CLC Custom Leathercraft 1148 22-Pocket Drawstring BucketBag $12.89 Bucket Boss 25001 Parachute Bag $12.00 Dickies Work Gear 57004 Grey/Tan Parachute Bag $15.19 I bought all three. The are all parachute bags. Here’s what I learned. I had the brainstorm to sew up small bags of ballistic nylon scraps left over from making a skin-on-frame kayak. My latest crappy plastic ‘organizer’ from Home Depot/Harbor Freight/Everywhere--duct taped together (since it was new), tipped over (again) dumping all my screws in to a pile. My idea was small tough-fabric sacks of screws that I could just pick up and stick in the big pockets of my new tool belt.... Two features of the ballistic nylon I have: 1. It’s really tough, screw points aren’t going to poke holes anytime soon, and 2. the material is white-so it’s easy to see what’s inside. We all know that ompanies who make ‘camera bags, pouches, tool bags all think: white will show dirt so we won’t use white.... Instead they like to use black, black is cool, but you can not see into a black pouch. The only thing that should be kept in a black pouch is golf balls and pingpong balls--because they’re white. Everything else that is either smaller or not white disappears into darkness. (I’ll bet if a bunch of crusty old carpenters designed a tool belt and it was manufactured in bright pink — they’d sell millions. I am really sick of needing a flashlight to find something in a brightly lit room or in daylight because it’s in a black container. ) So all three bags arrived. First task: I wanted to sort out the four main Kreg screws sizes 1” 1.5” 2.x”, and two types that are 3.5” long; and put them in one of these bags. Which bag did I choose? The super-tough coated polyester, certainly not the one made of work pants cotton. My choice was obvious, I chose the lightest colored one--and even then I wished it were white inside... This is the Dickies Work Gear 57004 Grey/tan parachute bag $15.19 (the most expensive one) made out of what I call work-pants-cotton. All the bags are almost exactly the same size. 10” diameter bottom, 6 big interior pockets and 6 exterior much smaller pockets. Dickies and Bucket Boss are 6” deep in the big pockets and the CLC is 7” deep. Now if I were going to keep hand tools in the bag, I’d chose the CLC because it’s deeper and the material is tougher, less like to tear or wear through from a screwdriver point. None of the bags could hold sharp tools like chisels without something more to protect the bottom. So I think my basic hand tools will go in that one. (but not the big heavy stuff). The basic concept of a parachute bag is a good one. This is why I decided to just buy some of these bags instead of sewing my own (I’m a complete noob new to using a sewing machine-so me sewing these simple bags would take me days. In a few weeks, only hours... ) What would I like to see in a parachute bag for 100-400 screws 1” to 3.5” is a wider, shallower, tough white fabric bag, with maybe something stiff in the center. Side pockets... Maybe one for screw gun bits. I’d like to be able to glance over at the relaxed bag and visually spot the screw size I want to use next. I can’r really do that with any of these bags. The concept of the parachute bag is (I think) when it’s down and loose it’s wide open, but when you lift it up, it pulls together and it has a string and closer so it can stay tightly closed when you want it that way. Another thing why these are good for tools. A tool box or bag that holds all your basic handtools, especially if this includes a couple of pipe wrenches--you can’t pick up, it’s too heavy, and it’s a drag to carry around (the exception of course will be the guy who’s going to write that I’m an idiot. If you don’t have a lot of experience let me explain this to you: he’s right--I am an idiot, but he’s wrong about carrying everything he needs in one bag if he’s a maintenance guy, plumber, carpenter.... I think the basic method we all use is a tool belt with the essentials, a bucket or something like these parachute bags for the stuff we need for this particular task, and maybe the thing we’re going to install. If our hands are full, we strap on the tool belt. But we don’t usually put everything in one thing. btw most tool belts are also badly designed, but guys have learned how to tweak them, work around the short comings. Like the tool belt I just bought (settled for), the slot for pencils is on the left side, there’s no slot for a tri-square or a cutting angle, and it’s all black. I look like a ninja, a ninja who can’t see the screw-type bit in the dark pouch. So I’m going to keep looking for the better parachute bag, but meanwhile I should just shut-up, find that can of spray paint for plastic and spray the insides of these bags.... Hope this helps.
