Storage Container Options

[Fu-Man Chu]

IRIS Portable Project Case - $5-6 each, measures 12.25" x 13" x 3.25". Hinged top.

Thoughts:

• These will suffice for storing, but are probably at the bottom of my list.
• They don't really stack, and probably are best in the drawer organizer.
• The lids bow up a bit as well, so there's more room at the top of the pieces than the Sterilite 3.25" containers.
• They are also fairly cheaply made - of the 20 or so I bought, two have broken hinges, and one has a cracked side - all in less than a year.

I use these the one for scrapbooks. Iris® Scrapbook Case 14.1" x 14.3" x 3.1" case size I think they are the same ones you have. I have not had any problems with them yet. I buy them as the stackable shelf ones.

Yup - those are the ones that I have - and they fit well in the stackable shelf - I've got a couple of those as well (in white thought, not black), and that's what I meant about working with the drawer organizer. But stacking on top of each other without the organizer doesn't seem to work too well.

Nice game room BTW!

[unclebilly]

IRIS Portable Project Case - $5-6 each, measures 12.25" x 13" x 3.25". Hinged top.

Thoughts:

• These will suffice for storing, but are probably at the bottom of my list.
• They don't really stack, and probably are best in the drawer organizer.
• The lids bow up a bit as well, so there's more room at the top of the pieces than the Sterilite 3.25" containers.
• They are also fairly cheaply made - of the 20 or so I bought, two have broken hinges, and one has a cracked side - all in less than a year.

I use these the one for scrapbooks. Iris® Scrapbook Case 14.1" x 14.3" x 3.1" case size I think they are the same ones you have. I have not had any problems with them yet. I buy them as the stackable shelf ones.

[Fu-Man Chu]

Really Useful Box(R) Plastic Storage Box, 7 liters - $10-14 each, measures 15.5" x 13.5" x 3.25". Removable top.

Thoughts:

• Like the other 3.25" ones, there's some play in between the top of the pieces and the lid, but the lid is fairly flat other than a small ridge along the outside.
• These stack pretty nicely, with just a little bit of shifting. But with the ridge on the lid, they are unlikely to slide off one another.
• They feel quite durable.
• A thought I had was the possibility of using these to transport prebuilt set-ups; it occurred to me that I may be able to put the terrain tray with the new magnetic pieces onto the lid, and then cover with the "bottom" portion to make it easy to move the entire tray.
  • I tested this in the last few pictures. You can see that the train fits pretty nicely EXCEPT for the little fabric that extends beyond a ridge in the lid - that unfortunately pushes the pieces at the edges up just enough that it weakens the magnetic force so the pieces can move around.
  • I also turned it upside down (the container right-sided up) and shook it a bit to see what would happen, then turned it back. For the most part, the magnets held pretty well! This is a testament to their strength. For most transporting between gaming locations, I wouldn't expect the whole box to be turned upside down…
  • Now, the pre-built tray could work very well placed into the container normally - but I found it a little difficult to get my hands into it to lift it out, which is why I tried building it on the lid.
  • So, does anyone know where we can buy some thin metal sheets cut to exactly 12" x 12" that I can put into the lid? I don't really need to have the fabric covering (as you can see in this sample build, I covered the entire thing; oh, and the new double door is fantastic!)

The build on the terrain tray next to the lid.


Placed onto the lid.


These next picture are close-ups of where the fabric is lifted up a bit by the ridge that runs alongside the edge of the lid – just enough to displace the rounded corners.








Looks like it fits great here, with the “bottom” closing fairly securely!






So, the next question I had was how securely would the magnetic pieces stay on the terrain tray, even when turned “upside-down”?




Looks pretty good! A few pieces came off – mostly where the fabric was pushed up by the ridge, weakening the magnetic field (and the rounded corners at the bottom are from the first Kickstarter, so don’t have magnets in the base).



And I flipped it one more time, and shook it around a bit, and still held up pretty well!


Here it is stacked on top of another 7-litre box, both with the lid down.

[Fu-Man Chu]

IRIS Portable Project Case - $5-6 each, measures 12.25" x 13" x 3.25". Hinged top.

Thoughts:

• These will suffice for storing, but are probably at the bottom of my list.
• They don't really stack, and probably are best in the drawer organizer (shown below, about $50-60 for the organizer and the 6 cases).
• The lids bow up a bit as well, so there's more room at the top of the pieces than the Sterilite 3.25" containers.
• They are also fairly cheaply made - of the 20 or so I bought, two have broken hinges, and one has a cracked side - all in less than a year.

[Fu-Man Chu]

Artbin Super Satchel Slim Single Compartment Box 9100AB - $12-17 each (retail $20), measures 15" x 14" x 2". Hinged top.

Thoughts:

• I thought this was going to be the perfect solution, but then when I received them, it was quite the disappointment. The height is perfectly 2" on the outside, which means that it is a tad too small to hold the DF!
• In addition, there are ridges that are also just under 2" apart.
• So unfortunately, these are the only ones I bought which are a complete no-go.
• They otherwise stack well and seem durable

[Fu-Man Chu]

STERILITE 19638606 Large Clip Box, Clear - ~$6-7 each, measures 14" x 11" x 2.75". Removable top.

Thoughts:

• I would like it if it were closer to 2.25" tall - as is, it leaves some room for pieces to move around up top, but it seems to fit the larger pieces (like the new DOD arch) quite nicely.
• The middle "depression" in the lid is fairly annoying - I could almost lay two of the 4"x6" DF floors along the top to wedge in all the other pieces, but that depression leads to it tenting up in the middle.
• Stacks just ok - there is enough play for one to slide atop another.
• Seems pretty durable.
• Might try out the smaller one (STERILITE 19618606 Small Clip Box , 11" x 6.88" x 2.75 ~$2-3.50 each)

[Fu-Man Chu]

STERILITE 14028606 Divided Case, Clear Case - ~$4-6 each; 13.38" x 10.75" x 2.5. Hinged top.

Thoughts:

• These are the perfect height! Smaller size as well means they aren't quite a unwieldy fully loaded.
• The REMOVABLE divider trays are a nice bonus,
• HOWEVER, there are grooves on the bottom for those trays to fit in, which hampers their full utility.
• Stack very well - no detectable shifting. However, not much of a handle, so can be difficult to lift 3 up at once for example.

Durable.
Looks like these are going out of production, so may be unavailable in a few years.

[Fu-Man Chu]

Sterilite 1716 6.2 qt Modular Latch Box - Going out of stock (listed at $32.99 for a single one at Amazon, but Walmart.com has 6 for $19.50); stated measurements of 15" x 11.5" x 3.25", but in actuality, almost identical measurement to #3 below of 14" x 11" x 2.75". Basically, I think #3 below (the one with the green latch at the top right of the six pictured above) is the replacement for this one.

Thoughts:

• I would like it if it were closer to 2.25" tall - this leaves some room for pieces to move around up top, but it seems to fit the larger pieces (like the new DOD arch) quite nicely.
• There are two raised areas in the lid which help with the stacking, but still a little slack so one can slide atop another.

[Fu-Man Chu]

I've been looking into more storage options for my growing DF collection (especially with these yearly kickstarters now!), and after reading through a lot of the options people use, as well as buying more containers, here are my reviews of them.

My main goal is storage with ease of access, but secondarily, the ability to use them to transport to off-site games.

1) The best for storage with ease of access so far is the flat-file drawers - those are fantastic, and I make good use of the ones I have. No more detail on that. Link here.

2) I also like these Sterilite 7-drawer storage cart - they are a good size, and have individual hinged snap-lids for each drawer. Plus, they were only like $35 for the entire unit; unfortunately, I haven't found any more to buy since about 2010. (More picture from a previous post here: http://collegiumludiorum.com/blog/2016/ ... e-drawers/)





So the ideal criteria I was looking for when looking to dive into these containers are:
- Sized 12" x 12" x 2" on the INTERIOR (this comes into play with one of these)
- Easily, and securely stackable
- Durable

Here are pictures of 6 other models of various containers I have gotten to test in the past few weeks. I will be going through these from the top left and going clockwise in the following posts.





Here’s a quick setup I did as well to test #6. It is mostly the lastest Dungeon of Doom (Kickstarter #5), with a few other elements (will point those out).

















The rounded corner piece here is from the original Dwarven Forge Kickstarter #1 – the paint job matches very well with the newest KS.


Overhead shot


Edited to include the picture of the Sterilite 7-drawer