Viper Pro 72" review

[Uncle Bob]

First a little qualifier, my post count would imply I’m a newb around here, but actually I joined almost 10 years ago and did some posting back when, but apparently through the years of internet stuff and software changes my older posts disappeared. I am not a GJ junkie however, but I do find it a useful tool and a good reference source. It’s in that light that I’m doing this thread as I found it difficult to find meaningful info on the Viper Pro 72 box. No, I’m not shilling for the company, I’m not getting paid for this write up, I’m a real garage rat like most of you.

As with so many things in life, the choice of a tool box is VERY subjective. We each establish loyalties in our life and set priorities based on our perspectives. So, obviously this presentation is based on my priorities, yours may differ, but for those who are doing research on a larger, roll around tool box I hope what I say will help you in your process. Those professional technicians who live in the world served by tool trucks have a point of view, those of us that are backyard “hacks” probably have a different one. Getting info from the internet can be educational as well as a waste of time, it’s the challenge we must work through. I’m not interested in bashing anyone else’s choices or bragging up mine, just laying out how I got here.

Getting tired of having tools layered in my 41” stacked box, I decided I needed (isn’t it funny how easily we use that word) a bigger tool box. Fortunately there are lots to choose from, but that also presents some challenges. Which one is “best”? One of the most frequent referrals here on GJ is Strictly Tool Boxes, and for good reason. Their website is very informative. Their comparison charting tool answers questions and teaches important factors all in one presentation. If you call them you’ll very likely get a cheerful person who has good knowledge of their products. They have earned a good reputation for prompt shipping and follow up. Had I not chosen the Viper I would have bought one of their offerings. So why the Viper Pro 72? At this point in time it came down to a value judgment. High on my list of requirements was drawer layout and amount of drawer space. Added benefits of the Viper were all six wheels being swivel for the kind of maneuverability needed in my shop, and convenience. As for information their website isn’t as good as STB, but a phone call answers all your questions, especially when you can talk to the owner of the company as I did. As of this date they are running what I consider a killer deal. A 72 x30, 18 drawer unit WITH a hutch and “free” shipping that includes lift gate service. The materials/features are very comparable to some of the best of the import/non-tool truck choices, and at $2600 in black, or $2800 in all stainless there’s a lot of bang for the buck. Quite frankly, at their “normal” price, near a couple grand more than the current sale offer, I wouldn’t have given Viper a second thought.

I’m going to follow this with a series of pictures to give you a feeling for what you would get if you order one of these. First off, this box, and any comparable or supposedly better box of this size is HUGE and HEAVY. Think about your work space, not just the width, but also when you have the drawers at full extension. In this case, with the drawer fully out it’s roughly 58” from the wall to the drawer face. That’s a lot of real estate, particularly in a home garage. Second is the logistics of delivery and set up. I missed taking a pic of the palletized assemblage as it came off the truck, but since it has the hutch it ends up with the base unit in it’s crate with the crated hutch stacked and banded on top. Great for ease of shipping but perhaps a challenge when you get it delivered. If you work in a shop with several good buddies nearby, no sweat. If like me you are home during the day when most of your neighbors (poor fellas) are at work you need to figure a different way. I have my loving bride to help, but she is somewhat skeptical of this kind of deal, and always thinks we need to invite over a dozen or so guys with small hats and big necks. First I managed to convince the driver of the delivery rig to use his pallet jack to roll the massive shipping unit into my garage from the curb area. Roughly 75 feet, and all I had to do was listen to a couple of his stories. Once in the garage I had to get a little creative. I backed the pickup into the stall, cut the binding bands and with the brides help we slid the hutch pallet into the truck bed as it was only about a 16” drop. I’m not sure how much the palletized hutch weighs, but glad we could slide it as we weren’t gonna lift it (I’m an old arthritic fart, and she’s younger but ……………well, you know). Then the disassembly of the wooden crate around the base unit. Very well packaged I’d say. Roughly 1/4” plywood with metal rails around the edges that interlocked for strength. That was followed by a cardboard box then a layer of foam over the plastic bagged tool box. Though the lower pallet portion showed some forklift abuse, the body of the crate was undamaged and intact. Happily the box inside was undamaged as well. The only assembly required was the attachment of the handles at each end. Knock out the bracing around the wheels, and the support blocks underneath and the base unit was ready to roll off the pallet. I then rolled the base unit over to the tailgate of the truck where we’d unpacked the hutch unit. That was wrapped in cardboard and foam, with a less substantial pallet base, but then it wasn’t intended to get the same sort of heavy handling the base unit gets. With the base unit on the floor and the hutch in the bed of the 4x4 truck on it’s pallet I only had to lift the hutch about 6” to get it on top of the base box. Now, I’m a tad fussy and didn’t want to risk damaging the top of the base box so I used some ¾” dowel stock I had on hand to make rollers so that I could easily slide/roll the hutch into position (remember the hutch was too heavy for us to lift). Well, it worked like a charm and we had the whole rig stacked and ready to roll into it’s space. As you can see in the pictures, I went for the stainless steel model. For the mere $200 difference it was worth it to me. Now it does have some requirements that some would see as high maintenance, but hey………what the heck. You’ll see in the pics that the protective vinyl is still on the drawer faces as well as the box sides and top. It takes a while to peel all that off, especially on the drawer fronts as it wraps around the edges which makes the peeling a bit more tedious. Order the black powder coated one and you probably won’t have to mess with that, and the cleanup of the adhesive left behind. One other point of logistics to consider, especially for the home user, you’re going to have quite a pile of foam sheet, cardboard, and plywood when you’re done unpacking. Disposal could get interesting.

(Due to text limit, see next entry)

 

[Uncle Bob]

How does the box compare to other products on the market? Well, that’s a bit of a **** shoot for those of us that haven’t laid hands on every possible alternative out there. Unlike some of those who will let their mocking bird mouth overload their humming bird *** and criticize what they don’t know or trust, I’ll just give you my impressions based on some exposure to tool truck boxes I’ve seen, and some comparison to data published by vendors such as STB. The Viper Pro 72 has a 16 g outer structure, checked it with my metal gauge and it is. The drawer shells are 18g, again measured. The ball bearing slides are very smooth and sturdy. If you’ve ever felt the low dollar slides, even ones with ball bearings, there always seem so be a …………let’s call it “gritty” feel to them………..or maybe a “metal to metal” roughness. These are smooth, perhaps “heavy” feeling………..hard to explain, but maybe you get what I’m trying to communicate. They are a detent secured drawer, which to some is a big negative. Yes, I would agree that a latch system would be friendlier for ease of opening and secure closing, these are pretty stiff………..at least with an empty drawer. I haven’t moved my tools over yet and expect that with some weight and use they will smooth out, or more accurately, ease up some. Maybe not, but they can be adjusted which again may be an annoyance for some, less for others. This is part of where a lower cost is achieved. While the outside is stainless steel, the drawer shells themselves are regular steel so if you use magnetic tool holders they should stick just fine. These drawers are true full extension. I have seen some that were an inch or so less than full even though they claimed to be. Only the deeper, large drawers have double slides on the sides, but the others have holes already punched, and the inner frame has accommodation as well, if you wish to add extras if you have an abundance of heavy tools. The shallower of the drawers measure 2 ¼” in depth, the deeper 5 ¼”. I make mention of this as the data on the Viper site shows the side wall measurement rather than the total depth which would give the impression that the drawers are too shallow for typical tools we’d use. I had a conversation with the owner about that and he said he would change the info on the site, though he’s had customers who were more concerned with sidewall height than total depth. Potato, potahto………

The hutch is what I would consider a luxury. At the pricing Viper is currently offering the hutch is practically “free”, so why not take it. Were the box alone cheaper enough to matter to me I probably would have passed on the hutch. That being said, now that I’ve got it I’ll figure out how to utilize it to good service. Viper does this unusual thing with vertical drawers at each end with steel peg board inside. Giving it some thought while waiting I think I’ll use these drawers for clamp storage. I test fit a variety tonight and that might just be the best use for my shop. The big center area will probably house chargers for the various battery powered hand tools I’ve got as well as the shop music machine (some call these a radio, but that seems sort of old fashioned now). The hutch lock is keyed differently from the lower unit, but perhaps a call to Viper could fix that. Haven’t tried that yet.

The wheels are very substantial even though they don’t have the high zoot spring setup. I don’t move my box around much, and my floor is pretty flat, though I do have a bit of a bump in the transition from the original garage to the added on shop space to the back. The box and hutch unit navigated those quite easily, and even though the box is empty it still weighs well over 1000 pounds with the hutch on top.

Am I happy with my choice? Was Russell Wilson happy last night? Hell yeah! For the money I still feel it’s a lot of bang for the buck. Features and stated materials it stacks up VERY well against the best that STB sells at a bit more, or quite a bit more depending on how you value the hutch. Is it as good as the tool truck units? I would say it’s competitive with the lower end ones that the big boys have brought out to fend off the import stuff. Probably not as good as the best that the tool guys sell, but then this is ½ to ¼ the price. Sure, some folks will tell you you can find used boxes of higher quality for the kind of money this one costs, but while it’s possible, it’s not probable unless you’re willing to wait and work a long time for that opportunity to pop up where some guy is desperate enough to take a low offer. At least in my part of the country. I’ve watched for a few weeks and haven’t seen anything comparable in size and drawer layout for less than $5k in a used box. I’m sure there are better deals from time to time, but it’s not a regular occurrence. Time has value to some of us, and that’s also part of the equation.

For those who’ve wondered about the Viper Pro 72 I’d be happy to give any more insight that I may have not mentioned here. Just ask away. Otherwise, if you’re on the hunt for a good upgrade tool box this is one to give serious consideration, especially at their current sale offer.

 

[Ruger_556]

Dang man... 3 posts in 10 years?

Nice box though

 

[ADSR]

wow! That's a nice box, bob!

congrats!

 

[Jeepster425]

Never thought I'd see someone else from maple valley on here

 

[Rockuf8]

Very nice write up, very nice box. Stainless looks great.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Spinaker01]

Hi there, welcome back to GJ. Nice write up on the toolbox, you could have been a journalist. Hope to see more of you around these parts.

 

[BK13]

Looks like a pretty nice box. I like the idea of the side drawers in the hutch, but for me, I think I'd like more, smaller drawers. But I like everything else!

 

[Uncle Bob]

Looks like a pretty nice box. I like the idea of the side drawers in the hutch, but for me, I think I'd like more, smaller drawers. But I like everything else!

Thanks for the kind words from most.

BK, that is part of the hunt, finding the configuration that best suits the type of tools you have and how you want to store them. In this price range of box this is one of the models with the most "smaller" drawers if you're meaning the shallower depth. The difference in square inches of storage between say a 15 drawer and an 18 drawer could be significant for some. The trade off is drawer depth, if a guy has larger tools then the shallow drawers are a negative. In my search it was only the high end tool truck boxes that had the choice of more shallow drawers as delivered. Now, as I mentioned, the inner framework has provision for more sliders. A guy could try to make a deal with the folks in this price range to purchase/trade for more of the shallow drawers and corresponding slides and customize the drawer configuration, but I suspect that could increase the cost.............perhaps significantly. But there are options....

 

[cheechi]

I looked at the small photos before reading. Was going to say that's a nice clean white box you got.

Never been a huge fan of stainless boxes myself. But it's yours not mine. Check back with us in 6 months when you've had a chance to use it some and tell us how you like it then.

 

[jptbay]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review, and offer to answer more questions.

Do any of the drawers have stiffeners on the bottom to increase strength? Could you please post a picture of the underside of the large top drawer?

At full drawer extension, how strong do the drawers feel when pushed sideways? Is there any twist or flex, or are they pretty ridged?

You mentioned that the drawer detents can be adjusted for firmness. How is this achieved? Could you post a picture or two of this please?

Would you be willing to remove a drawer or two, to post pictures of the internal construction of the box? Curious about the locking mechanism for the drawers as well.

Thanks again for being willing to post these details. Why Viper Tools can't provide better info or pictures on their website is beyond me.

 

[ZRX61]

When it comes time to wipe it down, the store brand Stainless cleaner sold at Fart & Smile works great

 

[Uncle Bob]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review, and offer to answer more questions.

Do any of the drawers have stiffeners on the bottom to increase strength? Could you please post a picture of the underside of the large top drawer?

At full drawer extension, how strong do the drawers feel when pushed sideways? Is there any twist or flex, or are they pretty ridged?

You mentioned that the drawer detents can be adjusted for firmness. How is this achieved? Could you post a picture or two of this please?

Would you be willing to remove a drawer or two, to post pictures of the internal construction of the box? Curious about the locking mechanism for the drawers as well.

Thanks again for being willing to post these details. Why Viper Tools can't provide better info or pictures on their website is beyond me.

Okay, you've challenged me a bit as I didn't see your questions until I just came in from the shop after transferring most of my tools over from the old box. However, I do still have two empty drawers so not a problem to take one out for you.

To your first question, yes the widest drawer has three rib braces on the bottom, pic attached. The next widest at 27ish inches does not have braces, but with the 18g steel they're very rigid and show no stress from the tools I have in them. The one with the collection of air tools weighs a fair bit, so that's a good sign.

Next the flex at full extension. There is a bit, but not what I would consider a lot considering that there has to be some tolerance in the design of the roller slides so some small movement is to be expected. In a couple of the other pics below you can see the slides and their tracks.

Next the detents. They are the black wedgeish looking things at the back end of the slide tracks. They are "rubber" so have some give and can be rotated a very small amount. As I've been putting weight in the drawers, and using each one more they have gotten easier to work with, though do require a straight out pull. Pulling even slightly "sideways" reduces leverage. I talked to the owner of Viper this morning and he said that they do have some softer ones available, but that for the expected loading of this large box he would recommend against changing them unless the stiffness persists after some use. He also mentioned that ambient temperature affects the stiffness of the rubber like material and that they would be less resistant in warm environs, more so in cold.

Lastly the construction and lock mechanism; Two pictures for that/those, one straight back and one of the side wall. In the straight back you can see the vertical stiffener, and if you look closely there"s a round wire "bracket" on the face of it. That is the locking mechanism, when you turn the key that rotates to engage a J hook on the back of the drawer. The side shot shows three stiffener ribs that also serve to hold the slides for the drawers. That shot also give you another view of the detent at a slightly different angle.

Then I included a pic of the whole shebang without all the protective vinyl on it after cleaning the glue residue. Those post-it notes are my way of organizing the distribution of tools. I mostly had it worked out in my head before hand, but I did do a bit of reorganizing after sitting in front of it in my "thinkin'" chair. Once I have it all worked out I'll whip out the label maker and put a little nicer identification on them.

ZRX, thanks for the stainless treatment suggestion. As you might have seen in the pics up above I'm not new to stainless tool boxes (yes, I'm a glutton for punishment) and have some products that work pretty well........plus we don't have S&F up here that I know of.

 

[jptbay]

Thank you! Very helpful.

 

[Wrench 2201]

Very nice box Bob! Also thanks for the write-up, it will help when I go toolox shopping later this year.

 

[MattPersman]

Great review / write up. Congrats on the new box enjoy it

 

[Uncle Bob]

I had a plan in mind when I got this box to personalize it a bit. I didn't mention it earlier because I didn't know when I'd be able to get around to it. But motivation hit me so I jumped into doing something new. I did a vinyl wrap on the drawer fronts. I went back and forth in my mind on which way to go. One idea was to use a colored clear vinyl wrap in either red or deep blue with the expectation of a candy color effect. The other, and the one I ultimately chose, was to go with a carbon fiber look. The stuff I ordered is two color, black and gold, with the gold being dependent on light to show. Well, as you can see from the pics in some light it only looks black. I haven't cleaned the vinyl covering yet, so in the lighted pic the smudges from handling show. Gotta find a product that will clean that and not damage the surface. As for the other color choices, hey, it's vinyl, it can be peeled off any time and done differently.......................but not for awhile...............too much work to get it here to throw away so soon. Besides, in person I really like this look. The stainless and black work very well together.

 

[tarbellb]

Great looking box combo, thanks for the review.

And, dont waste your money on expensive "stainless steel shine" its a hoax.

Ive installed stainless steel kitchen cabinets and appliances worth 100k, after cleaning just wipe/buff it down with a light coat of olive oil.

 

[scrappy610]

Wd40 cleans stainless good, and makes it smell like a garage too, maybe I'm just off though lol nice box, great review, and I like the wrap

 

[Uncle Bob]

Okay, one of the earlier posters asked that I check back after 6 months of use to see if impressions have changed with use. It's only been 5 months but what the heck............those with OCD be damned!

In a word; no. The box has performed every bit as well as I would have hoped. The slide out rails are still smooth, the detents work fine with weight in the drawers, though uneven in pull effort necessary from drawer to drawer. Again, as speculated earlier, that seems to depend on the amount of weight in the drawer. My air tool collection is the heaviest drawer and opens/closes with ease yet stays shut when desired. Admittedly I don't roll the box around my 1500 ft. shop, it's not that hard to walk back an forth when necessary, I'm not on the clock for income, and loaded, I'd guess this thing probably weighs close to a ton...............I'm too old to pull that around unnecessarily. For the little moving of it I have done it rolls smoothly and relatively easily, but it's heavy. This thing is stout with no signs of straining under use.

As an aside, and as I said in the beginning I'm not interested in slamming the choices of others, but I was curious about why it seemed so many folks are in love with the Harbor Freight larger roll around boxes (50 some inches). Some will take this as a slam, but it's more of a commentary about trying to decipher what/how people rate seeming comparable products online. It may be possible that HF carries different products in different locales, but I must say, to compare these two is apples and elephants based on the units my local store had on display. Maybe (probably) it's a price point thing, maybe experience of the buyers........whatever, the HF box isn't anywhere close to comparable to this Viper.............much less to the upper end tool truck boxes. Again, it's probably fine for those who can tolerate light duty stuff, and who impose a light duty budget on themselves.

I took a look at the current deals on the Viper site and as for the 72" boxes they have three varieties available right now. The black armor version is $1900, the regular black is $2000, and the stainless like this one $2400..........all including delivery, all WITHOUT the hutch. In fact they don't even show the hutch in 72" anymore so may have discontinued it altogether. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't sold on the need for the hutch and probably would have bought just the bottom unit at the time if it had been offered on the sale deal as it is today. Based on what I know today, hands down, I'd jump all over that Armor version (the extra trim doesn't offend me as it might others) for price to value. I have grown to appreciate the hutch though as it keeps things cleaner, and keeps sloppy ol' me from stacking a bunch of stuff on top that "I'll put away later.....". The two side slide outs have worked out especially well for my collection of clamps as anticipated, probably would be good for anything else that is effectively stored on a peg board. Since the hutch covers part of the peg board I had installed before that's what it ends up replacing with the added benefit of a locking door when that serves an infrequent useful purpose.

Based on the limited response to this thread, and few other threads on this or any other sites, these have a pretty limited appeal. Likely too expensive for the mass market, and not "sophisticated" enough for the pros, which relegates them to we few in that middle ground. So, if you're one of those few, read this, and have any questions I'd be happy to help with your decision making if asked.

 

[Jack Palmer]

I completly agree with your review. I owned a triple bank Snap-on box( forget the #) when I worked for Land Rover North America. They're great boxes but very expensive. I have three of the Viper 28" boxes in Lime Green set up at home,side to side .with a wood work surface as a top spaning all three. It may not be the quality of construction of the pro boxes but it's pretty damn good and much better than anything HF sells. Not knocking HF because if that's what you need and want to spend,it'll work too.

 

[GSMotorrad]

Maybe (probably) it's a price point thing, maybe experience of the buyers........whatever, the HF box isn't anywhere close to comparable to this Viper.............much less to the upper end tool truck boxes. Again, it's probably fine for those who can tolerate light duty stuff, and who impose a light duty budget on themselves.

After reading this thread, about the US General 44" Harbor Freight boxes being about the best thing in the world, I took a long hard look at my 41" Armor Viper top chest and bottom rollaway. I didn't go as far as that guy in the thread above, but I noticed a lot of little things, where the US General 44 seems much nicer. My Viper doesn't have a tube frame on the bottom for support, it just has steel shallow-C channels. I don't know what you call them. Strips of steel about as wide as the caster plates, with the sides bent for more rigidity. My drawer slides aren't riveted in, the clips that hold them eat into the drawer's real estate, and poke my screwdrivers, not really letting you put tools flush up on the side of the drawers. It is designed for ease of replacement, no rivets, just pop a new one in.

The drawers also don't have rolled edges on mine. The steel is thick, so it's rigid and sturdy, but in that thread I linked above he says the US General uses the same thickness gauge steel, yet adds rolled edges for rigidity. That seems nice.

If you push a heavily loaded drawer in too hard, it bends the little tabs in the back with the rubber bumpers, and then the drawer sits too deeply in the cabinet, so you have to take the drawers out to bend those tabs back.

I really like the locking system on the Viper, it seems extremely ********, like a safe. My cheap Craftsman, you can just pull hard and it'll deform enough to open drawers. The Viper has some solid rods that severely block the drawers from opening. It's very awesome.

From reading that other thread, the Harbor Freight US General seems like a sturdier and nicer box, but I've never fondled one in person. Just going off his pictures and words. I just didn't want a red colored one. If it really is that nice, and for $350, then that's tough to beat. I can't say I'd recommend going with Viper for twice the price. It does seem more prestigious though, and that might be a big part of it. Just the thought of having a Harbor Freight box, seems so ghetto. I'd have to de-badge it, and make it say HUSKY or something.

 

[Uncle Bob]

@motorrad, thanks for adding commentary, but I feel it necessary, and perhaps useful, to separate apples from oranges.

First, this thread is primarily about the larger Pro box. I happen to have a 41" Viper box that I got for a really cheap price locally that I use for supplies (wire ties, nuts/bolts, wire supplies, etc.) so I'm familiar with that unit as well. There is a world of difference between the Pro this thread is directed at, and the 41" box. As only one of several possible comparisons to list, the Pro has the rolled edges on the drawers, and as you stated the 41 does not. For what I'm using the 41 for that's not an issue as the material (except nuts and bolts)are relatively light. The top is probably thin for what I've done to it, I've got a couple of those multi compartment nut and bolt assortments (probably 200 lbs) stacked there and the top panel has a slight bow to it, but that hasn't affected how the drawers below work. As for the flexing and the drawers "sinking in" I haven't had that happen, so don't know how that differs from yours.

I would point out for anyone who might still view this post for shopping sake that you admitted you haven't actually laid hands/eyes on a piece for comparison. Good of you to admit that as it should temper the evaluation. I stand by my actual observations of the product at the store noted above. Since I wasn't comparing to the Viper 41 I didn't make that comparison, though based on memory I'd say at worst they (the HF and the Viper 41) are probably overall pretty similar in features and potential durability. The only real test would be to have one of each, side by side, subjected to the same usage by the same person.............probably not a practical experiment.

 

[Richard Cranium]

nice box, thanks for posting

 

[Uncle Bob]

As requested earlier in this thread, and as noted in others of a similar nature, the real test of durability is use over time. I recently posted up a new thread on some NewAge cabinets I recently installed and it reminded me that I hadn't updated this thread in awhile. It's approaching two years that I've had this box and my enthusiasm for it has not diminished a bit. It continues to perform as well as hoped. We recently moved from the Northwest to Central Texas and I loaded the drawers with extra tools (stuff I normally keep in cabinets) as a packing strategy. Needless to say this really put a weight load on the box. It was fun watching the moving van guys load this baby, took six of them to get it up the ramp, the two older guys on the crew huffing and puffing the while. They were a good bunch of guys at both ends of the move. No damage to the box, and no self inflicted damage due to the extreme weight. The drawers and hutch door still align as good as ever and slide with the same ease they always have. In the new location I've had cause to roll this thing around a few times for different functions and trial fits and though it weighs well over a ton loaded it moves very easily. Like I said before, I'm very satisfied with the overall value this unit provides.

 

[Super Sport]

Thanks for the posts and pictures! I have this same box in red and branded Craftsman. I really like it, and have considered upgrading to a new Viper one in black. As mentioned, the biggest downside is the detents, especially in the cold Michigan winters here.

Viper used to sell a top box, but it seems they discontinued that model (and the hutch looks like it's no longer available either). I personally don't care for hutches for a home shop, but I did like the top boxes when offered.

Do you have any pictures of your layout in the hutch or drawers? I'd be interested in seeing how you have everything set up, might give me some good ideas!

 

[Uncle Bob]

Do you have any pictures of your layout in the hutch or drawers? I'd be interested in seeing how you have everything set up, might give me some good ideas!

SS, I presume you mean the side drawers of the hutch as "normal" drawer pictures abound on this site. So here goes.....there are some blank spaces because I have a fair number of clamps doing things right now.

As for the center hutch area I don't have any pics, but it's pretty boring in there. I have battery chargers for hand tool batts, a box of lint free paper towels, and a radio. A few small hand tools on hooks in the peg board style back panel. For the cubic feet of it I don't utilize much, but it's a fairly clean area so has it's benefits.

 

[Uncle Bob]

SS, I just realized there's a distance shot of the hutch center area in one of the pictures in the thread I did on the NewAge cabinets I installed, here's a link: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=341000