I've been through all sorts of tool bags and boxes over the last nine years, from high school through college and now the professional world.
For most of high school my main toolbox was a big duffel bag affectionately referred to as the "Oh, Sh*t! Kit". It held up pretty well and was light, but I got tired of digging through a big dark bag for the tool I needed, which was inevitably at the bottom.
Partway through college, I switched to a big Rubbermaid toolbox. It was one of those two-part boxes; there's a small toolbox on the top that you can use on its own, which attaches to another toolbox on the bottom. The top one has a handle that can
swing up, and the bottom one has rubber wheels, so when you're using the double-tall it can be wheeled. I have horrible memories of wheeling it to the T (subway) in Boston from my apartment to take it to the
theatre. It was also nice because it was just about the right height to use as a stool for sitting on at
FOH when repairing things (I generally like to stand to mix).
As durable as they are, though, once you're touring and throwing your toolbox on a truck, though, Rubbermaids and the like just don't hold up packed with tools. And, again, even with the tray, you get the big bottomless pit
effect.
At some
point in there, I can't even keep
track of when, I tried one of those open-top/zippered soft toolbags (CLC, I think?), which I liked, but the open top (in this case, it was open pockets on the outside for wrenches and screwdrivers, and then a zipper on the main compartment) is a badddd idea.
Before I went out on my first tour, I bought an Anvil ATA briefcase. This held most of what I needed for the tour, and was wide and shallow, so it's easy to find what I need. It's a
bit small though, and I've finally outgrown it. I was going to look into the larger technician's case they make, but still, I wanted something more compartmentalized, and a
bit bigger, so, I'm now on what will likely be my final toolbox...
I'm currently awaiting the completion of a custom built ATA toolbox from Olympic Cases. Over half of it is filled with foam with cutouts to hold my meters, cable testers, measurement microphones,
etc. Then there's a smaller open compartment for other goodies, also padded on all sides with foam, and the top of the lid has a tool
pallet to hold my wrenches, pliers, and cutters. It's pretty much shaped like a tech case, and has wheels and a telescoping handle to help in carrying it, since when full it'll be a
bit on the heavy side.
When I get it I'll try to post a picture. It's expensive, but short of a
road workbox, it's pretty much all I could ever want in a toolbox.
Now, you ask what a
road box is. That's a somewhat vague term, but in this case, it may be referring to a
workbox, such as this:
http://www.calzonecase.com/pics/Music_cases/GuitarTechTable_pop.jpg
That's actually one made for a
guitar tech, hence the padded table surface on the top of the actual box, but you get the idea. Standard ones just have the drawers, and optionally either a foldout table in the lid or a lid that converts to a table like in that one.
Lots of companies make them, Olympic has some really cool ones on their site that are shorter and double-wide.
Basically, to sum it up...I do not recomment open top toolbags, they're too easy to lose stuff out of. Duffle bags can work, but have to be really sturdy ones, and they have the "big black hole"
effect. Rubbermaid type boxes are great for local work, but if you're throwing the box in a truck week in and week out, you'll want something hard-sided, which leaves you pretty much with either a
Pelican case or an ATA style case of some shape and size of another. If you're on a big tour and can get the truck space for it and afford the shipping or get the production company to
pick up the
tab, of course, a big
workbox is the way to go.
Hope some of this helps,
Andy