I’m in the process of swapping from Rigid to Milwaukee. I’m not certain I’m making the right decision, but I’m still within the return window for the Milwaukee until mid April.
I started with the Rigid for the same reasons as others here: functional, inexpensive, black, and I liked COO Israel. I was mainly trying to organize my work truck with things that I generally did’t transport far away from the truck. I started with one small box for a decent hand tool setup that I would grab and take to the job. Next I added a medium box for heavier tire changing tools, one for ratchet straps and chains, and another for common replacement parts and fluids. I do like the standard handle on the top of the medium box. Since the boxes are narrow from front to back they carry well. These fit well in the back of a short bed truck with flip tonneau cover. When the half sized parts organizers came out I bought a couple, I liked the execution. Fast forward to not working the same job and I started contemplating using the Rigid more like they were intended, stacked for mobile work. I made up a kit designed to use a standard dolly, unfortunately I was annoyed by how much movement there is when they are stacked, and how long it took when unstacking to get something from a lower box. I purchased one of their drawer units and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Rigid three drawer unit is 16.2” tall and only gives 9” of drawer height. The locking bars on both sides of the drawer are annoying, but the worst part is the detects are very weak so if the box it at all tipped forward then the drawers all opened at once. I was done and moved on.
As I’m transitioning jobs and potentially careers I was looking for a modular setup I could use to organize groups of tools for different jobs, allowing me to have a set of consistent basic tools then add specific groups of tools as needed and keep them ready to grab and go. I had to get over my distaste for the steal me red of the Milwaukee, once I was past that I liked them better than the other options. I looked at Klein, Modbox, Husky, Dewalt and whatever HF had. Packout is ubiquitous on job sites these days. Part of it is marketing and how good the power tools are, but the stuff does work. Milwaukee won out because of the connecting mechanism and the number of different options and accessories.
The Milwaukee boxes are significantly larger than the Rigid in the width measurement by a couple inches, so they do fit more. The amount of 3D printed organizers for the half sized organizers is very intriguing. Using those to organize something like the oscillating tool, die grinder, M12 impact, etc with all its accessories in one grab and go box sold me on trying packout. I can put those entire kits in the workbench drawer for use in the shop or remote. I started out with three of the half sized organizers to be able to stack next to the ammo can. The larger packout boxes are a little less spectacular than the half sized. I setup the medium box with the rails and a deep organizer for my boat polishing kit. The two boxes are about the same size, but the aluminum railed box has a larger footprint making the setup sit tipped over when I carry it vertically and set it down. The ammo can box is good for a circular saw and should fit my track saw. It will be one I probably buy more of. The regular small and medium boxes with the rails are fine, but big enough they can get pretty heavy. My full size M18 sawzall and the M18 7” polisher fit across them without issue. i don’t know that I’ll want to use them for chains and ratchet straps because they will get very heavy. I don’t prefer the large flip up handle on the medium boxes, but I like that the handles latch the top of the box when deployed.
The Milwaukee drawer units are superior to the Rigid in all ways but one. I purchased the three drawer box with equal sized drawers. The 14.3” tall unit has about 9.75” of drawer height, so more efficient than Rigid. The detents on the drawers will hold them closed reasonably well without the locking bar. The only minor complaint is that the drawers do drag a little when opening and closing, even unloaded, something the Rigid didn’t do. My plan is to use the bottom drawer for batteries, middle drawer for impact wrench, sockets, and M12 impact, and the top drawer for common hand tools. If making a stack I’d do a medium box on the bottom with bulkier tools like the sawzall, then the drawers, then whatever smaller kits I need on top. Maybe three of the half sized organizers and the ammo can for parts.
I didn‘t buy any kind of box with wheels or a cart/dolly. I did buy a floor mounting plate and will make my own rolling dolly out of plywood designed to work with a hand truck. There is a good video that shows what I’m going to copy. I generally plan on working close to my pickup, so I shouldn’t be moving the whole stack at once too often. I may be doing some remote work at a brewery in VT later this yea month where I would want a stack and the ability to roll it around. I also want something for storing packouts in my garage.
I’m $570 into Milwaukee at this point. I may have overbought and could return a couple pieces. I wouldn’t want to buy a bunch of this at retail. The buy more save more deals gave a ~40% discount, so the price really wasn’t terrible. I found the two medium boxes brand new on marketplace for $30 each, so they were a no brainer to buy. I’ll play with it for a month or so and see if I’m happy or if I want to go back to Rigid or try something else. If I don’t need drawers then the rigid is generally fine and very reasonably priced.
If I were working from a pickup and needing to take all my tools with me I’d be interested in the Maktrak system. Their design with the handle coming off the bottom of the wheel cart with the cleats to grip the truck tailgate is genius. I don’t see them making a ton of different pieces like Milwaukee has, but it is appealing for certain trades. This video does pick them apart a bit.
