About 55-60 years ago (I'm told) my Great Grandfather Bought a Waterloo chest and a 5 or 7 drawr top to go on top, when he died it got passed on to my Grandfather, about 30 years ago it was passed to my Father when he came of age. It has been around as long as I can remember and I intend to get it when he dies in about 40 years or so. Still has most of the original tools. A few have been lost, turned into "special purpose" wrenches and such, but not one single broke Craftsman...EVER. I'm not even sure if my father has ever bought a tool the ones he has just keep being reliable...who cares about looks and shiny chrome, I'll take "El Cheapo" Craftsmans over top of the line "Ergonomicly Designed Space shuttle Quality" Snap-on's any day. At what point does good enough become better than you'll ever need. 3 generations going on 4 seems like a pretty fair deal to me. Why pay more. I will say however checking your inventory after every task and NEVER loaning tools, and fostering mutual respect among coworkers is the single best thing you can do to keep your tools. The box just keeps the honest thieves out. Put your chest in a wide stand up locker out of sight when the work day is done and lock that too. The thief (for a shop break in) is going to be an ex-coworker, if he doesn't like you he'll take what ever ain't nailed down/easy to get. A box isn't just to hold tools, it's an investment in protecting your investment.

 

The shop I work, a good number of the tools came from the owners Grandfather (the owner is my mothers age and grew up with her). We replaced a Matco Ratchet, that I called and emailed Matco on, they had to look up the number on it, it was so old. They said there was no parts for it, so it couldn't be rebuilt and the owner and I had a little discussion, that amounted to "it was my Grandfathers," and me replying "yes, but how many years has it been broken, and you still have the sockets, it's up to you but I would replace the broken part and just keep the unbroken sockets, and all the other stuff". He decided I was right and the Matco guy let him pickout of any ratchet he had since that style was "older then him".
My grandfather worked as a mechanic at least twice in his life. Once he had his own shop in the early 20's and then again in the late 50's to early 60's. He was at a shop down the street from my mechanics, and when the owner decided to close, my grandfather went to work full time at his other job, and the other mechanic went to work at my mechanics. He is retired but lives down the street from me and I still learn from him. I have most of my Grandfathers tools (although I don't use most of the Model A stuff) and there are several that are well built, lifetime warranty and yet the companies are out of business. My father has several favorites that are the same, "Krauter" being the one that comes to mind. As long as it works use them, but if you compare the quality of those old Craftsman to the new, those old ratchets were better built.
As for the breakins, they are almost all drugies that are the kids of customers. Or a couple of drug houses the cops just keep repeating.

 

You guys are leaving out one variable, QUALITY, old vs new. 99% of the older tools were still American made not the cheap imported crap. For long lasting quality you STILL have to buy American. Greg

 

I'm embarrasingly cheap. Would stay away from the Craftsman(metal to thin for me, they should roll the edges). Can't see spendin 5 - 10 grand on a box without a motor. I've got a Lowe's(KObalt)41 inch toop and bottom and a 28 inch Homak botom mounted on a homemade "taco" cart with 6 in wheels set up like a lowboy trailer(frame between the wheels is just 1.5in off floor). total cost with labor, metal, boxes is under 1500. But the guy with the 10 grand Mac Mustang Anniversary is always borrowing tools, has no vise or work area on his box.
trivia question: why doesn't someone make a drawer kit to utilize the 6-8 inches of space between the wheels of the name brand boxes?

 

I really think Snap-On is the best. That being said, I own Craftsman because, they too, are an excellent tool. Any nobody can say anything bad about their lifetime warranty. I've had my craftsman tools for about 35 years and I still love them. Recently, I bought a 156 piece Stanley set from Sam's Club just to throw in my new truck. I think they were $59 and seemed like a great deal.