I love these Flip Top boxes, but as usual, I’ll be discussing for what situation they are best used.
THE PRODUCT
These are plastic storage boxes that you can stack on top of each other. Each box costs around ₱350. Its dimensions are 45cm wide x 42cm deep x 29cm tall if it were a solid box. However, think of it as a shallower box, with a part that protrudes forward in an angle. This design allows for the “flip top” part, as the protrusion is the cover that you can flip up. This has several implications. First, it means that rather than reaching in horizontally, you reach down to retrieve items inside. Second, you can store items that can potentially spill. Lastly, it means that you can stack them and still have an opening that you can access.
The box is made of somewhat thin but durable plastic. I chose the color white for the main box, but it is also available in blue, green and red. The top cover is made of two parts attached with a hinge, what covers the top is cloudy white, while the slanted cover is transparent enough to see items inside. The top cover can be taken out; you can snap it into the main box to secure it as a cover.
At the bottom are four wheels that go in one direction (no swivel), and these fit perfectly into notches on the top of the box, because as mentioned these are meant to be stacked.
BUYING GUIDE
Storage is such a big product category, so I will mainly be focusing on stackable boxes. I’ll just mention really quickly that there are boxes as drawer sets, and these tend to be more stable because you have one big structure supporting several drawers (the analog of the boxes that we want to stack). Consider this as well. Back to the alternative to our Flip Top storage, the other stackable boxes:- Boxes with simple covers on top: I believe these are the most common. The big disadvantage is that to access any of the contents, you would have to de-stack them and then open the box
- Boxes with a vertical flip cover: These are shaped as regular rectangular boxes (no angled protrusions), where the front facing side, can be flipped up. The big disadvantage is that you will have to deal with items that spill (place them in separate Ziplock bags, etc.)
- Stackable drawers: These can store items that spill, but one big disadvantage is that you lose some volume because of the drawer-outer shell design.
ANG OKAY
Let’s first discuss modular storage, which is just a fancy way of saying that these are not fixed like a wardrobe. The best thing about stackable boxes is that you can start to use vertical space, which is often the ignored space. I can imagine these boxes as part of a toy collector’s room, spanning floor to almost ceiling height. I use them as a night table for now, but the point you have options. Finally, to reiterate, these flip-top boxes have the advantage that you can access contents without de-stacking. You still have the cover, so you can protect contents from dust.
I use these boxes to store my Lego collection, so you can swap that out with either rice or vegetables, dog food, other small toys, etc. This is the perfect situation to use such boxes. I also find that these are a good size, since most object will fit inside.
ANG HINDI OKAY
There are two big issues. First, the opening is kind of small. Compared to simple vertical flip tops, where you have the whole front that opens, the flip top opening is small. Again, you can de-stack and access contents by removing the whole cover, but that is a hassle. Second, there’s no way to organize inside. This is a side-effect of the small opening. If you are going for micro-organization, drawers are the best way to go. With this product, you can get away with putting contents in zip-lock bags.
VERDICT
■■■□ Good purchase
Consider the situation these are best for: more or less uniform contents with volume just right for the size of these boxes. This just means that it’s a bit difficult to organize different contents in one box because of the small opening. Anyway, in this regard these are a really good buy. I love that they’re modular and that these are one of the cheapest stackable options with good volume.