The Best Tool Bags in 2021
The best tool bags deliver on utility first. A great tool bag organizes every tool you need for a job, provides easy access to each one, and handles any job site conditions you subject it to. Any trade worker or home DIYer can benefit from the right tool bag - it's just a question of matching up features and capability with cost and intended use. It's never a decision to take lightly, since using a tool bag that works for you can make jobs run smoothly, but working out of the wrong tool bag is frustrating, difficult, and can even result in lost or damaged tools.
The good news is, I've done it, so you don't have to. During a decade of trade work spanning a wide range of jobs and requirements, I personally experienced many of the highs and lows of the tool bag experience. Using the best tool for the job is the engineer's joy - here's a guide to finding the best tool bag for your job.
The Best Tool Bag Review
1. Klein Tools Tradesman Pro Tool Bag
Klein Tools makes a sturdy, space-efficient tool tote that works really well for anyone with many narrow, handled tools. The Tradesman Pro uses 1680 denier nylon for the bag's shell (inside and out). Well-constructed exterior pockets and a rigid body help keep the bag's shape. It's one of the top-rated tool bags on the market and tested well overall, with only a couple of minor deficiencies.
Klein claims the Tradesman Pro has 40 pockets, but I counted 33 (including open interior space). I found the interior pockets very deep - each was deep enough to swallow a standard screwdriver past the end of the handle. But, due to the pockets' tight construction, they still held tools upright even with just the blades inserted. For my personal kit, I would like more short pockets - the bag has four on the inside and one outside.
A 3/4-height divider (with pockets on each side) split the interior space in half. This created two interior wells that were a little too deep and narrow to be effective for me. A compact 12v impact driver, for instance, only fit comfortably with the interior pockets empty. I stuck the charger in the other side, and I was out of room for anything else.
The Tradesman Pro's exterior pockets were higher capacity. They were wider than the interior pockets and generally stood out further from the bag. There was a 5-inch-tall zipper pocket that ran the full width of the bag and a Velcro case-like pocket with stitched elastic inside to hold drill bits and drivers or nail punches.
The bag had a metal clip for a tape measure and a webbing loop for rolls of tape. If you don't like tape measure clips (like me), you'll be forced to put your standard 25-foot tape in the zipper pocket (it didn't fit anywhere else), which goes against the intended catch-all purpose of the pocket.
The bag was reinforced with a hard, weatherproof plastic bottom to protect it from water, oil, grease, or any typical surface hazard. It had long carrying handles and a detachable shoulder strap. During testing, it carried comfortably no matter what.
The Klein Tradesman Pro is one of the best tool bags for electricians (true to the brand's heritage) or anyone with a lot of slim hand tools to organize - mechanics would benefit from the bag's organizing capacity as well. Heavier trades might do best to look elsewhere or plan to carry a separate bag for heavier tools.
Still, the bag's stout construction and durable materials promise long-term utility.
2. Voyager 15"Tool Bag
At one time, I was a hardened nail-pounder with top-of-the-line carpentry gear, but those days are long gone. Eventually, I found myself needing a cheap, utilitarian tool bag for the assortment of hand tools I use around the house. Enter the Voyager 15"tool bag at an unbeatably low price. The duffel-style Voyager bag is ultra-simple: eight pockets inside, six outside, a metal-framed opening, and zippered closure. That's it. The bag's polyester is claimed to be “durable."It's finished with unspecified ballistic nylon trim on the opening, outer seams, and handles.
After about a year of pretty minor use, my 15-inch Voyager still does its job. The sewing is solid: not a single stitch has popped. But one of the exterior pockets has a small puncture, and the metal frame is starting to poke through the nylon trim at the bag's opening. The bag's polyester fabric is a single layer, and the plasticized backing is starting to flake off. As a trade-off, it is a lightweight tool bag - light-duty materials mean less weight.
3. Carhartt 16"Legacy Tool Bag
Carhartt's 16"Legacy tool bag features an assortment of pockets for a wide variety of tools and a zippered top. The bag's exterior pockets are arranged in a different pattern on each side, which may seem inconsequential but should help users stay organized. Carhartt builds the bag with capable 1200 denier heavy-duty polyester (a step down in durability from 1680d) coated with Rain Defender. It transparently advises that Rain Defender coating will protect tools from “light rain."The Legacy has an added layer of material on the base for abrasion resistance. An interior metal frame in its main compartment keeps the bag upright and semi-rigid.
With 23 outer pockets and 11 inner pockets, there's plenty of potential to organize a basic home tool kit. Since the bag's pockets are arranged uniquely on each side, it should be easy to avoid confusion and find the right tool at a glance. The 16-inch interior space isn't huge, but it would be substantial enough to store a small drill kit, plus a few bigger tools like hammers, pipe wrenches, or caulking guns.
4. DEWALT DGL573 Lighted Tool Bag
DEWALT's DGL573 Lighted tool bag is a powerhouse (har har) for anyone with a multitude of small tools that need to stay organized. The bag's narrow width makes it ideal for working in tight spaces, and a unique light feature helps users find tools in low-lit conditions.
When I look at the DGL573, I think of working in a cramped, possibly unlit room where space management and precision tools are key. The bag is 15 inches long and 15 inches tall but only 8 inches deep, so you should be able to fit a lot into it but still find a handy, out-of-the-way spot for it. The LED light on the front seems more of a gimmick than anything, but why not have it? On any job site, you never fully know what's going to come in handy.
5. Makita 831303-9 20"Contractor Tool Bag
Makita's 20"tool bag is a simple, duffel-style bag with a long, narrow profile. The tool bag with shoulder strap carries easily no matter what's in it and has eight basic exterior pockets. If it were my bag, I would use it to tote power tools, cords, batteries, and chargers.
Material choices are unspecified. Makita says that the bag is “constructed with industrial fabric"and notes the reinforced handles. Simplicity is a consistent theme with the tool bag. It has eight exterior pockets but none on the interior. The opening has an internal metal frame to hold rigidity.
6. Husky 18"Large Mouth Tool Bag
Husky makes the de facto tool bag of the trade. The Home Depot proprietary brand combines field-proven construction with a broad stable of designs to produce success in various trades. Husky's 18"Large Mouth tool bag earns our lineup's Best All-Around spot, delivering a ton of durability and innovation.
The bag has a high capacity for large and small tools at 18 inches long, 10 inches high, and 12 inches wide. The bag's center divider, or “tool wall,"is removable, a differentiated and useful innovation. I used an earlier iteration of this Husky bag for about half a decade of cabinetwork. I can say I would have been thoroughly stoked on the ability to reconfigure the interior space.
7. Husky 19"Pro Hybrid Tool Tote with Tool Organizer
Husky's 19"Pro Tool Tote is the top choice for anyone with many tools at every size range. Its open-top design means storing and retrieving tools is always easy, and overfilling it is no problem. But it's not just a bucket: interior and exterior pockets in various shapes and sizes help organize hand tools, and a removable folding tool organizer stows sets of hand tools neatly and efficiently.
First of all, the bag is huge. At 18.7 inches long, 11.5 inches tall, and 14 inches wide, it's by far the biggest bag in our lineup and features the most open interior space with the easiest access to tools. If you come to the job site every morning with hand tools, power tools, measuring tools, and everything in between, chances are you can fit it all in the Husky Pro Tool Tote. (A little guy like me might not want to - a full contractor's tool kit can get pretty heavy!) Rubber reinforced handles help carry the load.
8. Veto Pro Pac Tech Pac
Veto Pro Pac designs the Tech Pac with workers who walk or climb a lot. It's advantageous in cities or industrial buildings, where long-distance walking is a necessity. The pack has some construction features unique to Veto Pro Pac, like its injection-molded base and patented center panel.
It comes equipped with 46 pockets and zippers for hand tools (Veto Pro Pac mentions technician-specific items like meters and manifold gauges), but from there, the bag diverges sharply from the rest of the pack. The patented center panel design is imbued with more technical genius than I can grasp but manages to use a platform system to stabilize the pack's weight. This helps keep the pack from falling over, which is a prevalent complaint with most tool backpacks.
9. Milwaukee 13"Carpenter's Pouch
Any tool pouch you wear on a belt needs to be functional, durable, and comfortable. Milwaukee designs a carpenter's tool pouch with 1680 denier ballistic nylon, a tunnel-style belt loop, and a carry handle to get the job done.
Everybody who's worn tool bags knows the amazing feeling of taking them off at the end of the day. Milwaukee delivers with a tunnel-style belt loop that accommodates belts up to 3 inches wide. (As a side note, never buy a tool pouch that clips on with a hook or a magnet. One way or another, the hook will find its way into your hip. The magnetic bag will inevitably snag on something).
10. Klein 19"Tool Bucket Bag
The concept of a bucket-style tool bag is simple: take any 5-gallon bucket and turn it into a tool bag. Klein exemplifies the form with its 19"Tool Bucket Bag. The double-layer polyester sleeve attaches to any standard 5-gallon bucket, adding 45 pockets for a huge amount of tools. Interior pockets feature a sleeve big enough to hold a power tool and cord. 35 exterior pockets organize hand tools by type. Two Velcro pockets secure odds and ends, and a chain thong holds tape rolls.
Klein's 19"Tool Bucket Bag is a simple but complete rig designed for use with any 5-gallon bucket. When bucket bags get overfilled, they can be uncomfortable to carry (think of carrying a bucket full of sand by its narrow wire handle). But for under fifty bucks, it offers an affordable solution to organize a big tool kit.
