Since a small windfall came my way, I decided it was time to buy some real tool storage, since what I have now is an ad hoc mess.

 What follows is the saga of my very unhappy - and unsuccessful - attempts to buy a few thousand dollars worth of U.S. General tool chests from Harbor Freight™.

 Harbor Freight clearly has enough customers and does not need any more.

 As I get older, I am less able to rely on my memory of where I last saw or put down a tool, so it becomes increasingly important that I have them organized so I spend less time thrashing and more time actually creating, repairing, etc.

 After a fair bit of research into the subject, I was surprised to find a fair number of people making fairly convincing arguments to buy a “middle grade” set of chests from the infamous Harbor Freight™.

 Now I freely admit that I have spent the last several decades telling everyone who would listen that HF are in league with the devil, and that on no account should they ever give HF any money whatsoever, as you would almost certainly live to regret it - often within a few days.

 So it surprised me to hear this narrative going around:

 “Harbor Freight is tired of their reputation for selling cheap junk, so they have decided the one thing their regular customers will least object to paying higher prices for will be tool chests.”

and

“HF’s Yukon line is the same old cheap junk they’ve always sold, and Ikon may compete well with Snap-On, but both Ikon and Snap-On are overpriced, but U.S. General is a bargain.”

 So naturally, everybody and his brother are trying to buy these U.S. General tool cabinets & chests, and there is a supply problem; the stores can’t seem to keep them in stock.

 I called around two days ago and found a HF store in Lakewood, Colorado that at least had a demo/floor model of the rollaway and top chest that I felt met my needs, so I could see for myself whether these surprising claims were justified.

 I got there and I was surprised to find that the claims were correct: 

• HF’s ‘Yukon’ line is the same cheap junk they have always sold.
• The U.S. General line seems solidly built and affordable for what it is.
• HF’s Ikon line is intended to compete with Snap-On, and it is wildly over-priced for what it is.

  Keep in mind that all of these are still being made in China.

 I liked what I saw, so I tried talking to an employee about whether they had one in stock.  The store wasn’t especially busy, but there appeared to be only three people working in it, and that just isn’t enough for a 17,000 sq. ft. facility.  After literaly twenty minutes, I finally got help and was told that they were out, but two more sets of the size and color I wanted would arrive on their next stock truck in two days, and would be available for sale the following day, which was today.

 I was there early, only to be told that the two sets that came on the truck had been reserved in advance by others and were sold.  When I took exception to this with the only employee I could find, I got a lot of attitude and no help at all.  I can see why they don't wear name tags.

 So now I’m looking for another brand from another source.

 If you live in America and have opinions on such things, I’m open to suggestions.  I need a 44″ top chest and matching roller cabinet, and I would prefer they be part of a larger system which includes end cabinets, lockers, workbench/storage units, and so forth.  It would be swell if they came in a choice of colors, but if not, oh well.

 IOW, I need these purchases today to be part of a full line of professional tool storage products from a company who might still be around five or ten years from now, so that I can add on to it after we move.

 Excuse typos, please, I’m in too much pain to re-read it and correct my mistakes.