Every Milwaukee Packout Tool Box Ranked Smallest To Largest

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If you don't know about Milwaukee's Packout system already, the pitch is pretty simple. If tool storage keeps getting messy, if small materials get lost all the time, and you end up spending longer trying to find what you need for a job than you do working, this comprehensive line of containers (toolboxes, but also bags, organizers, and even Packout-exclusive attachments) could be just the thing for you. 

The Packout system is pretty handy, but making it your own is not easy. If you buy into it a little too much, you might end up solving one problem and creating another. You'd go from not having enough storage space to give everything its place to burying your tools in a 5-foot tall maze of red plastic and black accents.

Most of the time, there's no reason to go with the biggest, most expensive toolbox imaginable, especially in a modular system like this (or any alternative, like DeWalt's ToughSystem). So, don't worry about buying a box you'll soon outgrow. You can just stack another one on top. To make the choice even simpler, we're going to go through all the toolboxes in Milwaukee's Packout system, starting with the smallest ones and finishing with the system's biggest container, the XL Tool Box.

It doesn't take much to figure out that the Packout Tool Tray is the smallest box in Milwaukee's entire line. It's arguably not even a box, since it doesn't fully enclose the contents. It is still a portable storage solution for tools, even if it will mostly hold bits, trinkets, and small mini-tools. The Tool Tray really shines when it's used in tandem with one of the bigger Milwaukee Packout boxes, like the XL, the Large Tool Box, or another one of the Tool Trays. This is all made possible by the retractable handle, which makes it fit even under the closed lid of a Packout XL.

Milwaukee's Tool Tray is almost entirely plastic, from the body to the handle and the divider inserts, which can create as many as six compartments. The precise measurements are 11.7 inches x 19.8 inches of depth and length, while the height is a short 5 inches. The tray is quite light at just 3 pounds, but it can hold as much as 24 pounds. Because of its reduced weight, this might be one of the best Milwaukee Packout products to mount on a wall. You can do so using an official Packout mounting system or one of the many third-party alternatives.

Finally, a standard toolbox, even though it's black and red and probably a lot more plasticky than you remember it. Compared to that classic American red toolbox shape, the Packout Tool Box is a little shorter, a hair longer, and quite a bit deeper. Milwaukee just calls it the Tool Case, but elsewhere, like on Amazon, it's referred to as the Electric Tool Packout Tool Box. Perhaps that's a reference to the fact that it fits power tools like drills and drivers a lot better than a metal toolbox, since those tools are flat and curved. That said, the new dimensions (20.7 inches x 15.2 inches x 6.2 inches) might have been chosen just to keep the box compatible and stackable with the rest of the Packout line.

This toolbox is still quite small, but unlike the Tool Tray, it feels like something you can use on its own. That said, if you're not interested in using more than one of those boxes at once, you might want to consider some cheaper Packout alternatives. The Tool Case comes in two variants. One has regular, removable plastic inserts for hand tools, screws, and other trinkets, and a larger space in the center for compact power tools. The other is filled with a foam insert that can be cut to the precise size of your tools and is more resistant to impacts.

Now, I know what you're thinking. This is supposed to be a list of toolboxes. Why are we talking about the Packout Crate? Something is either a crate or a toolbox, right? You're right, and in fact this isn't a toolbox at all. However, it is part of Milwaukee's evidently poorly named Packout Tool Box line, which means that we have to acknowledge its existence. The Packout Crate is pretty large, at 18.7 inches x 15.3 inches x 9.9 inches, ad it's certainly larger than the next entry in this list, the Compact Tool Box. However, it is quite light (5.8 pounds) and you're unlikely to want to place that much stuff inside, considering it doesn't have a lid.

That's why we had to make an exception for this product and place it in third place, behind a handful of small toolboxes. We have other reasons as well for doing this. To name one, the Crate has a load capacity of just 50 pounds, much lower than the 75 pounds and 100 pounds of its technically-smaller siblings, the Compact and Large Tool Boxes. That said, sometimes Milwaukee's Packout Crate is just what you need. It even made it into our list of the most useful Milwaukee Packout storage options.

Even though this toolbox is a little taller than most of the others, the reduced width ultimately makes it a little more compact, hence the Compact Tool Box name. Like most of the boxes in this line, the space inside is a slightly adjustable by applying the correct inserts. On top of those, the Compact Tool Box can support a small tray, ideal for smaller tools and materials. Without the inserts and the tray, this box can become the ideal housing for some power tools that are a little too tall for smaller containers.

The Compact Tool Box is impact resistant and has an IP65 rating, meaning it can protect its contents from rain and small water splashes. It measures 13 inches x 9.8 inches x 16.2 inches (with 16.2 inches being the height) and has a weight capacity of 75 pounds. That's plenty, considering the reduced dimensions. Not only because there's a limit to how many tools you can fit inside it, but because the awkward size makes it hard to stack a lot of stuff on top. That doesn't mean it can't be done — placing two of those things next to one another is an easy way to accomplish this — but just that it's less likely to happen.

From this point on, Milwaukee's toolboxes start getting pretty big. With 100 pounds of weight capacity and a wide interior, the Packout Large Tool Box could be a one-stop solution for many DIYers' gear, especially when paired with a tray. Sure, you could get the dedicated Packout Tool Tray, but if you're fine with something simpler, the included plastic tray should be enough. It doesn't come with a fancy retractable handle, and only covers half of the depth and length of the Large Tool Box, but that means there's more space for larger tools.

Like most products in the Packout line, the Large Tool Box comes with a retractable, metal-reinforced handle, an IP65-rated lid, and reinforced hinges. That's especially important as the weight and load capacity of those boxes starts to increase. With the only opening being on the top, it's likely that this box will be stacked on top of other Packout products. Make sure they, too, are rated to sustain its weight. The Large Tool Box measures 22.1 inches x 16.2 inches x 11.1 inches, the latter measure being the height. On top of the ever-present Packout locking mechanism, there's also a space to put a lock.

The Packout Cabinet is unique among the other boxes in this product line because it opens like a cabinet. This makes it ideal for putting it in the middle of a stack of toolboxes, or even at the bottom, adding a large, single-space storage solution for big power tools that isn't accessed from the lid on the top. To do this efficiently, the Cabinet would have to withstand the weight of all the boxes stacked on top of it and the tools they store. Can it? Maybe! We couldn't find an official load rating for the Packout Cabinet, but user reviews seem to be happy with it as a big box that holds lots of stuff.

If anything, some customers used their reviews on Milwaukee's website to complain about the lack of other options for really large tools. A single-file cabinet or just a door that opens outward instead of the sliding garage-style door of the Cabinet would have been welcome. Alternatives do exist, like those in the Ryobi Link system, but they're not Packout compatible (though a third-party accessory for Milwaukee can help them communicate a little). At 14.5 inches x 14.7 inches x 19.5 inches, this is a great modular storage solution for larger tools. Just make sure the actually fit under the door once the cabinet is open.

We're barely midway through ranking the Packout tollboxes based on their size and we're already running into some problems. Not crate problems or heigh vs length problem; we're talking about a much more serious issue. Milwaukee's drawer boxes, which include the Two-Drawer Tool Box, are all exactly the same size: 14.3 inches x 22.2 inches x 16.3 inches. There might be more or less space inside depending on the number of the drawers and their thickness, but the difference is likely miniscule. There's no reason to nitpick that much. Instead, we'll illustrate them by the number of drawers they come with, which is why this two-drawer box comes first.

The latches in this unit seem to be a little fragile, as demonstrated by the number of users reporting issues. Other than that, this is a solid storage solution. The drawers are quite spacious, being 5 inches tall, and can be divided into small sections with the adjustable dividers. The box only comes with enough dividers for one drawer, but that seems to be enough for most users. Plus, you can always buy other dividers, either original or through third-party Packout add-ons. The only other thing you should know about this product is that, unlike some of the smaller boxes we looked at before, it's rated for a load of just 50 pounds.

Milwaukee's 3-Drawer Tool Box isn't the most beloved toolbox around. In fact, it has the worst rating of all the Packout toolboxes on Milwaukee's website, with 3.2 stars out of five. What's behind this mass dissatisfaction? For some, it's that parts of the box have fallen off or been broken through the years, with no easy way to get replacement parts or support from the company. The low number of dividers that come with the box is another weak point of this unit. With a reception like this, it's no surprise so many Milwaukee users are modding Packout drawer toolboxes.

As explained before, this three-drawer toolbox is exactly as large as the two-drawer version. The drawers are a little smaller, of course, with a height of only 3 inches instead of 5 inches. The issue with dividers, or rather the lack of dividers, is even more pronounced here than it was in the two-drawer unit. There are just enough of those little plastic inserts to fill one of the three drawers. You don't need us to tell you how Milwaukee customers reacted to this. Like the other drawers, the Packout Three-Drawer Tool Box comes with metal bars for safely locking the box and has a load capacity of 50 pounds.

As time of writing, the Multi-Depth Three-Drawer Tool Box is the only multi-depth drawer toolbox on Milwaukee's Packout page. It certainly isn't surprising that the company started with the three-drawer unit, considering how unpopular it was. This multi-depth is much more popular with fans, even though, being a newer product, it has fewer reviews. But what does "multi-depth drawer toolbox" mean? In short, while the original three-drawer box has three drawers of equal size, the multi-depth model has two tiny drawers and one big. There seem to be some finer differences, but this is the most important one.

The small drawers of the multi-depth unit are just slightly bigger than those in the four-Drawer Packout Tool Box (2.3 inches against 2.5 inches) while the larger one is just like those in the two-Drawer model (both are 5 inches high). That doesn't mean they're literally the same drawers, of course, but if you have either of those older units, this should give you an idea of how the newest entry looks and what kind of stuff you can store inside it. The Multi-Depth Three-Drawer Tool Box comes with more dividers as well, enough to fill every empty spot in the box, acknowledging one of the biggest complaints about the older drawer toolboxes.

The final drawer toolbox in the Packout line, this box comes with four drawers, each 2.3 inches tall, and each with adjustable dividers. As with other toolboxes in the same line, users aren't happy about the number of dividers they found in the Packout Four-Drawer Tool Box, but more can be bought separately, even if you might have to opt for compatible third-party options. Talking about cost, it's important to note that the price of Milwaukee's Packout drawer toolboxes increases with the number of drawers. The two-drawer can be found for $156.00, both versions of the three-drawer cost $179.00, and the four-drawer is sold for $199.00.

The price increase might have been sensible when all drawer toolboxes differed only in the number of openings they offered, but that's no longer the case. None of them is the fated sub-$100 Packout find that gets you into the system, but the reworked Multi-Depth Three-Drawer box comes with more inserts, has two near-identical drawers plus a larger one, and according to its users, it seems to be much more resilient. Oh, and it's $20.00 cheaper. If you go for the three-drawer over the four-drawer, you could reinvest the money and get one of Milwaukee's great tools for under $20.

True to its name, the Packout XL Tool Box is the biggest toolbox in the Packout line of modular storage solution. A unit of a box, it measures 17 inches x 22 inches x 16.24 inches, the latter being the height. It's also the most heavy, with a weight of 14.1 pounds, and one of the most spacious, supporting up to 100 pounds more. It is, for this and many other reason, positively beloved by its users, who rate it almost a full five stars on both Amazon and Milwaukee's own website. It's also just a big box, and it seems to be much better for that use than the Packout Cabinet. It opens through a lid on the top, which promises to protect its content by water and debris thanks to its IP65 rating.

The XL Tool Box doesn't come with dividers and we couldn't find any that are sold separately, by Milwaukee or any third party. That said, the company does offer clear instructions on how you can make some inserts yourself (or have them made to order) in a small downloadable document on the product page. The manual suggest you use plywood, but once you have this information there's no reason why you couldn't use any fitting material.

We ranked these toolboxes based on their size. On occasion, it wasn't exactly clear which of a set of items was larger. In those circumstances, for example when comparing a wider toolbox with a taller one, we ranked the ones less compatible with Milwaukee's stackable system lower. This is because the smaller products on this list, like the Tray and the Crate, tend to be harder to stack.