I'm no Harbor Freight fan, not at all, but I'd go US General over Husky all day. There's a thread somewhere where someone went and did an in depth review of the big box store toolboxes. The Husky fell below modern Craftsman if that says anything.
the problem there is that the original thread you are talking about, and a lot of the HF vs [kobalt|craftsman|husky|whatever] reviews/comparisons are from 2011, which was 5 years ago.
the HF44 people are in love with now seems to have just been introduced (which is why there are some discussions of HF42's and different paint finishes) in 2011.
while those are all great reviews, and represent a lot of hard work, i am not sure that any of those boxes are the same ones being sold now. while the HF44 seems to still be there largely untouched, i will note that there are two stock numbers listed on the web site, which to me implies that they have two different people building them (although it is possible that it is just two locations of the same manufacturer). i am pretty sure that the other vendors are not selling the same boxes now that they were 3 years ago, let alone 6.
i have actually done a bit of shopping in the last few months. while there is tremendous variability even inside lines (craftsman seems to have standard, heavy duty, premium, edge premium, and industrial, as example), if you pay attention, i think that you will find that there are some pretty nice craftsman and husky boxes out there. maybe not as nice as the HF44, but maybe nicer than the HF26. they are about the same price point for the husky, although the craftsman remain excessively priced at list, thank god they are constantly on sale, eh? at least craftsman differentiates, husky doesn't seem to differentiate them. as an example, the 27" rolling chests go from 5 drawer at 159$ to a 6 drawer at 179$, but them jumps to 249 for the 7 drawer. obviously there are some differences besides just the addition of another drawer, but you need to dig to find out.
at this point, as my head spins, i think that the right answer is to try and decide three things:
1) your budget.
how much can you spend now? if you are going to need to spread out your purchases, do you think the remainder of what you need will still be there?
2) your space.
are you adding, or are you thinking of replacing existing storage too? will selling the old stuff substantially increase your budget? pay attention, replacing two 26/27" stacks with a 40/44" stack might not get you any additional space, and you might end up with less.
3) what you are trying to store?
this is what really defines what you are gong to get. if what you have to store just won't fit in the drawers of that HF44, well, it really doesn't matter how well it is made, or even how much it costs. if it won't work, you need to look somewhere else.
personally, the HF44 (which is really a 40, by the way, they seem to include the handle in the dimension) would be a lot more attractive me me if it just had full width drawers. i guess i can see cutting up the top drawer on the top chest, but even there, i would prefer one drawer. if you are feeling generous, include two drawer separators. and please, dont set the lock on the top cabinet to lock just the top drawer if i turn the key far enough. offer me a "wallet locker" for inside the top for me to keep my wallet in while i am working. charge me extra for it, not a problem.
i understand that all of the vendors have these problems.
i guess, in the end, relying on 5 year old information doesn't seem like a completely rational thing to do, just like writing off the HF chests because of the perceived cheapness of other things they sell is.
