PTR: The Milwaukee Packout modular system might be the tippy top of what the industry has on offer for complete modular tool storage and transport solutions. And, with the addition of the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Packout Wet-Dry Vacuum (model 0970-20), the system looks like it’s now… completer.
3 comments:
It doesn't cease to amaze me how quickly battery powered tools are catching up to their wired counterparts. Aside from battery powered miter and table saws, the humble shop vac always strikes me as one of those tools that sucks up a ton of power. I have memories of having to use a special vacuum relay box with an old jobsite saw and vacuum, because we needed to split the two on separate circuits, lest we trip the breakers. Knowing this, I was pleasantly surprised at the performance specs on this vacuum. 50 minutes on low and 30 on full power is better than a lot of other power tools operating a a 100% duty cycle, but it still just seems a little short to have as THE shop vac. In a well thought-out shop with good electrical layout, finding an outlet shouldn't be a problem, and I think I might get frustrated if I was working on a large cutlist and using this as a dust collector. However, I do think this fits very nicely in the backstage environment, where running extension cords through complex scenery poses a tripping hazard. This would be great to have for our department, but its still no substitute for 12-V power.
As I have wrote about on the Greenpage before, I have always been a huge fan of Milwaukee's power tools. This summer, I upgraded my tools storage system to be based around the Milwaukee Packout system. I have loved it since day one. While the cases are a little bit heavy, the modularity of them is amazing. Currently, I have six Packout cases, and I love being able to pick which ones I need for any given job. For example, if I am going into work and know I am going to need to mount something to a wall, I know, for the most part, all I need to grab is the bin that has my M18 Drill and Impact Driver. If I am going to be putting furniture together, maybe I grab my M12 tools box and my hand tools box...you get the idea. When I first got into the system, I was curious why they hadn't done a vacuum yet, especially seeing that they had a box type vacuum already. It didn't take long for that to happen...this is definitely something I am thinking about purchasing.
As stated many times on the Newspage site, Milwaukee really hits it out of the park with their tools. However, I really have to disagree with DJ about the whole packout system they have brought to the market. I think the bins are clunky, way too heavy (even empty), and the idea has not seemed to have been fleshed out enough to make them as useful as they would hope. While batteries have come a long way since their inception into the tool market, I am still hesitant about battery-powered vacuums and blowers. For a tool like that, either you are going to be cleaning up a small mess or you are going to be worried about cleaning 3/4s of a mess and then your last battery will die because of course, you are doing the cleanup at the end of your day. Finally, I am really curious about a wet/dry vac being carried and moved around, even stored in a truck. Besides the weight of the thing after you have vacuumed up a mess but the seal of the whole system if you have a lot of water inside that would hopefully not be able to leak out all over the place.
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