seem very intriguing. Now if Makita would do something with their boxes. Nice work on this, Stuart, thanks!
Wesley Penn
Honestly, this seems like a great idea. Not sure if it would work long term for a Mechanic etc…, but I think for a DIYer, someone starting out, or a pro with odd needs this seems great. Innovation in this sapce is always welcome.
Nathan
I saw that the other day and almost posted. This makes more sense to me for my home diy use
Way cheaper than sortimo. Actually reasonable
I was thinking I’d put 3 drawers and empty boxes as a kit setup on top of my 31 inch roll around. Or rail it to the wall where I park it.
Nathan
I will say tekton is one of the more interesting outfits.
I’ve bought some of their stuff for my brother in laws. Flawless, works well. They list proof testing of the sockets ratchets etc.
I look at them before I look nearly anywhere now.
Got their new USA made flare nut crowfoot in metric. 8 10 and 12 to go with my flare wrenches. As good but not quite as thin as my stahlewhile sae ones. But canted on angle which I think helps
Anyway. Interesting
Ray
I was excited to see the StackTech toolbox release, but as only a DIYer this would be a much better system for me. I bought into the USA-made Versastack when I worked at Lowe’s, and at this point switching would be an expensive and gainless endeavour as my toolboxes serve me well.
If I were to start again now, I would probably go the Tekton/L-Boxx route for these drawers – they would let me group tools to my heart’s content, and it would be nice to remove individual drawers and bring them inside as I need them. Maybe I will make an adapter.
MT
Same. I also got all my stuff in VersaStack/T-Stak. The Tekton stuff looks better, but based on the pricing on their website, not better enough to justify the expense—especially as a home DIYer. I also like knowing I can just run to a local Lowes or Ace Hardware if I need more.
Jeremiah McKenna
I like it. However I’m already deep into Packout, but wouldn’t mind buying the tools and foam inserts and adjusting them to be able to fit in both a regular, steel toolbox and then transferring wjat I may need for a particular job to my Packout for mobility. I wonder what the tools and trays will cost?
Derek
Pricing is all posted on the link above. For the wrench set it’s $160. Plain wrenches only is $105, stacking drawer rack is $20, drawer is $15. So you’re paying $20 for the pre-cut and labeled foam.
I agree with you about buying the tools in the insert. The storage system seems cool but without latching drawers I can’t easily move this in my car to go work on it. Whenever I do get a garage I’d rather just put the foam inserts in a traditional toolbox.
Jared
It looks pretty good. Considering the push back against adding “yet another modular toolbox system”, probably a smart idea to leverage an existing product.
I’ve a couple of ideas… How about some way to add a shelf? Either off to the side or as an modular piece you integrate into the stack.
The point would be having somewhere, at a convenient height, to place a drawer you removed or items removed from the tool box. I can imagine storing parts at the bottom and not wanting to have to bend over every time I grab something – and if you’re working mobile, there isn’t always a table nearby to put your stuff on.
Second idea – I love precut foam inserts, but these are pre-shaped for their modular box system. Even if I don’t buy into the tool box system, I still appreciate tool sets in foam. How about making them square with perforated lines where to tear to fit into the modular boxes? That way I could plunk them into a metal tool chest instead.
I realize there would be wasted foam space, but I’d rather have that than look at the gaps if I put the foam into a tool chest drawer.
Stuart
I can see Tekton offering other tool sets with foam tray add-ons in the future. I suppose it’s a question of demand.
Another tool brand hinted that they’re coming out with a foam tray customization solution, but details aren’t available yet.
Andy
I saw this and was extremely impressed with how Tekton keeps coming out with new and updated items to stay relevant in the tool arena. I did order a complete set of empty L-Boxx’s to put all my electronics install equipment in. Right now I am working out of two tackle boxes, and I think with all the options for the various trays, this will be awesome.
I also could see the tool set being a nice addition. I have a complete shop with welder, plasma cutter, tire machine, and a 72″ chest full of all my tools I need. I will say it is annoying when I am up at my house and want to do something around the house, or something quick on one of the cars and having to constantly go back and forth to the shop. I may order the complete set and keep that in the garage for the house and quick stuff on cars so I don’t have to keep walking back and forth…..
James
Somewhat off topic but 20% off everything at Sortimo (maker of L-Boxx) North America until November 27th.
Ct451
I took a wrong turn and run into this “Qbrick® System Pro Set 1” for $50. Has a very packout-ish color scheme.
https://www.lidl.com/products/413618_A