The Cargo Brand Pencil Storage and Photo Storage Boxes

A few weeks ago I posted a link to some deals and sales that included these Cargo Brand Storage Boxes from Organize.com, and I couldn’t pass up the deal myself so I decided to pick up the set that you are looking at here.  I’ve seen these storage boxes around for quite some time and always wondered how they held up so I figured this would be a good opportunity to give them a shot.

Close up of the rivets on the Cargo brand storage boxes

The thing that I always liked about these Cargo Brand storage boxes were the look of the shiny metal rivets that held them together against the flat finish of the cardboard like material that the rest of them are composed of.  For me the graphite color choice best demonstrated this contrast, but there are plenty of other great colors to pick from.  When I finally had my Cargo brand storage boxes in my hands I was surprised at how sturdy they felt, especially at the seam where the rivets held the boxes together.

Initially I was not sure what I would use these for when I purchased them, but with one labeled as the Cargo Pencil Box, and the other as a Cargo Photo File Storage Box, I knew what I was supposed to store in them.  I figured that as a worst case scenario they would both function rather nicely as a way to store pens, pencils, and/or some of my other office supply related accessories such as tins of Levenger clippies and page points, or extra Levenger Circa discs.

Cargo Pencil Storage Box with Private Reserve and J. Herbin Ink Bottles

The Cargo Photo File Storage box measures 6″ tall x 8″ wide x 10 1/4″deep, while the Cargo Pencil Box measures 3″ tall x 4 3/4″ wide x 11″ deep.  One thing I thought that the Cargo Pencil box would be good for (besides pens and pencils) would be to keep my fountain pen ink in.  As you can see in the photo above, the J. Herbin and Private Reserve bottles fit in fairly well, but unfortunately the Noodler’s ink bottles are just a bit too tall to keep in there.  With the Cargo Storage Box loaded up with 6 mostly full bottles of ink, I was also impressed with its ability to retain its form and not have the weight put a ton of stress on the box itself.  I still have not decided what I will use the larger Cargo Photo File box for, but obviously I can fit my Noodler’s ink in there, but I am sure I’ll find a more creative or practical use eventually.

I like how these Cargo Brand Storage boxes look, as they tend to blend in rather nicely with a few different styles of shelving and desk designs, especially given the wide variety of colors that they are available in.  Something else that is nice about these boxes is that they are made of cardboard instead of plastic, like so many other storage solutions.  My only complaint about these boxes is that the white “Cargo” label that you see in front inside the metal frame is incredibly hard to get out the first time so you can flip it over and write your own label for them.  For some reason they are not cut perfectly even, so that seems to be what causes them to be so hard to get out, but since you probably wont be doing this on a daily basis, its probably not a big deal.

Personally, I think that the Cargo Brand storage boxes make for a nice low cost and environmentally responsible solution for your storage needs, and can look great in any home office as a way to store your office supplies or a variety of other things.   This was a purchase that I was a little unsure of before I made it, but now that I have them, I’m happy to have them as an option for my storage needs.

©2015, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.