What Milwaukee don't want you to know...

Milwaukee’s power tools are predominantly red wherever you are in the world. Their branding is strong and recognisable to most tool fans, irrespective of their own tool preferences. However when it comes to their tool storage, there's a big pond-shaped division. So here we're delving in to address that hot topic. So, what's the difference between black and red Milwaukee Packout?

The origins of the Milwaukee brand

Before delving in to answer that question, it's worth reflecting on how the brand came to be. Milwaukee Tools were founded originally founded in 1922 by AH Peterson in in, unsurprisingly, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Things changed quite quickly though. The founder now is widely considered as A.F. Siebert, a local an entrepreneur and industrialist. Since it was his leadership and forward-thinking approach laid the foundation for Milwaukee’s success as a global power tool brand.

Peterson's original business closed following a fire. The fire inevitably caused some financial setbacks in the year following. But in 1924 Siebert purchased the company's remaining assets and formed the Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation.

Herein lies our first clue in terms of the branding of the business. The bold, recognisable font and red color evolved as part of the company’s branding strategy to emphasize durability, innovation, and professionalism. The red lightening bolt, meanwhile, can be traced back to their "Electric Tool" origins.  This is when they sought to create a strong identity that reflected a commitment to high-quality tools for industrial use. The bolt also represents power and energy. The whole branding being build to reflect the strength and steadfastness of those early origins.

Hong Kong based tool giants TTI have owned Milwaukee since 2005, alongside Ryobi and many other brands we all know and love.

The evolution of the Packout

Over the years, the company expanded its product line. Consistently focusing on meeting the needs of professionals in demanding industries like construction, manufacturing, and automotive. Today, Milwaukee are known globally for their wide range of tools. But of course, in the context of this, it's epic tool storage options and the famous Milwaukee Packout.

In the United States where the brand has remained fairly true to it's origins they've retained the predominantly red colouring in it's Packouts. The brand is also fairly widely known as "Big Red" stateside too. In other regions, though, especially the UK and Europe, the Packout colours are reversed. All the products we find here are black with red detailing. But rumours abound about why that is. Also,  is it just the colour that's different, or are there more changes between the product, depending were you are in the world.

The myth and speculation

There's a vast debate over what's the difference between black and red Milwaukee Packout, largely being attributed to different market preferences or strategies. Local aesthetics, consumer expectations, and tool safety standards are all specilative reasons for the difference. The colour black is apparently associated with professional-grade tools in many non-US markets. So some believe Milwaukee adapts its color scheme to appeal to regional tastes while maintaining brand identity. There are lots of strands to the debate including:

Globalisation

It's a fact of life now, but some people cite this as the reason for the differences. Some claim the change is down to where the cases are now manufactured. Claiming that Milwaukee EU production comes from anywhere between China or Israel. Therefore that the colour is to bring it in line with the other cases, like Keter, that these factories turn out. This is unlikely to be the reason as those locations manufacture all colours of case. Plus the volume they would make for a brand like Milwaukee would clearly warrant them driving their own decisions on colour. 

Competitor challenges

Many believe the change has been forced by a competitor brand. Liechtenstein based Hilti. They market their own predominantly red tool box brand widely throughout Europe. The Hilti tool storage range colour was introduced back in 1972 when they became the first company to put tools into plastic tool boxes. So that indeed does put them ahead of Milwaukee on the red tool box timeline. However while it's not unprecedented that a brand would contest use of their exact brand colour, it's much less likely that any law suit would hold up over the generic use of a primary colour for a tool box brand. 

Personal preference

History has painted a cultural, sociological picture of us Brits as being milder and more conservative that perhaps the rest of the world. If that was at the forefront of the brand's mind when deciding the colour for the Packouts in this area, it would be surprising. Especially given the size of our small isle in comparison to Europe and indeed the rest of the world. While it's true that many might prefer a "toned down" colour for their tool storage than the infamous lightening red, that's more a personal choice than geographical choice. So that would surely apply to people whichever side of the Atlantic they're on?

Security

This links in to the above point. If people in the UK and Europe feel that it's more discreet for a case to be black, then wouldn't the same apply in the USA too? It's understandably true that many people wouldn't want to draw attention to their tools by using a bright tool box. But the same could also be said for American tool users every bit as much as Europeans. So that doesn't really stand up as much of a theory.

Our take... COST!

We have a slightly different take on this. As manufacturers of a product that's essentially made from plastic, we recognise that black plastic is slightly cheaper to produce. That cost difference is pretty negligible for most. However if you scale up to the level of production required for the likes of Milwaukee, it becomes pretty significant. Those potential savings to a tool box manufacturer in a competitive marketplace must be a big consideration. When Mikwaukee was first produced in the US with their stand-out colours, becoming known as "Big Red" would be an almost certain reason to cement production of the Packouts in that trademark colour. Elsewhere though, where that association is not as known, why not go with the cheaper brand-reversed option of black with red details?

The long and short of it

In the great "what's the difference between black and red Milwaukee Packout" debate, we can now categorically say, there isn't one. It took us a big shopping trip to the States to establish this! However, now we have both the black and the red Packout systems for comparison.

Actually, other than aesthetics, you'd be extremely hard pushed to notice any difference. Certainly for us, the custom fit inserts we manufacture to work with the whole Packout and Milwaukee tool storage range will work perfectly well with either system.

So now it's time for the really big question... red or black side up?