About a month ago I wrote up a post about Milwaukee’s Packout system and how it’s a boon not just for traditional tool guys and gals but for DIYers as well. Back then little did I know that the amount of aftermarket customizations available for Packout products is absolutely insane. From custom drawer and bin inserts specifically made to hold certain tools perfectly, to add-on side tables and mounts, to custom labeling for every storage area, there are a lot of options depending on your needs. I’ve interacted with a dozen or so companies/folks offering these products, and there is plenty of enthusiasm driving new options and product developments.
I think perhaps my favorite of the products are the 3D printed tool trays for the Packout bins and drawers. These are primarily available for the 3-drawer boxes and make your tools look as neat and tidy as Stewie’s arsenal in Family Guy. I found that Samuel from Toolitek that operating on Etsy offered perfect fitting options that look excellent. There are options available for M12 and M18 tools and batteries, including drivers, drills, impact wrenches, detail sanders, die grinders, and other items. The trays are printed in red and black for a perfect match to your Packout gear.
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| Tool and battery trays from Toolitek |
For the 3D printed trays that fit inside the Packout bins, I’ve had good luck with 10Spot tools. This shop offers the Jonah Pope designs for reasonable prices, as well as other options such as the smaller trays for the bins with inserts that can accommodate drill bits, Dremel discs, jigsaw blades, and other items.
If you are looking to make your Packout stack more of a work
center, there is a robust amount of side mount offerings. These mods were
likely not predicted by Milwaukee as you will need to turn a drill on your
precious bins to temporarily remove the side-bars, but I found it was well
worth the trouble. At the top of each metal side bar, there is a round plastic
protrusion that secures it in place. You can use a screwdriver to try to
provide enough clearance to slip it out, but people have cracked or damaged the
surrounding plastic doing it this way. The better way, in my humble opinion, is
to drill away this plastic and use the rail caps offered by these companies to
replace it. This allows you to secure the bar with a screw instead of pressure.
Should you wish to change your side configuration in the future it will also be
infinitely easier to remove the bar from the case.
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| Aftermarket rail caps (top) and original caps (bottom) |
My selected provider for the side rail offerings is PackibleTools. They have clearly spent a lot of time and attention on their products,
and while they are more expensive than others, they exude quality. The primary
reason I selected Packible over other offerings is the metal rail brackets.
Given the nature of 3D printing adding plastic layers one by one, it can lead the
plastic to split under pressure. In addition, utilizing plastic rather than
wood for the side table reduces the weight when you need to reconfigure your
stack, and the “juice grooves” are handy for catching small screws before they
roll off the table. If you’d prefer a wood or steel side table, Dirt Church Industries has some nice looking options, and like Packible, offers the rail
caps. Also I gotta admit it's a cool company name.
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| Side mounted table and mounts from Packible |
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| Side table and mount in upright position |
Now if you want to customize your Packout stack to the tilt,
there are folks offering 3D printed plastic handles and latches so you can note
what you have in each drawer. Etsy sellers like Chris at TaylorCustomEng, 10 Spot Tools, and CustomToolKits each offer unique options customize and enhance
your stack. You can label your drawers, label the side latches, label a handle,
customize the square logo, the sky is the limit. I will say that getting the
metal loop off of the latches is a PITA, but it looks so good afterwards I
think it’s worth the hassle.
Finally, I’ll be discussing the custom trays for the Packout bins. The trays that come stock are perfectly serviceable, but if you’d like to arrange your bits and bobs in a more organized fashion you can order custom trays that hold the standard Milwaukee Shockwave bit holders. Simply yank them out of their organizer and pop them into the bins, easy peasy lemon squeezy. These trays are available from Michael at PolymerPrintCo, 10 Spot Tools, and MWReclaimed offers a similar solution that includes the hex bit holders.
Also, a special shout out to Michael at MWReclaimed. I had purchased a battery holder tray from him designed to fit in the Packout bins. It was a very nice product, but he actually redesigned it to keep the batteries from tumbling out if you are travelling out and about with your bins and things go horizontal and he sent me the new version free of charge. It caps the batteries with a tray so you can fit even more items in your bins, a super smart design. I look forward to seeing what else he comes up with!
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| MWReclaimed battery storage tray, the left tray snaps on top, awesome design |
Bottom line, the sky is the limit when it comes to configurations for this storage system, so whatever your DIY hobby or profession, there is likely one that would work perfectly for you.
More images to come in the next few weeks!
