Here is everything we know about all of the new Milwaukee Packout tool boxes and accessories.
Once everything sinks in, we’re eager to know – which of these new Packout tool storage products are you most excited about? (For me, it’s the drawers!!)
Table of Contents
Milwaukee M18 Fuel Packout Worklight and Charger
Milwaukee Packout 2-Drawer and 3-Drawer Tool Boxes
Milwaukee Packout Customizable Work Top
Milwaukee Packout Wall Shelves and Racking Kit
Milwaukee Packout 2-Wheel Cart
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Milwaukee M18 Fuel Packout Worklight and Charger
Starting off, there will be a new Milwaukee M18 Fuel Packout-compatible LED worklight and Li-ion battery charger, model 2357-20.
As shown on top of this Milwaukee Packout tool box stack, the new worklight/charger is half-width and the height of two organizers, or 2/3 the height of the half-width tool box and Packout vacuum.
It can recharge M18 Li-ion batteries, and also has a 2.1A USB charger.
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There are 3 adjustable LED light heads, all with pivoting hinges.
- Model 2357-20
- 1,000/1,500/3,000 lumen brightness modes
- 12/8/4 hours of runtime on an M18 XC 5.0Ah battery
- All/main/front+rear operating modes
- Up to 31 hours runtime
- Corded or cordless operation
- Weighs 11.4 lbs
- 16.9″ x 9.8″ x 8.7″
- IP54-rated for dust and water resistance
The three independent worklights can operate in 9 total modes: all lights, main light, back/front lights, and in each mode you have high, medium, and low brightness options.
ETA: October 2020
Price: $199
Milwaukee Packout 2-Drawer and 3-Drawer Tool Boxes
Packout drawer tool boxes!!
There will be 2-drawer and 3-drawer tool boxes.
The drawered tool boxes are the same size, and so the 3-drawer will have shallower drawers than the 2-drawer.
It looks like both sizes/styles will come with removable and customizable dividers.
The 2-drawer Milwaukee Packout tool box looks to be large enough to fit a standard-sized cordless Sawzall reciprocating saw in either of the drawers, with the dividers removed.
The 3-drawer Packout tool box is a better fit for smaller tools, hand tools, and accessories. The drawer height looks quite spacious, actually.
You can also load up the 2-drawer Packout tool box with small parts, with the deep compartments also allowing for larger parts or bulk storage.
The beauty of drawers is that you can access tool box contents without having to remove it from a stack.
Each drawered tool box has sliding security bars that can be locked in place with a padlock.
The ball bearing slides are all-metal and each box is said to have a 50 pound weight capacity.
ETA: February 2021
Price: $135 for 2-drawer, $150 for 3-drawer
Models: 48-22-8442 (2-drawer), 48-22-8443 (3-drawer)
Milwaukee Packout Customizable Work Top
Milwaukee has come out with a new customizable Packout work top, for placing on top of Packout totes or tool boxes.
It has a 50 pound weight capacity and is made from 1/2″ marine-grade plywood with a durable finish.
You can mount a [light duty] vise to the top, or simply use it for parts placement or as a light work surface.
This seems like a versatile addition to the Packout system.
What’s notable is that the top is removable, which gives rise to plenty of user modifications and DIY options.
ETA: October 2020
Price: $50
Model: 48-22-8488
Milwaukee Packout Wall Shelves and Racking Kit
Milwaukee has put a lot of attention into creating what looks to be a proper wall shelving and van racking solution.
At the heart of the system, you have metal E-Track rails, which mount to wall surfaces, and shelves that connect with metal brackets.
The racking and shelf system is sturdy enough to hold full-size Packout tool boxes, with 50 pound weight capacity per shelf.
The shelves are reinforced underneath with metal brackets.
The system will be sold as a Packout racking kit, which comes with (2) shelves and (2) 20″ lengths of vertical E-Track, or as individually-mountable shelves.
Obviously you have some adjustments with vertical rails, but horizontal-mounting can come in handy in tight spaces or if you want to mount a row of Packout tool boxes side by side.
The shelves also have integrated tie-down points for secure attachment during transportation.
ETA: Early 2021
Price: $50 per shelf, $130 for the racking kit
Models: 48-22-8481 (shelf), 48-22-8480 (racking kit)
Milwaukee Packout 2-Wheel Cart
Finally, There will be a new Packout 2-wheel cart.
The cart is a 400 pound weight capacity and can double as a hand cart for moving heavy or bulky materials, such as water heaters or jobsite materials.
There are integrated Packout mounts on the base and frame, for stacking or hanging Packout tool boxes, totes, and organizers.
In typical Milwaukee Tool fashion, they didn’t stop there, also adding in parts trays at the rear.
Notice the cut-outs on the left and right side of the top parts organizer tray (and is that a removable bin/box compatible with Milwaukee organizers?!)
Those cut-outs are for easy transport of longer levels!
ETA: October 2020
Price: $200
Model: 48-22-8415
Discussion
Sweet!
Although not all of these new Packout tool boxes or accessories will be useful to all users, they all look to be solid new offerings to me.
Which is your favorite? Do you plan to add any of these new Milwaukee Packout products to your tool and part storage setup?
We now have 3 M18-Packout solutions – a jobsite radio, a cordless vacuum, and a worklight/charger. What do you think Milwaukee will come out with next?
Where to Buy?
Where to Buy?
The following retailers have set up Pipeline landing pages where you can view all of the new tools after they’re announced, and preorder when available.
Buy Now via Acme Tools
Buy Now via CPO Tools
Buy Now via Tool Nut
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OldDominionDIYer
Love these solutions especially the long awaited drawer units yipee! The laser equipment looks promising but I might cringe when I see the cost!
Tom D
You have “drawerf” – feel free to nuke this comment after fixing it – unless it really does come with some dwarves.
Stuart
Thank you! *fixed*
Joe
Anybody want to buy my old Packout rolling cart. I am going to pay the money for the drawer unit. I think they are doing a good job with Packout. I am looking forward to seeing them. Thanks for the coverage.
Corey Moore
Those drawers look like they successfully showed DeWalt what’s up with that style of box. I really like the securing arm over the front.
MichaelT
Drawers look awesome. I was worried price would be ridiculous, but the three drawer bin seems to be just a little more than three organizer bins and seems infinitely more useful.
Tim E.
Thinking about it that way helps somewhat for sure, but I still cringed a little inside when I saw the price. Although I’m just a home user, I love the packout for being able to take to friends places and HFH, or just roll around to wherever I’m doing something, and I’ll probably pick up the work top for that purpose. I have a whole separate tstak/versastack set that I use with my robotics teams and for competitions, solely because of the drawers. It has a couple of the single-drawer units on top of a dolly on the bottom, then 3 or 4 double drawer units, then a latching box, then the crate on top. Winds up being a little tall, but makes a great mobile center to put all my stuff for those things and get to it easily (and put it back out of the way in a drawer easily so I lose less stuff).
I’ve really wanted to replace those with packout when the drawers came out for the added durability, and the larger length/width of the drawers would be nice for some things like reel tape measures and carpet cutters and such, which either don’t fit in a slim drawer or take up a lot of a drawer. But at $20 or $30 for a versastack drawer unit, to $150 for a packout, while it’s honestly not a bad price, it does still give a bit of sticker shock. To replace my current cart I’d likely need two drawer units, a latching bin, the dolly, and a crate on top. That’s like $500 all told, whereas my whole versastack/tstak set was less than $200 (granted I got the versastak bits on sale). Also granted I’m not Milwaukee’s target audience, I’m not a pro; I can’t price the “professional look” of rolling in with a packout stack into my bid for a job.
I don’t know why I have more hesitation over spending the money for these versus the other packout pieces I have, maybe they just feel more expensive as a whole unit than some of the individual boxes up until now. I can’t say I’ll be picking the drawers up any time soon, despite my expectation otherwise when I heard they were coming.
Nate
You got it backwards, Tim! If you’re a professional, you buy the cheapest thing that’ll do the job because that’s how you maximize your income! It’s the hobbyist that can spend $$ on nice stuff!
Plain grainy
If being better organized makes you more efficient, then these upgrades will pay for themselves over time.
Plain grainy
I guess hobby & Do it yourself people should be tied together. In one.category.
Mike
You got that right, I see professionals using Ryobi, Hercules and a lot are still using nicad dewalt and I’ve seen older Milwaukee before the Chinese bought them, they also rent tools that aren’t used that often, the only people buying new tools are homeowners that don’t even know how to use them, and the YouTubers who get them for free
SB
Not really! I like tools and I feel good buying new stuff from time to time! I always think of this as an investment.
If I make some extra money at the job, I treat myself nicely! Of course, I can’t say anything of this to the wife! 🙂
Kemarhaus
I think its 50/50 depends on the individual you have
cheap professional vs expensive professional same for hobbyist..
Cheers
Jay
I totally agree.
Rich
I am well vested in Ridgid tool boxes – but have been saying that I would make the switch if Milwaukee came out with a drawer system. As long as the drawers don’t suffer from the poor engineering of the Dewalt drawer – I’ll lay down and they can take my money. Albeit at that price they will be taking it very slowly.
Mike
They’re are going to fail just like Dewalt and any other plastic drawer, they’re plastic the object is don’t overload them and they might last long, even cheap metal drawers don’t last
James C
Would that sawzall actually fit in that drawer in the pic? Looks iffy.
The light is pretty cool. Decent price compared to some of their other $100+ lights considering what you get.
Ron
Do the drawer units have any sort of seal or moisture barrier?
CountyCork
I was thinking the same thing unless the sawsall bends in half.
Joey
I just bought the 2 drawer specifically for my sawzall. It does not fit, even with battery removed.
Paul
Is the two-drawer or three-drawer deep enough to hold the m18 router laid down on its side.
Plain grainy
Just guessing. Looks like 2 compact organizers stacked, plus a low profile organizer on top. That’s the largest drawers depth.
Plain grainy
I think I was wrong on that. Looks to be one compact organizer, and one low profile organizer stacked. Drawers are going to be lacking in depth I think.
Plain grainy
The 3 drawer chest , each drawer the size of 1 compact organizer. Must be close to it anyway.
Frank D
Hopefully Stuart gets these size & depth details ( whole unit and inside of drawers ) so we can compare it with the MW organizer units and tool units we have.
I actually may revisit my storage.
Most used tools from two boxes into drawers for faster access?
But then what do I relegate the regular boxes to?
And the customized kaizen inserts? ( ouch )
Rufus
The 50$ a shelf for the van racking seems double what it should be? They are going to have to come to their senses on that. They have seen the instagram post of guys with 30 pack outs in their vans
King duck
Yeah maybe if you can expense account that but steep for a homeowner
Seth Goodson
I agree 100% with you. Looks awesome however cost prohibitive for a job trailer or van. I had less then one shelf unit in the wooden shelves I built to hold my packout a. And they are sized to fit each one nice and compact. Very cool looking system however out of reach for me for sure.
fred
We had many of our vans upfitted by Dejana. With every new one that we bought and had modified we did a lot of “head scratching” to try to figure the cost-benefit ratios. But the crews had a lot of input – and usually positive feedback as we tweaked the designs over the years. This Packout system – might be a cheaper do-it-yourself alternative if it meets needs and proves to have some longevity.
Frank D
Thank you for mentioning them, Fred.
Had a glance and, by joe, they executed one of the ideas I have had in the back of my mind ( but cannot afford as DIY / homeowner guy ), had the same criticism about a conventional upfit and took it to the next level …
Tip of the hat, these guys have their thinking caps on.
Tator
I think that new cart should have the powertredz system on it!!!
Doresoom
They’re already working on it, I’ve seen the patent.
Kevin Sowell
Have any links to a patent page? I’m 6’3″ and hauling 300lbs of tools up 5 flights of stairs is hell on my legs, knees, and back. With powertreads it might take longer and cost $1000 but I’d get to the top in 1 trip and still have air in my lungs and no kinks in my back.
Tator
Should have added the powertredz system to the dolly and that red push mower better be on the roadmap!!! Please!!!!!!
Dennis
Customizable Work Top? How very Sortimo…
Plain grainy
Worktop will make adapting non Milwaukee items Packout ready. Like bolting a Dewalt power station to it. Or add hold down straps to switch items quickly. Instead of bolting. Great photos & info in this post. Great job !
Ryan
Curious if the drawers have any ingress protection rating. Did you hear about that Stuart?
Plain grainy
One note: The cart has the wheels mounted inside of the cart frame. Makes for a narrow footprint. Not sure if that was mentioned in the post.
Plain grainy
These drawer units give you a lower cost of storage, as compared to steel cabinets. With added mobility. Figure $500.00 plus for a steel unit.
pignock
Why didn’t they make the front side of the cart use the same E-track their wall mounting system uses?
Bob
The led swivel light pack out is neat. I’m confused. Does it run on batteries or only AC?
I see the same flaw in Milwaukee draws as the dewalt 1.0 drawers: no water seal. Hope they don’t sag as well.
Van/cart shelves are twice as expensive and eat up more space than dewalt. But atleast they have something. I don’t think any of the others do. Concerned about durability of plastic shelves. Atleast they had the good sense to make the attachment track metal.
Also is the two wheeled cart plastic? Side supports look like molded or cast material. Durability?
Pricing is typical milwaukee; expensive. $50 for a plywood writing surface! Well I guess its marine plywood. Anything to do with boats is expensive. I guess they get a pass on that one. Hahaha
Plain grainy
Yes, it’s dual power.
Plain grainy
Can we expect Black Friday pricing on any of these products(I know the drawer units are a 2021 product).?
Frank D
Thanks for the extra details on the new units.
Sadly, I feel like MW is falling short again with half measures when it comes to organization.
Why are the racking kits these small bundles with 2 vertical rails that are only 20″ long?? Where are the longer rails? Where are the bulk packs for shelving?
So we can mix and match.
I can understand the idea of having the rolling units down low. Having fixed shelves or a workbench … and using this short kit as a small accessory above it for high storage for two – three units.
But, overall, people tend to carry a lot of kit and supplies, right?
Think of an empty cargo trailer or cargo van, how do people fit those out? Both commercially and DIY. Lots of racks & shelves. Wall to wall. Floor to ceiling. Aiming for instant access without unstacking, just grab the extra tool or case in a single action.
So, if you have a new cargo van or cargo trailer, you love modular storage, you like packout … 20″ … 2 shelves.
… right …
Back to modding and designing our own solutions.
Stuart
The rails can be attached side by side to create as long a rail as needed, and I’m sure you could cut it down as well.
I’m guessing here, but longer than 20” and shipping logistics could become an issue.
I’d bet we will also see shelf and rail components for mixing and matching, similar to how you can buy bin sets for the organizers. Will double check with Milwaukee, I’m assembling a list of follow up questions.
Frank D
Thank you, Stuart.
Logan
E-track is also available at most hardware / farm and ag. type stores. If you need a 6′ pieces to kit the shelves on can find it a lot of other places.
Frank D
Is it standard e-track though?
Or was it an eponym?
Also I have not yet seen vertical e-track orientations, only horizontal ( but I am not in the transportation industry )
My idea centers on installing two vertical tracks of 48-72 “ and gaining as many usable positions as possible.
Akin any other adjustable shelf system that use rails and slot in brackets.
Going the opposite way, would take a lot of horizontal e-tracks, and $$$ like install them spaced every six to twelve inches above each other? That’s before the cost packout trays.
I’m not buying the idea that longer than 20” is immediately cost prohibitive. At a minimum they could offer 24”, 36” and 48”.
Other track systems are available for immediate shipping with 6 foot and 8 foot lengths.
One particular type I am close to buying comes in two lengths only. 12” and 96”. Guess what length pretty much everybody orders and chops in half when it is delivered?
Frank D
PS:
I should have googled first. Found vertical ones in 4ft 5ft ready to ship as singles and bundles of 6 … even with free shipping / included.
Q remains is that MW stuff standard / universal size, or a custom size variation?
If it is standard … good, I will forgive them for the 20”, but we still need bulk packs of cheaper shelves.
John
Super hyped for the shelving and especially the drawers! The drawers will be a game changer for me and allow me to get rid of my metal shop toolbox and go all modular/portable.
I do have a couple questions/concerns though. What is the nominal spacing for the vertical shelf rails? It looks like it’s probably a little wide than 16″ OC stud spacing? It doesn’t matter for van applications, but will it be possible to adjust the rail width for irregular stud spacing?
How close to standard two-track shelving are those shelf rails? It looks close but probably not compatible. Any chance someone makes an adapter to use the shelf arms with two-track rails? My issue isn’t so much the cost of new rails (though that is part of it), so much as the hassle of taking down and re-installing a new set!
Also, a product idea for Milwaukee. A full mechanics ratchet/wrench set with drop-in organizer trays bundled with a 3-drawer box. That is shut-up-and-take-my-money territory for me! Milwaukee can thank me for my idea by sending me a pre-production review sample 🙂
John
Didn’t realize E-track was a standard thing… Looks like E-track was the right choice for Milwaukee here given its existing presence in vans and trailers. Ugh, now I’m regretting going with two-track shelving in my shop!
hangovna
Its set up to mount the E-track 16″ OC.
Brian J Collins
Stuart,
Any idea on the drawer dimensions?
Whats the Milwaukee warranty like (for when the drawers sag or fail in 10 years?
My 3 drawer steel toolbox isn’t portable. It’d be great to go mobile, but as a hobbyist/homeowner, I’m not up to investing $500 in the MW system that will fail over the long term.
Frank D
My units so far have said lifetime warranty. I had to have two organizers replaced due to brand new one not wanting to unlatch from the mate underneath. It was a 2+ week turnaround between the call, boxing up and sending in the defective units with pre-paid label, problem verification, and receiving the replacements. Timing will vary due to location, ground shipping and business days for shipping and their offices.
Ideally, for business use, I would like to see advanced shipping with credit card hold, to eliminate a weeks worth of delays and then you get to ship the defective unit back in their box, which should be the right size, vs needing to find suitable shipping box and protection.
Andrew
I have taken a Packout cart back to HD where I bought it and they were able to exchange it in store, don’t know if that is company policy or if my store is just nice.
fred
Current style packout kits are on sale at International Tool
the 482284KIT is shown at $223.15 once in your cart
don’t know how long that sale continues
Alan Davison
I would love to see some of these with TSA approved locks on them. I fly my tools a lot and so far Rigids boxes have been up by far the best. Extra strong wheels and latches with TSA locks are on my wishlist.
Plain grainy
The Packout light looks like it could have been intergraded into the Packout radio. For those that like lighter music!
Plain grainy
The Packout radio is already heavy, , adding the lights would be just more weight. No light rock for sure.
Plain grainy
The worktop price is way too high i think. I might try bolting a piece of plywood to a compact organizer. That way you have a work surface, plus storage under the lid.
Plain grainy
Worktop came in at $50.00. I figured it would be close to the mounting plate price, but it’s 40% higher. I guess I need to look at one, just to see how well it’s built.
Frank D
Or 3D print some packout parts that Benjamen carefully designed and tested; and attach anything that you want to your packout stack 🙂
John Brady
Wonder how the supply chain availability will be on these units, especially the drawers? Original Packouts took about 2 years to hit levels of easy attainability. So many people have talked and yearned for these products. I hope they can mass produce and flood the market according to actual demand. I would hate to expect to purchase on the ETA date of February and not be able to actually touch the unit until December or later.
Plain grainy
Originals were at $279.00 I think. Then fell to $199.00 at Black Friday specials. So if you have to wait till next fall, it might be with a good discount.
Travis
I haven’t bought into this system yet but I must say, overall I am impressed with the direction Milwaukee is headed. Seems like they are constantly improving it.
Frank D
They are adding items, but are inconsistent on design & size, and lag behind on those who are modding and designing our own accessories to truly dial in modular storage and what it should be able to do.
Aaron Gaudern
Dear God may the bottoms of the drawers be smooth and the topside of the inside case be smooth plastic! Big oversight with drawer units and modular storage solutions is corrugated plastic and reinforcement getting all hung up on your tools when they get jostled out of place or worse yet toppled over. I was telling my crew in high hopes, surely Milwaukee will get this right.
Please dump and jostle these units with all sorts of tools in them and make sure a guy can get them open still without beating it in some form!
Your welcome Milwaukee, there goes my multi-million dollar tip that would help me retire! Dang!
Ray Chapman
I have an idea for an accessory for the pack out. I do a lot of work on ATS’s(automatic transfer switches) and I usually carry a bucket with me to set on but why can’t they come up with a top for the packout that is soft so you can set on it and it snaps in place? I would buy it in a heart beat . Just an idea
Stuart
That’s a great idea!
Until they come up with something like that, they’ll at least still have the work top. Why not add a kneeling pad or cushion to it with mounting tape? https://toolguyd.com/custom-leathercraft-foam-kneeling-pad/
Jason Ingram
I had an idea for one as well. Take that M18 fan they have and make an M18 fuel version of it but make it like the packout radio but put squirrel cages on the inside of it that push air out on all four sides. Also have it where you could close any one of the four sides at any time get more airflow in a specific direction or have all four of them open. That would be great for being in a room painting with some very harsh products like oil or polyurethane or anything like that. It also be good to have on a job site down here in South Georgia it’s just about unbearable to go outside between June and September. I mean hell it’s already so hot now that I don’t even want to do anything outside. Also I think they should do with the M18 nailers like on the 18 gauge where they keep those no-mar tips they should have had a little bit more of a hollow spot and then made it to where there was a lid that could fit over it and locked into place so you won’t lose your damn tips. I lost all of my tips and then finally figured out how to order new ones I had to call customer service and I got two sets of three sent to me and when they got here I found my original three lol. I like the idea of having a big fan though. Hell throw another cord on it and make it where it can charge batteries too! For just imagine having a couple of pack-out stacks with some full size fans like I described on a job site where you’re in a hotel six stories up or however high or your in a building it doesn’t have any or hardly any airflow in it and it’s just brutally hot or your spring ceilings and walls and you just can’t handle the smell of oil anymore I think that would come in handy you could move some air around extremely well should they design it right. Also to go with your idea get a soft seat and have a swivel on it! Maybe a little piece that hangs off on the side with a hard piece on the outside that you can spin around and flip up that gives you a back as well!!!
SB
I like the drawers, but as usual, more expensive stuff! But this is not really a big deal as long as the drawers can hold a lot of weight. If I’m going to expend my well earned money on these plastic boxes at least I want the optimum quality. The packout wheels are crap and I’ve heard a lot of bad things about the flimsy hand truck. So, I’m wondering, how strong these drawers will be?
Jason Ingram
I have not had a problem with the bottom Dolly wheels at all and I keep a massive amount of weight in all of mine in my stack is easily 7 ft high. And when I say load it down I mean I’m probably 25 to 50 lb over weight capacity on most boxes. My bottom box I keep 10 tools and 15 batteries. All 10 tools are fuel except for the flashlight and they are all M18 same with the batteries. That’s the sawzall, Gen 3 impact, gen 3 hammer drill, six and a half inch saw, D handle jigsaw, four and a half inch grinder, compact router, and the fuel leaf blower body. Those batteries are 3 3 amp ho batteries two 1.5 CP batteries and 10 4-5 amp XC batteries. That’s what I keep in the bottom box by itself I still have about 15 more tools I keep in the rest of it was about 15 more batteries as well not to mention 8 chargers. And don’t get me started on all the hand tools that I carry around with them either. I’ve heard stories of people saying those wheels go flat but I haven’t seen it. Mine stay loaded down as well now when I get to a job site I usually break them down that way I can get into them but for the most part stacked for high at any given time whether they’re in my SUV or whether they are in my utility room at my house I know that Dolly seems like it might be a heap of junk because it’s plastic but it’s really wide and it’s some thick plastic it’s pretty rigid and strong. I mean I’m sure even if it was metal you can’t just go throwing shit around with it. And you take good enough care of harbor freight tools they’ll last you the rest of your life. It’s just not solely on the quality and brands for longevity it also depends on the person who owns them and how well they take care of them too I’ll try not to beat the ever living shit out of my tools if I can cuz they’re expensive and I like them looking really nice. Mainly because I like to show them off after I get done using them really hard.
Michael Neal
Has anyone found these in stock yet, if so where?
Justin Cooper
These drawers would definitely help organize my smaller hand tools that I keep in my packout!