Systainer3 wins Red Dot award

[Cheese]

Is your goal the smallest possible package, or is your goal usability?  When you go super dense on the packaging, you start to defeat one of the benefits of systainers.  When you put the tool back, you don't want to have to perfectly place everything, fold and fit it just perfectly, try to remember how they wrap things so it fits in just perfect to get the lid to close.  By going bigger, it means folks can toss the tools in and close the lid a lot easier. Additionally it means there is room for other stuff to be tossed.  Toss in extra blades,  screw tips, maybe an accessory you bought later. 

Smallest possible systainer should not be a priority.

A BIG +1 on this.  [big grin]

There are a lot of Festool Systainers that I upsized...I purchased a 1010 in a Sys 3 and moved up to a SYS-Combi 3. I purchased a Vecturo in a Sys 2 and moved up to a Sys 3, the list goes on.

There's nothing more frustrating than having to recoil the electrical cord 3 times so that it doesn't get caught between the lower & upper halves of the systainer which prevents it from closing.

Here's a shot of the 1010 upsizing. Everything is in one place. I no longer have to empty the entire contents of the systainer to swap out a router bit and a template guide. Also at hand are fasteners, connectors & a driver for the MFS, 5 Festool router bits in plastic cases, 12 Whiteside router bits, 7 template guides, short guide rods, yada, yada. Everything I need is in one package.

[attachimg=1]

 

[AlexThePalex]

Smallest possible systainer should not be a priority.

No, I agree, it shouldn't. And I am not talking about the size of the systainer, I am talking about how well you can use the space that's actually inside the systainer.

If you scroll up to the picture of Dick Mahany's box systainer you can see how much space is wasted simply by the design of the systainer itself. 

Having to fit everything back perfectly like it was from the factory is part of what made the blow molded, unique to every tool case so frustrating. You could spend a lot of time just trying to get it back in the case.  I don't want to have to be perfect and have to adjust tool to a very particular packaging. 

Festool still uses inlays in their systainers, and they're also blow molded. Nothing different. You can place the items only in there in one way.

But what makes the difference is how you actually make those inlays, and to me it seems to be the trent lately with Festool to be very uneconomical with the space inside.

Back in the days of the classic systainers the inlays were minimal, as flat as possible with as little parts sticking up as possible. Now, the inlays can take up a lot of the space of the systainer, lots of air under there.

Just compare these pictures of an older C15 and a newer T18 in their natural habitat:

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

Both sys 2 T-Locs, notice how the C15 lays almost flat on the bottom, while the T18 is raised to the top?

 

[Coen]

Is your goal the smallest possible package, or is your goal usability?  When you go super dense on the packaging, you start to defeat one of the benefits of systainers.  When you put the tool back, you don't want to have to perfectly place everything, fold and fit it just perfectly, try to remember how they wrap things so it fits in just perfect to get the lid to close.  By going bigger, it means folks can toss the tools in and close the lid a lot easier. Additionally it means there is room for other stuff to be tossed.  Toss in extra blades,  screw tips, maybe an accessory you bought later. 

Smallest possible systainer should not be a priority.

A BIG +1 on this.  [big grin]

There are a lot of Festool Systainers that I upsized...I purchased a 1010 in a Sys 3 and moved up to a SYS-Combi 3. I purchased a Vecturo in a Sys 2 and moved up to a Sys 3, the list goes on.

There's nothing more frustrating than having to recoil the electrical cord 3 times so that it doesn't get caught between the lower & upper halves of the systainer which prevents it from closing.

Here's a shot of the 1010 upsizing. Everything is in one place. I no longer have to empty the entire contents of the systainer to swap out a router bit and a template guide. Also at hand are fasteners, connectors & a driver for the MFS, 5 Festool router bits in plastic cases, 12 Whiteside router bits, 7 template guides, short guide rods, yada, yada. Everything I need is in one package.

[attachimg=1]

The edge accessories that you have in there used to be sold in a separate Systainer. For the routers itself they sell a dedicated systainer. But yeah, the OF 1010 is the perfect example of a Systainer that you can fill to the top with accessories. However, I fail so see how putting five stacks of 80x133 vs six stack in a sandpaper systainer improves anything.

Just wasting more space below the blow mold or adding empty space on top doesn't help though.