Practical and Durable: Best Portable Toolbox

Roller cabinets and top chests are great for the garage or workshop, but they’re not very practical for hauling tools around to various work locations. They’re really not even practical for rolling through your house to make repairs. For those projects that require carrying tools with you, or for just having a tool kit in the trunk of your car, you need a portable toolbox.

There’s really no such thing as an ideal portable toolbox. A lot depends on what types of tools you are taking with you and the type of work that you do. What will work out perfectly for one person may not be useful at all to another. You really need to find what will meet your needs the best, not what works well for your buddy. Fortunately, there are a lot of portable toolboxes to choose from.

The best portable toolboxes in 2022 come in a wide variety of styles, each of which has a large number of models from a large number of manufacturers to choose from. The basic styles are:

• Stacked roller box – This is like a smaller version of a roller cabinet, without a lot of drawers, but designed to move like a hand truck. They are usually made of plastic or a mix of plastic and steel.
• Multi-drawer box – These are similar to a top chest but are designed to be portable. A handle on the top is used for moving them around. They are available in both steel and plastic.
• Top tray box – These have a tray mounted in the top part that can be lifted out, providing access to the main storage area. The tray is useful for small tools and parts. These can be metal or plastic.
• Cantilevered tray box – Cantilevered trays are usually mounted on both sides of the angled top, which flips open to both sides, providing access to the trays. They give a lot of room for sorting small tools and parts, with a main central storage area as well. Usually made out of steel.

Manufacturers build toolboxes out of both steel and plastic. While the steel ones are stronger, there is a definite place for plastic toolboxes. The plastic is lighter than steel, making it ideal for those who don’t want to practice weightlifting every time they have to move their tools. The better-quality plastic toolboxes can hold quite a bit of weight without any serious risk of damage to the box.
With any toolbox, the ability to organize it well is an important consideration. Toolboxes with multiple drawers and cantilevered trays make this easier, dividing the space in the toolbox into smaller segments so that you can more easily organize it. However, they are limited in how many large tools will fit, as part of the space is taken up with the drawers and trays for the smaller stuff.

Rarely do portable toolboxes come with built-in locks, although most have some way for you to lock them with a padlock. Even the plastic ones will be somewhat secure in this manner, as most people won’t bother to cut the lock or the toolbox to get to what’s inside.

No matter what kind of toolbox you think you need, we have you covered. Below, we've reviewed a wide range of the best portable toolboxes available in 2022 that could suit your needs.