Killer Tackle Storage Options
Originally Published on “From the Dock” NBC Sports
For the past several weeks little brown trucks have been stopping by my house to drop off big brown boxes filled with tackle storage options, both hard and soft. And yes, Karen is getting tired of having them around the house.
It has been awhile since we have done an extensive product review piece and thorough evaluations can take days. However, there is no better way to understand what’s on the market than to collect everything, set them side-by-side, and start comparing everything from design to quality of components, to overall value.
The boxes and bags Jim Edlund, Mitch Petrie and I have been reviewing run anywhere from $10.99 to as much as $319.99. Price doesn’t always indicate which product is best or offers the greatest features. In fact, we found some of the greatest innovations coming in the Utility Box category. Since most modern tackle storage systems are now based on these small, clear boxes, its exciting to see this.
I suspect this study will be the basis for a few blogs in the coming days, so if you have any specific question please drop them in the comments below and I’ll try to cover in future blogs.
Hard Boxes
For the past 10 years or so, I have relied almost solely of soft bags and utility boxes for my storage requirements, so I haven’t taken a serious look at the standard hard box category in years. I learned immediately that there are some solid products out there. There are also some clunkers. And while I’m not ready to spill all the beans I do want to share a quick rundown of the new Flambeau T4P Multiloader Pro as the box impressed not only me, but the other testers as well, for its well-thought-out design and use of storage space. In fact, when I look at the score for things like Overall Design, Base Storage, Multi-Species Functionality, Overall Value and other evaluation categories, we scored the box almost identically. .
Out of a 1-10 ranking system with 10 being best, this box received a number of 9s and even a few 10s. Comments included were: “Good storage in a small package; gobbles up a variety of gear including jarred baits and soft plastics.”
When I checked real-world pricing of the bag online (Cabela’s is selling for $56.99), I was surprised at how low it was (I expected pricing around $10 higher). Yes, it’s a good value. If you are looking for a smaller hard box that offers a surprising amount of storage, I’d recommend you check this one out.– Steve
