Harbor Freight's Bauer Tool Bag Turns Any 5 Gallon Bucket Into A Tool Organizer

A lot of people enjoy shopping at Harbor Freight so they can save money while getting the tools they need, but you'll need a good place to put these tools when you get home. Of course, Harbor Freight itself sells a wide range of affordable tool chests, tool boxes, and other storage solutions, but those who are looking for an even more budget-oriented solution might be interested in checking out the Bauer's 5 Gallon Bucket Tool Bag, which can be used to convert any 5-gallon bucket into a portable tool organization system. This might not be a perfect solution for everyone's setup, but it's a convenient and affordable way to store and transport tools since you can get the bag for just $9.99.

The company isn't the first tool manufacturer to make a product like this, but Bauer has a reputation for making tools significantly more affordable than similar products from other brands. In fact, the tool bag's listing on the Harbor Freight website asks its customers to compare the Bauer bag to the Husky HD10030-TH, which Home Depot currently sells for $14.98 and has a very similar design. The appeal of the Bauer bag in this instance is that you can get a comparable product for just two-thirds the price. That said, those who are interested in picking up a few of these bags for themselves might want to learn a little bit more about them before rushing off to their local Harbor Freight.

Pretty much every 5-gallon bucket you can get, from most of the generic models to the branded ones sold at Home Depot, Lowe's, and even Harbor Freight itself, all have roughly the same dimensions. This is why it's so easy to stack an assortment of buckets from different locations and swap lids with relative ease. The Bauer 5 Gallon Bucket Tool Bag doesn't include a bucket with its purchase, but it's designed to fit pretty much all of the common models. This is convenient, as many Harbor Freight tool collectors will have tons of these buckets lying around beside the Bauer power tools in their home garage, since Harbor Freight frequently gives them away to customers in an effort to incentivize repeat business.

The bag is made of a durable 600 denier water-resistant fabric known as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), which is part of the polyester family. It has a higher strength, heat distortion temperature, and stiffness than other polyester varieties while also having good moisture barrier and electrical insulation properties. The term "denier" refers to the fabric's thickness and mass density. 600 denier means that 9,000 meters of unwoven material weighs 600 grams. This weight is commonly used in backpacks, outdoor covers, camping gear, and pet products due to its durability and tear resistance. Bauer promises that the bag has a 25-pound capacity. So, while you might not be able to lug a sack of metal mallets and pipe wrenches around in it, the bag should be able to carry most of the essentials without issue.

In terms of the actual design, the Bauer 5 Gallon Bucket Tool Bag is pretty straightforward. It's a bit like a saddle that you place around the rim of the bucket that has an attachment loop on one side. There are cutouts on the bag that allow you to still use the bucket's handle, but there are no messy clips or additional fasteners to worry about. This makes the bag's installation fast and easy.

It has 30 pockets in total. 18 of these pockets are located on the outside of the bucket when the bag is installed, while the other 12 pockets line the inside. Most of these pockets are deep and narrow, making them best suited to long-handled tools such as hammers, wrenches, and screwdrivers. On top of that, users can still freely use the inside of the bucket like normal for storing additional items and those that might not have fit in any of the narrow, handle-shaped pockets. It's worth noting that some of these pockets are doubled up on each other, though, so it might not be easy to use an outer pocket when an inner pocket is packed tight and vice versa. But even if the bag has its weaknesses, the extremely low price still seems to make it a Bauer product worth buying if you're looking to tidy up a collection of loose tools.