My father-in-law has worked at hardware stores all of his adult life, and in my wife’s family, they’ve always carried tool bags as luggage on short trips. They’re beautiful, reasonably priced and built for durability. Last year, I spotted a mason’s bag like the one above at a boutique in Silver Lake, and thought it might be a nice holiday gift for my wife. Of course, the boutique had marked the bags up nearly 200% from their regular retail, so I went online to grab one. You can generally grab the CLC 304X (pictured above) for about fifty bucks shipped. The leatherless version is barely $25. If you don’t mind a big tool logo on the side, Klein Tools offers an even wider variety, including some small bags that would make nice dopp kits (though they’re unlined).
