Tool storage, worked out properly
Drawer slide ratings, sheet steel gauge, modular box footprints, truck bed geometry, foam layers, corrosion thresholds and lock grades. The specifications behind tool storage, taken apart properly, with the arithmetic shown.
The seven clusters
Storage is one subject with seven separate engineering problems inside it. Each hub covers its own completely.
Tool Chests and Roller Cabinets
Slides, steel, casters and capacity, decoded before you spend.
11 guidesModular Stacking Tool Box Systems
Packout, ToughSystem, Systainer and everything that clicks onto them.
8 guidesPortable Tool Boxes and Tool Bags
Fabric, latches, hinges and the weight you carry all day.
6 guidesTruck Boxes and Jobsite Storage
Fit, materials, payload and security for storage that lives outside.
10 guidesDrawer Layout, Foam and Organizers
Foam, rails, liners and layout that survives a real week of work.
7 guidesShop and Garage Storage Systems
Walls, ceilings, benches and the clearances that govern a layout.
10 guidesRust, Locks, Security and Care
Keeping the contents dry, present and insured.
7 guidesStart here
The guides that answer the questions people arrive with.
Packout vs ToughSystem vs Systainer vs the Rest
Nine modular tool box systems normalized on footprint, published load ratings, ingress claims and usable liters per dollar, with a decision guide by trade.
Chests and cabinetsDrawer Slides on Tool Chests, Explained
What a 100 lb drawer slide rating actually promises, how ball bearing and friction slides fail, and how to read the spec sheet before you buy a chest.
Drawer organizationKaizen Foam and Shadow Foam: The Complete Method
How laminated polyethylene tool foam works, how to pick a sheet thickness from tool height and drawer clearance, and which cutting method gives clean pockets.
Care and securityRust Prevention in Tool Storage: Humidity, VCI and Desiccant
Carbon steel rusts above about 60 percent relative humidity. How to hold a tool box under that line with dew point math, VCI, desiccant and drying strategy.
Truck and jobsiteHow to Measure a Truck Bed for a Tool Box
The five measurements that decide whether a truck tool box fits, how to account for liners, rail caps and tonneau rails, plus a copyable worksheet.
Shop storageFrench Cleat vs Pegboard vs Slatwall vs Track Wall
Four shop wall systems normalized on load per linear foot, reconfiguration cost, install effort and wall damage, with a decision framework for each shop.
Calculators, not lead magnets
Every one runs entirely in your browser, keeps nothing, and prints the formula it used.
All calculatorsDrawer Load and Slide Rating Calculator
Turn a drawer slide pair rating into a realistic working load, with service, load position and wear derating applied and the factors printed.
CalculatorTool Box Fit and Clearance Planner
Check whether a tool chest fits your bay before you buy. Accounts for drawer extension, the depth of a person standing at it, vehicle width and car door swing.
CalculatorKaizen Foam Layer Calculator
Work out how many foam layers to remove for a given tool, how much base to leave, whether the block fits your drawer, and how many sheets the job needs.
CalculatorTruck Bed Tool Box Fit Finder
Enter measured bed dimensions and get the crossover size class to shop, the style your rail height suits, and how much bed floor you keep.
CalculatorSteel Gauge to Thickness Converter
Convert sheet steel gauge to thickness in inches and millimeters, weight per square foot, and relative bending stiffness. Includes the full Manufacturers Standard Gauge table.
CalculatorStorage Cost per Liter Calculator
Normalize tool box pricing by volume: exterior dimensions to liters, a usable-volume factor, then a comparison against our modular box database.
Reference
The underlying data, published so you can check the analysis rather than take it on faith.
Modular box specification database
Normalized dimensions, weights, capacities and price bands across 70 components from the major stacking systems, with every source linked.
AnalysisStorage value index
Cost per usable liter and weight per liter across the modular systems, with the method published in full so you can disagree with the weighting.
ReferenceTool storage glossary
140 terms from brinelling to hydrostatic head, defined precisely and cross-referenced.
Where every figure here comes from
Every number on this site traces to a published standard, a manufacturer specification, an institutional dataset or an arithmetic derivation shown on the page, and each guide says which. Specifications are normalized so systems that publish them differently can be compared directly, and where the analysis produces a figure the method is printed beside the result so you can check it. The source hierarchy is in how we analyze, and the rules are in editorial standards.