A Cool Solution for Traveling Tools

I’ve long been looking for the perfect rug for my dining room (which may become my shop if I can’t soon find the perfect house in my price range, but that’s a story for another day), so I regularly troll a local online auction site, on which I can’t seem to keep from looking at things I don’t need, too (you never know…).

In today’s sale, there’s a “case full of various tools”; the tools include nothing that I covet. The case, however, offers an intriguing solution to storing a small set of tools while traveling.

A plaque on the outside of the beat-up hard case reads “Video Assist Systems Inc.,” so my guess is the two boards with attached pockets originally held various wires, connectors, power plugs and the like. The top board appears to be affixed to the case lid; the other folds down to rest atop two sections in the case bottom, which is divided horizontally.

For the last couple years while traveling, I’ve used a leather suitcase that looks cool, but requires wrapping everything in various tool rolls, old towels and the like for protection – which means the better part of the case is filled with fabric. If I sew some canvas pockets and attach them to rigid backers, however, I could save some room and keep things from rattling about.

Or I could just build a “proper” traveling tool chest (rumor has it we’ll have a nice example in our October issue).

— Megan Fitzpatrick

p.s. Looking for tool suggestions with which to fill your chest (proper or not)? We now have the companion DVD to Christopher Schwarz’s “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” in our store, on which Chris shows you all the tools in his chest, and tells you why he chose the ones he did. It also includes additional step photos of the chest build that weren’t included in the book, among other things. (We also offer the book and DVD together at a special price.) Which reminds me…I need to order and attach the lock, and attach the hardware to my tills so I can call my ATC build done.

p.p.s. At the risk of revealing my favorite auction site and having to bid against you on the next “perfect” rug, here’s a link to the listing for the case (bidding closes tomorrow evening). Oh – and there’s also a small Gerstner chest on offer.