Toolboxes: reviews, advice, pics

We've all got one, whether it's a shoe box or a waist-height set of Clarke draws. I'm tempted to upgrade my scuffed plastic toolbox. Any tips?

Cheap boxes = wasted money

Metal toolboxes only if you use them for work (factory, workshop etc)

Sales are on at the moment.

Not terribly helpful, I got my big box from homebase, which I love but its domestic use only. My bike tools live in a canvas bag, so I can easily carry it around, and I've got a 5 pond jobby which is always breaking so it gets used for everything else.

Bringing this back to life- portable tool boxes for trips abroad, what have you got and what would you take?

I have a makita soft bag with wheels for my DIY efforts. Much cheaper than their plastic boxes and trolley. Wouldn’t plan on DIY while travelling.

But I guess this is for your MTB travels. Can’t you just take a minimum of stuff and find a decent shop/mechanic? I’d think basic maintenance and lube stuff, torque wrench, Allen keys, spare pads and chain, pump, air shot, sealant and possibly a spare tyre. Otherwise I’d want too much crap, bleed kit, cassette tools, hanger alignment... and would keep on taking more and more.

The idea here is to be self sufficient - insofar as that’s practical.

Time for a camper van with a tool wall.

Or an RV and a workshop trailer.

Go big or don’t leave home.

Either a stack of systainers on a commercial/homemade trolly or Peli flight cases. I prefer systainers as they’re modular and cheaper (although still expensive). But most people use the Peli cases with wheels and extendable handle

Would anyone have seen the cylinder that these Allen keys come in associated with a different brand?

I can only see Crescent in Australian web-stores.

https://totalindustrial.com.au/portal/hand-tools/2750-crescent-chkli8-8pc-imperial-hex-key-set-chkli8.html

Not in that cylinder shape but I do enjoy using this Wera version.

https://www-de.wera.de/en/great-tools/l-keys-in-a-two-component-clip/

The cylinder is the most compact holder that I've seen, even more so than the Wera, which is why I'm interested in it.

I've never taken a full set of allen keys when I take my bikes abroad, only those I need. And most of those were eventually retired when I got the Silca T-Ratchet Kit as for most uses, handlebars, stems, seat posts, brakes etc as it replaced the full sized allen keys and is a good rudimentary torque measure. I also swop out the bits in the Silca case to others which are more useful depending on the bike, eg one bike only has torx heads on the chainring, so I don't need the others. The only other really useful tool was a pedal spanner, but I'd often just take a longer 8mm allen key. Those things coupled with a decent leatheman pilers type multitool covered me for pretty much everything aside from the obligatory puncture repair kit. My entire travel abroad toolkit fits into something the size of a bidon, including spare cables, small bottle of lube, tire boot, tubes etc. And most of it I've never used, but it's handy to have if needed.

Some inspiration here:

https://www.instagram.com/toolboxwars/?hl=en

Like Muppetteer, I also use a mini ratchet for home wrenching now and it would be much lighter and more compact than a whole set of allen keys, add to the fact that you can also take torx bits and a screwdriver bit for limit screws if they don't have hex heads, at negligible extra space

I have the Silca ratchet+torque wrench set, and often carry it with me. It's been my default tool for assembling road bikes when travelling for years now, with usually a set of PB Swiss Allen keys as well. However, larger tools are easier to use, in some circumstances, and if I have to take a bleed kit with me I'm thinking of taking a more comprehensive kit. Also, I might smash bits off the MTB in a way that I never anticipate doing to the road bike.

I knew there'd be a suitable thread on here. Looking to finally organise/combine all my tools which are currently scattered between several toolboxes, magnetic wall strips, old mango boxes, etc, etc.
Anyone have experience of this SGS one?
https://www.sgs-engineering.com/stc500b-mobile-heavy-suty-3-piece-tool-box?gclid=CjwKCAjwsJ6TBhAIEiwAfl4TWClvOGOLSrE5IFkqwGwwqRRe1sie0h2qZqs8Lj-J2Ib1u1P6G8yKHhoCY7cQAvD_BwE
Or anything else similar? I'd like it to have some sort of wheels as I have a bad back + a small room where things need to be shuffled round. Budget not quite at systainer level - under £100 definitely.

Some of my swag from our supplier.
Milwaukee Packout is nice and durable
Their backpack ( not Packout version) is nice but very heavy. Extremely solid construction though.

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