Marc Voorhees
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2021
- Messages
- 127
Hello Everyone,
I have asked for a lot of information lately, so I thought I would give back to the forum by providing a very detailed review instead: Warning, this is long winded. Sorry. Sort of
Some of you may know about my trial attempting to buy a Harbor freight ICON box (Thread is HERE). At the conclusion of that I ended up ordering the Tool Vault Elite 84” box from Strictlytoolboxes.com here is my detailed review after everything is said and done.
And for posterity’s sake: Price of the box shipped (with lift gate) was $4725 (The price seems to have changed a bit since last week)
Pre-Purchase and Purchase: I called Strictlytoolboxes the day I decided to order the box. I was still on the fence, and I wanted to ask a few questions I couldn’t easily find answers to online. The call was answered promptly by a gentleman who’s name I can’t remember, but he was super nice and knowledgeable. Allowed me to ramble and ask what I am sure were inane questions and was able to answer all of my questions easily, clearly, and he did a great job setting my mind at ease with the order. I spent the rest of the day doing some more research just to make sure this is what I wanted, and placed the order Tuesday, June 22nd at 11:04PM EST.
The next morning, I received shipping confirmation and details (Shipped through FedEx Freight). I called FedEx to schedule my delivery (Residential requires a scheduled delivery, commercial does not). I was able to get it set up for Friday June 25th. Dealing with Fedex was a bit rough, but once I actually could talk to a human, things went really well.
Shipping and delivery: My scheduled appointment was Friday with the dispatcher saying that odds are I would be one of the first deliveries of the day due to my location in relation to the depot. Well, turns out the driver had other ideas, and I ended up being his last delivery of the day, somewhere around 6PM or so. FedEx delivery policy is that drivers are not required to move things indoors, merely drop them off on the driveway or at the address (For commercial this might be different). In reality, the driver very kindly lugged this massive box into my garage in what can only be politely described as a monsoon (We received 5 inches of rain that day) and I very kindly rewarded him with a crisp picture of Andrew Jackson. Your experience my vary.
Holy **** is this thing packaged well. I didn’t take any pictures sadly, but the box was essentially wrapped in a ¼” plywood outer layer with metal edging holding it all together. Inside that, was a cardboard layer with additional cardboard fillers. The box itself sat on a a pallet made of ¼” plywood, pressboard blocking, and some hardwood strips. The packaging on this was insane. After it was all done, it took me 3 hours to break it all down into pieces that my local garbage company would accept. There was SO. MUCH. PACKAGING. You essential have 3 4x8 sheets of plywood plus all the cardboard and plastic. The plus side to all of this, is that was no damage at all to the box. Took 15 minutes to open and unwrap the thing for the inspection (Fed Ex driver did NOT help with this part), once inspected, the bill of lading was signed and my new toy was officially mine.
Moving it off the pallet was surprisingly difficult. There are wheel blocks installed on the pallet in order to prevent shifting, they are just strips of MDF, but they are nailed down very well, and you cant easy reach all of them because of the size of the box. Once those are removed though, the box actually moves super easy. Using a system that the Ancient Egyptians would have appreciated, I was actually able to use the pressboard blocking (about the same thickness as the pallet and conveniently the same thickness of the step in my garage) to move the box into position. I moved it roughly 20 feet, 8 inches as a time using two blocks per wheel and continually moving the back block to the front. It took some time. Box was HEAVY, and a few times I got into a bit of a pickle and had to think fast to avoid injury. My advice to you? Call a friend.
The box: Okay, don’t need to go into much detail here, the stats and descriptions are on the website. I will comment on a few things though. The fit and finish is very very nice. The color is rich and well put on, no flaws that I could see, the Aluminum top is coated in protective plastic which is nice (mine is still on actually). You can see some welds through the paint in the drawers if you look hard enough, but nothing major. The box is priced as a premium tool, and the quality reflects that. Everything feels SOLID.
The Drawer layout is thoughtful and well considered, I know this is personal preference, but it is a solid starting point. I wish 1 or two things were different, but all in all a MAJOR step up form my USG Set up that this replaced. One thing about the drawers, some people have expressed some stiffness in getting full extension in the last couple inches, I did not experience this. My drawers are buttery smooth and glide right out to full with no issues. YMMV here as well
Drawer lines are nice and thick, my wife mentioned that they look and feel like a yoga mat she bought. Very high quality. The foam dents very easily (Even with just a light pressing of a finger) but it has excellent memory and snaps back immediately. Will see how well this last over time, but it is several leagues better than the USG liners I had before.
The drawer latches easily open from any position on the drawer, and the latches themselves look MUCH more heavy duty than they do on the website page. I was kind of worried with the pictures they showed, but the latching mechanism has been redesigned it seems (See images below) and I trust the design in my hands WAY more than what was shown on the website
Oh, as a surprise to me, it comes with two pull handles, one for each side. This is a nice touch in my mind. I only have one installed, but still nice!
This box is like a TARDIS. Every time I think It is full, nope. Tons more stuff goes into it. It is super nice. The bottom deep drawers are especially nice, and for anyone who measures things in this way, you can very easily place a 3-year-old child in them with room to spare
Things I would like improved: I find the box a bit too tall. I am 5’11” and honestly, this could be 3 inches shorter. If you are using this as a professional and writing orders/computer work/diagnostics all day this is probably okay. But for a workspace I find the height less than optimal.
I wish the drawers were configurable, it doesn’t seem they are, and really, I would just make 1 minor change, but it would be cool for the price if a bit more could be done.
The swivel caster wheels could lock. To clarify this, the WHEELS lock, and lock quite well, but the swivel part of the caster doesn’t (or I couldn’t figure it out). Now, if this is out in the open or moving around, not a big deal. But mine is pushed into a corner. It took me over an hour of jacking, moving, swearing and frustration to move this thing the last 2 feet into position because when I pushed it the casters would swivel and the brakes would point the wrong way and hit the wall preventing the box from moving close enough. I finally got it, but it took some doing.
Power Drawer: Dude, if harbor freight can steal from Snap on, surely you can too right? This is my biggest “want” from the box. I may engineer something at some point, but for now, my tool storage solution is acceptable
The Bottom Line: From order to delivery, it was 67 hours. This is….. genuinely unbelievable. The STB company is super easy to deal with, they overcommunicate to ensure there are no surprises, they know their goods, and they genuinely seem to want to ensure that I ordered the right thing and was comfortable going into the order. The value for the money seems GREAT. Less than 5k, thing is massive, (Used SO Epiq84 boxes seem to be about 7K in my area), well-built and pretty. The Tool Vault brand, from what I can see so far, is very high quality, certainly the top of the line for a homeowner/prosumer without going into the dedicated professional boxes. It is early goings, but I wanted to review this part so far. I will update this every now and again, and if anyone has questions, I am glad to answer them!
I have posted some pictures below.
Box sitting on the pallet
3 Year old in a drawer
3 year old in a different drawer
Box in Place
Here is the drawer latch detail. Look at the picture from the website, see the springs on the bottom of the latches? I was really worried about that. When it arrived though, there was a redesigned latch system with a coiled piece of wire as opposed to the exposed springs. Much better in my mind
How about some tool organization ****? (Please forgive the socket organization, I have new stuff coming this week: Westling trays)
I have asked for a lot of information lately, so I thought I would give back to the forum by providing a very detailed review instead: Warning, this is long winded. Sorry. Sort of
Some of you may know about my trial attempting to buy a Harbor freight ICON box (Thread is HERE). At the conclusion of that I ended up ordering the Tool Vault Elite 84” box from Strictlytoolboxes.com here is my detailed review after everything is said and done.
And for posterity’s sake: Price of the box shipped (with lift gate) was $4725 (The price seems to have changed a bit since last week)
Pre-Purchase and Purchase: I called Strictlytoolboxes the day I decided to order the box. I was still on the fence, and I wanted to ask a few questions I couldn’t easily find answers to online. The call was answered promptly by a gentleman who’s name I can’t remember, but he was super nice and knowledgeable. Allowed me to ramble and ask what I am sure were inane questions and was able to answer all of my questions easily, clearly, and he did a great job setting my mind at ease with the order. I spent the rest of the day doing some more research just to make sure this is what I wanted, and placed the order Tuesday, June 22nd at 11:04PM EST.
The next morning, I received shipping confirmation and details (Shipped through FedEx Freight). I called FedEx to schedule my delivery (Residential requires a scheduled delivery, commercial does not). I was able to get it set up for Friday June 25th. Dealing with Fedex was a bit rough, but once I actually could talk to a human, things went really well.
Shipping and delivery: My scheduled appointment was Friday with the dispatcher saying that odds are I would be one of the first deliveries of the day due to my location in relation to the depot. Well, turns out the driver had other ideas, and I ended up being his last delivery of the day, somewhere around 6PM or so. FedEx delivery policy is that drivers are not required to move things indoors, merely drop them off on the driveway or at the address (For commercial this might be different). In reality, the driver very kindly lugged this massive box into my garage in what can only be politely described as a monsoon (We received 5 inches of rain that day) and I very kindly rewarded him with a crisp picture of Andrew Jackson. Your experience my vary.
Holy **** is this thing packaged well. I didn’t take any pictures sadly, but the box was essentially wrapped in a ¼” plywood outer layer with metal edging holding it all together. Inside that, was a cardboard layer with additional cardboard fillers. The box itself sat on a a pallet made of ¼” plywood, pressboard blocking, and some hardwood strips. The packaging on this was insane. After it was all done, it took me 3 hours to break it all down into pieces that my local garbage company would accept. There was SO. MUCH. PACKAGING. You essential have 3 4x8 sheets of plywood plus all the cardboard and plastic. The plus side to all of this, is that was no damage at all to the box. Took 15 minutes to open and unwrap the thing for the inspection (Fed Ex driver did NOT help with this part), once inspected, the bill of lading was signed and my new toy was officially mine.
Moving it off the pallet was surprisingly difficult. There are wheel blocks installed on the pallet in order to prevent shifting, they are just strips of MDF, but they are nailed down very well, and you cant easy reach all of them because of the size of the box. Once those are removed though, the box actually moves super easy. Using a system that the Ancient Egyptians would have appreciated, I was actually able to use the pressboard blocking (about the same thickness as the pallet and conveniently the same thickness of the step in my garage) to move the box into position. I moved it roughly 20 feet, 8 inches as a time using two blocks per wheel and continually moving the back block to the front. It took some time. Box was HEAVY, and a few times I got into a bit of a pickle and had to think fast to avoid injury. My advice to you? Call a friend.
The box: Okay, don’t need to go into much detail here, the stats and descriptions are on the website. I will comment on a few things though. The fit and finish is very very nice. The color is rich and well put on, no flaws that I could see, the Aluminum top is coated in protective plastic which is nice (mine is still on actually). You can see some welds through the paint in the drawers if you look hard enough, but nothing major. The box is priced as a premium tool, and the quality reflects that. Everything feels SOLID.
The Drawer layout is thoughtful and well considered, I know this is personal preference, but it is a solid starting point. I wish 1 or two things were different, but all in all a MAJOR step up form my USG Set up that this replaced. One thing about the drawers, some people have expressed some stiffness in getting full extension in the last couple inches, I did not experience this. My drawers are buttery smooth and glide right out to full with no issues. YMMV here as well
Drawer lines are nice and thick, my wife mentioned that they look and feel like a yoga mat she bought. Very high quality. The foam dents very easily (Even with just a light pressing of a finger) but it has excellent memory and snaps back immediately. Will see how well this last over time, but it is several leagues better than the USG liners I had before.
The drawer latches easily open from any position on the drawer, and the latches themselves look MUCH more heavy duty than they do on the website page. I was kind of worried with the pictures they showed, but the latching mechanism has been redesigned it seems (See images below) and I trust the design in my hands WAY more than what was shown on the website
Oh, as a surprise to me, it comes with two pull handles, one for each side. This is a nice touch in my mind. I only have one installed, but still nice!
This box is like a TARDIS. Every time I think It is full, nope. Tons more stuff goes into it. It is super nice. The bottom deep drawers are especially nice, and for anyone who measures things in this way, you can very easily place a 3-year-old child in them with room to spare
Things I would like improved: I find the box a bit too tall. I am 5’11” and honestly, this could be 3 inches shorter. If you are using this as a professional and writing orders/computer work/diagnostics all day this is probably okay. But for a workspace I find the height less than optimal.
I wish the drawers were configurable, it doesn’t seem they are, and really, I would just make 1 minor change, but it would be cool for the price if a bit more could be done.
The swivel caster wheels could lock. To clarify this, the WHEELS lock, and lock quite well, but the swivel part of the caster doesn’t (or I couldn’t figure it out). Now, if this is out in the open or moving around, not a big deal. But mine is pushed into a corner. It took me over an hour of jacking, moving, swearing and frustration to move this thing the last 2 feet into position because when I pushed it the casters would swivel and the brakes would point the wrong way and hit the wall preventing the box from moving close enough. I finally got it, but it took some doing.
Power Drawer: Dude, if harbor freight can steal from Snap on, surely you can too right? This is my biggest “want” from the box. I may engineer something at some point, but for now, my tool storage solution is acceptable
The Bottom Line: From order to delivery, it was 67 hours. This is….. genuinely unbelievable. The STB company is super easy to deal with, they overcommunicate to ensure there are no surprises, they know their goods, and they genuinely seem to want to ensure that I ordered the right thing and was comfortable going into the order. The value for the money seems GREAT. Less than 5k, thing is massive, (Used SO Epiq84 boxes seem to be about 7K in my area), well-built and pretty. The Tool Vault brand, from what I can see so far, is very high quality, certainly the top of the line for a homeowner/prosumer without going into the dedicated professional boxes. It is early goings, but I wanted to review this part so far. I will update this every now and again, and if anyone has questions, I am glad to answer them!
I have posted some pictures below.
Box sitting on the pallet
3 Year old in a drawer
3 year old in a different drawer
Box in Place
Here is the drawer latch detail. Look at the picture from the website, see the springs on the bottom of the latches? I was really worried about that. When it arrived though, there was a redesigned latch system with a coiled piece of wire as opposed to the exposed springs. Much better in my mind
How about some tool organization ****? (Please forgive the socket organization, I have new stuff coming this week: Westling trays)
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