CIS XXL Tote Reviews

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 19:46:01 -0500, "lisa" <wackymama DeleteThis @chartermi.net> wrote:

 >Hello. I am new to the group. Was wondering if anyone has the XXL tote and
 >what they thought of it. I am interested in it but want to be sure!

Hi Lisa,

I've had mine for about 6 months and love it. I got a great deal on a leather
Navigator ($37.50!) but wound up selling it on eBay without ever using it. I
can fill up my XXL in no time, and besides being smaller, the way the
Navigator was set up just wasn't very useful to me - lots of scissors loops (I
don't use deco scissors) in the large front pocket, no good place for my
cutter, etc. The XXL has a ton of pockets for all of my adhesives and other
small stuff.

It is heavy, but doesn't seem much heavier than the Navigator and since I have
a minivan it's pretty easy to load into the back - but if you have any back or
strength issues, you might want to use more and smaller totes instead of a
fully loaded XXL (I just packed mine for a crop tomorrow - I should go weigh
it).

I don't use the pen caddy that comes with it; instead I use the spot for the
caddy (it's a long pocket in the lid) for my Cutterpede. There's plenty of
room for my PSB and miscellaneous binders and paper carriers. I keep books
and my glass mat on the side pocket that's supposed to be for scissors.

I also have a fairly large Plano tackle box that I stack on top of the XXL.
The Navigator would have been too small to do that. I sometimes use a CIS Jr.
which will stack on top instead of the tackle box, or hook over the handle.

The one thing I liked about the Navigator over the XXL is the wheels. The
Navigator has nice, widely spaced inline skate wheels. The XXL's wheels are
not as good and are closer together, so I actually have had it tip over to one
side when going over the "rough terrain" of a friend's lawn. I wish they'd
put the same type of wheel setup on the XXL as on the Navigator.

Okay, out of curiosity I just tried to weigh my
mostly-packed-but-still-has-room XXL. Since it's so big and I only have a
little bathroom scale it wasn't easy (if it was fully on the scale it blocked
the window for the reading!) but as near as I can tell, it weighs between 60
and 70 pounds. That's with a full PSB, about 150 sheets of 12x12 Bazzill
cardstock, several books and a glass mat, about 200 sheets of 5.5x8.5 inch
Bazzill, a zipper binder full of templates, a small first aid kit, and a bunch
of little stuff that doesn't weigh much on its own and probably adds up to 3
or 4 pounds, tops. (I weighed the tackle box - 25 lbs., and the CIS Jr. with
nothing but a bunch of paper - 15 lbs. No wonder I'm getting winded by the
time I'm across the parking lot. It's all that darned paper that gets so
heavy. )

Hope this helps!

-Meghan<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->