If you are a homeowner doing your own handiwork you almost certainly have some sort of toolbox. It’s a useful, fun thing to have, but most toolboxes in homes are not at all portable. Maybe you made itself as early woodworking projects or you have a metal rolling toolbox. Both are great, but they aren’t easy to upstairs to the guest bedroom, downstairs into the garage, or back to the shed.
What you need is a bucket organizer, which is the best type of toolbox alternative.
What Is A Bucket Tool Bag?
A bucket tool bag, also known as a bucket toolbox or a bucket tool organizer, is a canvas or Cordura (or similarly tough material) bag that is placed around a 5-gallon bucket. The tool bag forms an apron over the sides of the bucket as well as the center, lining it with pockets and other tool holders.
A plastic bucket without the lid will cost you about $3 and the Bucket Boss or a similar bucket tool bag will cost about $20, meaning you have a versatile, lightweight toolbox and tool organizer for the absolute minimum price possible.
Bucket Boss Bucketeer Video Review
Here is our video review of the Bucketeer from Bucket Boss. This is a top pick in the world of bucket tool bags. It’s a feature-package bag with a retail price of about $18.
Best Bucket Tool Bags
Here are the top tool bags you can buy today.
The Bucketeer
The Bucketeer 10030 (reviewed above) is our top pick. Features include…
- 30 exterior pockets
- 3 hammer loops inside
- Made of 600 denier poly ripstop material
- Open center for screws, nails, and other small items
If you want a bucket tool bag, this one is tough to beat. It’s affordable, sturdy, and fit all the buckets we tried it on.
The brown color might be the single biggest complaint people have with it! Jokes aside, it does have some minor shortcomings, for instance, it lacks a power drill holder, so you need to toss your drill right in the center. It’s also limited on pockets, so anything small/valuable has to either do in the middle or into an open pocket.
CLC Custom Leathercraft 4122
The CLC Leathercraft 4122 is another popular option. It’ not made of leather, but it’s popular option thanks to it having a few advantages over the more popular Bucketeer. For instance, it has 60 pockets and it does have a drill holder sling on the outside.
- 36 outside pockets, in three rows
- 25 inside pockets, in two rows
- Drill holder with strap to secure it in place
- Fits 3.5- to 5 gallon buckets
Bucket Tool Bag Accessories
The tool bag itself makes for a nice toolbox, but it’s a little barebones. If you want a full-featured box you can accessorize a bit.
A bucket stacker isn’t used with a tool bag, but rather in another bucket where you can place a number of them to organize your small parts, nails, screws, bolts, nuts, etc. If you do have a bucket tool bag you can put one of these at the top, but it’s not really designed for that since then you can’t use the internal pockets.
Since your bucket tool box can get heavy, many people like to upgrade the handle. A little but of extra width on the handle can go a long way to making it more comfortable to hold.
There is also a small parts organizer you can use at the bottom of the bucket, alongside with a full tool bag. This way you can have your nails, bolts, etc., in a somewhat organized fashion, instead of just throwing them in a pile.