Best Tool Bag

[Sailguy61]

Hello all,


I'm looking for recommendations for a quality tool bag to hold all of my tools in lieu of the metal briefcase like container that all of my tools came in.

[Lake-Effect]

I've gone through a few choices.

Metal would be unsuitable. Inexpensive plastic toolboxes have been a fail for me. After a couple of drops or a few bounces around the cabin, the hinges or clasps break.

I've thought about a fabric tool bag, which I use ashore, but I'd be concerned about the fabric getting damp/wet, especially if you're in a saltwater environment. I suppose you could make the bag interior "oily" to help protect tools.

There are some open tool caddies, but they of course dump the tools if they flip.

Ours is a small boat so I don't need a lot of big tools aboard. My new toolbox will be a plastic 30-cal ammo case. It's more robust, waterproof, and has much better hinge and latch. It might store easier too.

On this page, there's a longer 12-gauge ammo case that might have been an even better choice.

Hope this provides some ideas.

[Island Time O25]

I have two. Both came from Harbor Freight i believe. One was on one of my prior boat and the other I had at home from way back when. The smaller one is for everyday stuff and the larger one for seldom used but still needed items such as large wrenches, etc.

I'm also using a pouch with tools from the Mercedes I had back in the 80s. The car itself was 1971 so the tools and the pouch are that old. Not a speck of rust on them. If you ever come across such items at a yard sale or on craigslist I highly recommend them. So much better than the modern Chinese made trash.

[nwdiver]

Cloth tool bag that fits into a 5 gal plastic pail, many companies make them, lots of pockets and easy to store....

[Wild_Rover]

Toolpak original.
I've had mine for years and have it fully loaded.
https://www.toolpak.com/html/PACKStoolpakoriginal.html


Mike

[mlydon]

klein tool bags. Leather bottoms, anti-skid feet, heavy canvas with metal re-enforced closures. They've been around forever.....

https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/t...nvas-tool-bags

Matt

[Steve_C]

DEWALT DGL573 Lighted Technician's Tool Bag, 41 Pocket

https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DGL573...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Its not cheap, but well worth it. Really well built, tons of pockets and compartments and Lit on the inside (Powered by a AA Battery)

[pjShap]

I've been very pleased with my Husky tool bag, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWRDNYQ/. It lives in the forepeak and has been wet. At the end of the season I empty it out and rinse in fresh water. Seems fine after 3 years.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by pjShap

I've been very pleased with my Husky tool bag, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWRDNYQ/. It lives in the forepeak and has been wet. At the end of the season I empty it out and rinse in fresh water. Seems fine after 3 years.

I have two Husky tool bags. They work great. Similar to the Dewalt suggested above. Any heavy gauge cordura nylon bag with a reinforced bottom and feet will work well. The Huskey's have a semi-solid bottom.

[sagablu]

If you are worried about your tools getting wet, there is a solution. An example:

https://www.amazon.com/Gonex-Waterpr...%2C158&sr=8-36

[TravelinLight]

If you want stuff that will last look at these two companies:

https://www.atlas46.com/products.html

https://adventuretoolcompany.com/

Both of these companies have excellent reputations in the Overland / Vehicle dependent travel community.

[transmitterdan]

I really like the canvas rigger bags from Green Mountain.


https://www.greenmountainproducts.com/new-products

They are extremely durable. If you have a lot of tools then you need more than one but they are not that expensive.

[keepondancin]

"I really like the canvas rigger bags from Green Mountain."

This is what I use, both on the boat, and on land. Working on someone else's boat, it can be put right on the sole with no damage. Just have to make sure the bottom is clean. It stuffs away, holds a real lot, plus looks salty. On land, I use them, again, you can go into someones house and put it right down on a wood floor, on a counter top.Have one for hand tools, and use one for the battery drill, charger, and boxes of bits. Another has specialty tools that aren't everyday tools. Never had any trouble with water, but when it did get wet because of not paying attention, it drys out. I also use tool rolls to hold wrenches, using one for each SAE and metric. They are available from the "Wooden Boat Magazine" store. Those other bags have zippers, a potential problem, and hard bottoms.

[dougweibel]

These are cool: #711 Original Nantucket Diddy Bagg - Tall Canvas Tool Tote
https://nantucketbagg.com/collection...ant=7305290945

I saw them at the Annapolis show last year and would have picked one up except they are pricey. I love the way you can unzip it and unroll it open like a tool roll, then roll it back up and zip it back into a bag. Thinking of sewing my own

[CassidyNZ]

Having started my career as an auto mechanic, I originally bought top-end tools to ply my trade. That was in 1973, I still have 98% of them in my workshop 47 years later. I promised myself I would never take them on the boat to get destroyed.

When I bought my boat in 2006 in the US, there were no tools on board and since we would be voyaging to NZ, I went to Home Depot in San Diego and bought an el-cheapo tool set along with two sets of open-box spanners and a screw driver set in plastic folding boxes. My thinking was they would last for the voyage home then I would toss them out.

They’re all still on the boat, all still fully functional and still in their original “packaging”. No rust, no wear, nothing missing. The only thing I have replaced is the side cutter as the cutting edge got dulled with corrosion.

Previously I had different cloth roll-ups that I made myself, specific to the job at hand. One electrical, one plumbing and one mechanical. But as someone else said, once the bag gets salt water on it, the life of the tools in it is essentially over.

The plastic formed boxes I have now are “the bee’s knees” on my boat.