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My grandfather kept his tools in the shed behind our carport. It was bare metal and felt like a furnace in the midday heat of a Tucson summer. My grandfather bookended his days in the shed, surrounded by the tools he used to repair everything from trucks to TVs and radios. My father had his own setup. He kept his tools in the garage, on a set of shallow shelves interspersed with peg board. It had heavy wooden doors to keep out the salty Southern Californian air.
Tools must be cared for. Their enemies are heat, moisture, salt, dirt, oil, sand, grime, and carelessness. Sheds and garages are ideal storage places and have served generations well, but what do you do when you don't have either? I live in a vintage RV, and many of you likely live in apartments, condos, cabins, boats, and other homes without garages or shops.
For years I relied on plastic bins from whatever big box store was nearby when I needed one. There's even a photo of my tools in these boxes in WIRED. They did an OK job of keeping my tools mostly dry and dirt-free. They also fit in the limited storage areas I have. They worked, but they weren't ideal.
Plastic bins are terrible for organization. I've spent at least as much time looking for my 9/16 socket as I have using it. They're also made of plastic. Fill them with heavy tools and start tossing them under your vehicle and in just a few months cracks start forming.
Tool Roll-Up
The Tool Roll by Radius Outfitters has completely changed the life of my tools. Radius Outfitters makes overlanding gear that's designed to hold up to the abuse of living (and repairing) on the road.
Photograph: Radius Outfitters
Radius Outfitters Tool Roll$129 $97 at Amazon$129 at Radius Outfitters
Thanks to the Tool Roll, I always know exactly where my 9/16 socket is—I can skip the searching and get to work actually turning wrenches.
Tool Rolls are nothing new, of course. Your local hardware store is full of them. I inherited one from my grandfather that dated from when quality goods were still common. Unfortunately, tool rolls at the big box stores are mostly garbage these days—made of cheap nylon with poor stitching, weak threads, and thin zippers.
This is where the Radius Tool Roll sets itself apart. It's of the old, well-built school. Made of 1680D Cordura, with heavy stitching (bartack stitching to reinforce seams), the Radius is virtually bombproof. I've been using it for months, tossing it around under the bus and my Jeep, working on gravel, sand, occasionally concrete, and, unfortunately, in the mud. The tool roll isn't very clean anymore, but otherwise it's held up perfectly to all the abuse I've dished out.
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There are three levels of tool sleeves on the inside of the roll, and it can handle up to 14-inch tools. There's also a zippered sleeve that perfectly fits my shop manual. At one end of the roll is a single zippered pouch, and the other end has two identical pouches (these are where I keep my sockets wrenches). It's enough organization to keep my basic tools neat and organized, but not so many pouches that I forget where I put things. Getting this balance right is no small thing in my experience, so kudos to Radius Outfitters for finding the organizational sweet spot.
I'd also like to call out the leather handle, which is extremely comfortable, and something most other bags and rolls I've tried overlook. This thing gets heavy when it's loaded full of wrenches, a comfortable handle is a necessity and again, Radius Outfitters gets it right.
These are not cheap cases, but when you've invested hundreds of dollars, if not thousands, in tools, paying $129 to store them doesn't seem overly expensive to me.
The only weak point of Radius Outfitters Tool Roll is that 14-inch tool limit. There's no room for my breaker bars, larger wrenches, or oddly-shaped, bulky tools like strap wrenches, multimeters, and so on.
That's where the Gear Box 3500, comes in handy, for bigger stuff. The Gear Box is similarly well-made and well-thought out, with optional hook-and-loop dividers, and a magnetic lock mechanism. Unfortunately I broke the lock, but the box still functions without it. The 21- by 14-inch interior capacity gives me room for bigger items and slides into the same spot the similarly sized cheap plastic bin used to fit.
That's all I have tested, but Radius Outfitters also make smaller organizers, if you have a set of tools that doesn't require the full roll or box. It also makes some very heavy-duty-looking totes that might be nice for my small collection of power tools. All of the company's gear boxes collapse to lay flat for storing.
The Only Thing I Miss …
I spent the weekend I wrote this article sitting in a Walmart parking lot tracing electrical issues in my Dodge. A kind stranger stopped to talk about the bus I live in and ended up taking me to his friend's home garage, which was better stocked with tools than many professional mechanic's shops.
While the man rummaged around in a bin of spare parts, I wandered around lathes and welding gear, thinking that the one thing I miss while living on the road is the opportunity to have a shop like that, but at least with the Tool Roll I know that what tools I do have are well cared for, and with any luck, will be something my children can one day put in their own shops, whether that turns out to be a building or just a spot under the seat of their RV.
