I’m Switching from Bosch L-Boxx Tool Boxes

Bosch L-Boxx tool boxes, made by Sortimo, worked great as Systainer alternatives.

L-Boxx cases are fairly strong and robust enough for portable and long-term storage and organizational needs, and affordable too.

Around 10 years ago, this was the best option available.

They aren’t weather-sealed, which caused minor problems for me over time, but I blamed myself for not protecting the contents better.

Bosch sent me a few test samples, and I then bought a lot. I took advantage of Amazon’s holiday season deals, especially on L-Boxx organizers, which were heavily discounted at times.

My collection steadily grew for a couple of years. I don’t recall the final tally, but I believe I had more than 80 at one point.

I purchased my last Bosch L-Boxx products in late-2013, with the exception of cross-functional Sortimo rails and sliding drawers.

I used my vast collection of Bosch L-Boxxes for daily and long-term storage over many years. The modularity worked perfectly, for a while.

10 years ago, I had limited space, and prioritized what I kept close at-hand.

It wasn’t perfect, but it worked.

I shuttled L-Boxxes back and forth between work and storage areas.

One L-Boxx, for example, held my spare circular saw, miter saw, and jig saw blades. Others held my pipe and tubing tools, metal forming tools, rotary tools and accessories, and so forth.

If I wasn’t working on an electronics project, I didn’t need more soldering gear close by.

I still use some of my Bosch L-Boxxes in this manner.

Accessories such as box clamps are still perfectly stored in L-Boxxes. If I need more than the 4 that are always kept in my workshop tool cabinet, I bring out my L-Boxx full of box clamps and their pieces.

They kept me well-organized.

However, they’re no longer working well for me.

Over the past few years, I have been greatly reducing my number of Bosch L-Boxxes for the sake of greater efficiency.

I cannot say that I have been perfectly pleased with my Bosch L-Boxxes over the years either. Shown here is one of the two latches found on every box.

Here it is, open.

I could never trust my L-Boxxes to hold a lot of weight. These thin plastic latches feel as flimsy as they look. They held alright, but can bend, wear, and weaken over time.

There’s a workaround. I don’t carry heavy L-Boxx cases by their top handles, I carry them from their side handles or from the bottom. Where’s the benefit in that?

As I move from L-Boxxes to drawers, industrial bins, and other tool box systems (mainly Milwaukee Packout), I have been unwilling to repurpose the L-Boxxes for new tasks. There are far better tool boxes nowadays.

The side latches work well to auto-connect one L-Boxx to another, but only if they are perfectly aligned.

It’s not effortless to align L-Boxxes together for stacking. If you don’t get everything just right, you have to lift the box and try again. And again. And again.

This has been my greatest frustration with them, so much so that sometimes I give up and simply rotate a box 90° and leave it unsecured across the top of a stack.

There is a perfect load weight and stacking height at which it’s quick and easy to connect L-Boxxes together. If you’re not at that sweet spot, which has been a frequent occurrence for me over the years, it’s a hassle.

I considered building a rack for them, but never committed. I built a rack to hold my industrial bins a few years ago, and I had doubts that an L-Boxx rack would work as well.

My L-Boxxes have become inefficient for my needs, and I don’t like using them anymore. I put up with them as long as they were reasonably efficient.

I have been clearing space for drawer systems, and so that’s what I’m moving more towards – drawers and shelves.

I will likely keep a tower or two of Bosch L-Boxxes for specific storage needs, but I can’t say I would buy them again today.

Storage needs change, and I am realizing that it’s better for me to recognize this and be more flexible over time.

With respect to portability, I have been spoiled by Festool Systainers and Milwaukee Packout tool boxes and organizers. Even Dewalt ToughSystem cases has proven to be easier to use. I can get to the bottom of a stack of heavily loaded Packout tool boxes in a fraction of the time as with L-Boxxes.

I started moving away from Bosch L-Boxxes 2-3 years ago, as I rearranged their contents into drawers and other types of bins and storage systems.

I didn’t want to give away or donate any of my L-Boxxes at first, but my stack of unused boxes kept growing. It didn’t make sense to store empty tool boxes I no longer needed and couldn’t imagine needing in the future, so off they went.

I will likely end up donating all of my L-Boxxes.

The “what if I need them again?” mentality is hard to shake. But, if that happens, I can go with Dewalt Tstak instead of L-Boxx for smaller modular tool boxes on a budget. Their smallest tool boxes are $22 each (at the time of this posting, via Amazon).

The only benefit to L-Boxx these days is that Sortimo offers van-racking solutions and accessories.

I once envisioned adding a small cart with slide-out drawers to my workshop, for my L-Boxxes to go back and forth as different projects required. That would be a good implementation for these tool boxes and organizers. And, I have parts organizers with the same footprint. But, even if I do that, I’ll need far fewer L-Boxxes than I currently have.

I would not buy these again today; there’s a reason I bought my last L-Boxx products 10 years ago. They were a hassle to use then too, but aggressive discounting and affordability made up for it.

I feel bad about saying goodbye to my Bosch L-Boxxes, but not really. With every box I donate, I move closer to being done with them for good.