Do you have a big outdoor project coming up? Does your girlfriend need help putting together some IKEA furniture? Or maybe, your wife needs you to install that chic new sliding barn door that she found online?  All these tasks require a certain amount of aptitude and accessibility to your tools. But what happens when your poor little plastic tool bucket can no longer keep up with the amount of tools that you need? Well, things get messy.

Instead, of spending 20 minutes in the garage each time you go looking for an Allen wrench, maybe it’s time that you considered upgrading your tiny tool box into a rolling tool chest. An investment in a tool chest is the perfect solution for individuals looking to get the most possible storage space, while ensuring that all of your tools are organized and won’t get damaged.

Furthermore, as you acquire more tools over the years your poor little plastic tool box won’t be able to support the additional weight that you’ve now added to it. Sometimes we forget – tools are friggin’ heavy! Well maybe you didn’t forget, but I certainly forgot this and as a result, it caused a huge headache for me.

Back when I had my old plastic tool box, I was happy that I was able to place my first new cordless drill inside of it to accompany me on all of the small projects around the house. Then Christmas happened and my mother-in-law bought me another drill that was more heavy duty. Hey, I wasn’t going to complain. I had just scored a sweet new drill kit. But when I forced strategically placed my new drill into the same plastic tool box, I didn’t account for the extra weight that I had added.

Then one day, my wife asked me to set up a wall mount for our new flat screen tv. I dutifully headed to the garage, grabbed my trusted heavy tool kit, and headed back into the house. Not more than 3 paces into the house, the toolbox latch snapped open and my heart sank as I heard two distinctly loud ‘crunches’ amidst all of the falling nails, screws and wrenches. I looked down to see that each of the drills left two huge gashes in the wooden floor.

So after a costly floor repair and one very upset wife later, I learned a very valuable lesson. I decided that it would be in everyone’s best interest if I confronted my organization problem and invested in a tool chest.

Standing Tool Chest vs Roll-Around Tool Chest: Which is Better?

Keep in mind that the tool chest that you should be looking for should meet your specific needs; not your cousin Ray or the neighbor down the street. Let’s review two of the most common tool chests to determine if you are a Standing Tool Chest guy or more of a Roll-Around Tool Chest guy.

The Standing Tool Chest

These are significantly larger and sturdier than your regular tool boxes. Because of their size, these standing tool chests are strong feature pieces in the garage that keep your tools organized. Standing tool chests come with locked cabinets to keep the little ones away from the heavy duty tools, many of the newer models come with wheels that lock that make relocating easy, and most models come with five drawers that vary in size.

[alert type=”info” close=”false”]Pro Tip: Focus on purchasing a tool chest that has more width than what you think you’ll need. The wider the drawer size the more accessible your tools will be. Otherwise, if the drawers are too deep it will be like placing your tools at the bottom of a filing cabinet.[/alert]

Also, a standing tool chest can double as a strong and even worktable. No more do you have to precariously balance your workshop projects on the big chest freezer in the garage. If space is the biggest concern for you, I would highly suggest getting a standing tool chest to start out.

The Roll-Around Tool Chest

Often referred to as the “mechanics tool chests,” this is a perfect option for craftsmen that have tool intensive projects that require that their tools be close by.  These roll-around tool chests often times have a flat surface on top so you can sit down on it while you work. This means that changing your car tires just got a lot easier!

The roll-around tool chest is also completely stackable. Since the top has a flat surface you can easily add some additional storage by purchasing a middle chest to stack on top with some additional locked drawers. Unlike the standing tool chest, if budget is your biggest concern then I would suggest starting with a roll-around tool chest first. As your tool collection grows you will be to add more storage pieces to your tool chest as needed.

In the end, I personally went for the standing tool chest. As it allowed me to really free up a lot of needed space in the garage. Coincidentally, after completing this project I stumbled across a win-win situation. Once we were able to free up the space, not only was I able to park my car back in the garage, I was able to fit in a chest freezer for my wife so that she can practice her canning and preserving hobbies.