Plano StowAway 3700 vs Flambeau 4007

Buy the Plano StowAway 3700 when you want the longer single-latch box with the clear DuraView lid. Buy the Flambeau 4007 Tuff Tainer when you want the shorter box, twelve Zerust dividers, and up to twenty-four compartments. They are both small lure boxes. They are not the same footprint. The Plano on this card is model PLASTOW3700STD, about 14 inches long, 7.3 inches wide, and 1.8 inches tall. The Flambeau on this card is model 4007, about 11 inches long, 7.25 inches wide, and 1.75 inches tall. Read those inches on the listing before you assume it drops into a bag built for a classic 14-by-9 tray.

Short version. A spinning reel still needs line, and 30-pound braid still needs a leader. The box is where the hooks, weights, and spare snaps live so you are not digging through a jacket pocket when the bite is on. A baitcaster does not care which plastic box you bought. It cares that the hook you meant to tie is the hook in your hand. Check live prices. Confirm the model number on the lid.

This comparison is two organizer trays you can still buy. It is not a 3700-size satchel, not a waterproof terminal box with cam latches, and not a 5000-series tray that is wider than a boat seat will forgive. Plano and Flambeau both sell a family of boxes that share a look and not a size. The number on the front is the buy. A photo of a deep utility box with a 3700 title in the cart is how people show up with a bin that will not slide into the bag they already own.

Plano's card is PLASTOW3700STD. Flambeau's card is model 4007. A waterproof cam-latch box, or a 3600, is a different tray.

Who should buy the Plano, and who should buy the Flambeau?

Buy the Plano StowAway 3700 if your lures are long. A spinnerbait, a shallow crankbait, and a jerkbait want a compartment that does not fold the hook into the body. Fourteen inches of length is the argument. The single latch is the other argument: one hand opens it on a rocking boat, and one hand closes it before the next cast. The clear DuraView lid lets you see the color you want without dumping six trays on the deck. The reusable label area is there so the lid says "chrome and white" instead of forcing you to open three boxes that all look like the same clear brick.

Buy the Flambeau 4007 if the job is small and numerous. Hooks, jig heads, split shot, swivels, and 3-inch plastics do not need a 14-inch runway. They need walls so a 1/8-ounce head does not migrate into the 1/4-ounce pile. Twelve Zerust dividers, moved into the slots, build up to twenty-four compartments. The box is shorter, so it sits in a smaller pocket of a tackle bag and it sits flatter in a kayak crate. The translucent base means you can flip it and still see a hook you thought you were out of.

Do not buy either one as a substitute for a system. One box for the lake you fish this month beats eight boxes you never open. The reel you already trust and the braid you already spooled are the tools that catch fish. The tray only keeps the small parts from becoming a knot in a cup holder. People who say a tackle box "failed" usually left it open in the rain, overloaded one compartment until the lid bowed, or bought a size that would not enter the bag they already owned.

What the Plano StowAway 3700 is actually for

Plano builds this StowAway as a stackable lure box with pre-cut dividers, a single latch, and Rustrictor in the material so hooks spend less time turning orange. The card on this comparison is the 3700 Stow, model PLASTOW3700STD, with a clear lid and a label panel. The dimensions listed with it are about 14 inches long, 7.3 inches wide, and 1.8 inches high. That is a long, relatively slim tray. It is not the older ProLatch 3700 that many boat bags were sewn around, the one closer to 14 by 9. If your bag's sleeve was cut for that older footprint, measure the sleeve with a tape before you trust the word 3700.

The single latch is a speed choice. Two latches and three cam-over latches hold a waterproof seal better, and they take longer when you are standing in wind trying to change a trailer hook. This box is the quick box. It is not a gasketed box you can drop in the bilge and forget. If the day is a saltwater run and the plugs go in wet, open the lid at home, rinse the salt, and let the box dry before you latch it for the week. Rustrictor is a help. It is not a promise that a soaked hook stays bright.

Do: set the dividers for the lures you actually throw, then stop. Empty slots are how a box stays useful. Don't: force a deep lipless crank into a compartment that bows the lid. A lid that will not sit flat pops open in a bag. Don't: stack a heavier box on a lid that is already crowned with hook points. The clear plastic shows you the problem. It does not armor you against it.

What the Flambeau 4007 is actually for

Flambeau's 4007 Tuff Tainer is the smaller divided tray: about 11 inches by 7.25 inches by 1.75 inches, with twelve Zerust dividers that can be arranged into as many as twenty-four compartments. Zerust is a vapor treatment in the divider plastic. In a closed box it is meant to lay a thin protective film on clean metal so hooks and jig heads rust more slowly. It is not a coating you paint on a hook, and it does not revive a hook that is already orange. Dry the metal. Close the lid. Give the vapor a closed space to work in.

The translucent lid and base are the identification system. You can see a chartreuse jig through the top and a dark hook through the bottom if the light is decent. That matters in a crate of six similar boxes. It matters less if you never label them and you buy four of the same model. Write on the label, or on a piece of tape, what the box is for: "ned heads," "drop shot," "spare hooks." Future you, in a rain jacket, will not remember which clear box was the October box.

Do: move dividers before you load the box, not after the compartments are full of hooks. Don't: mix salt-damp jig heads with dry treble hooks and call Zerust the fix. Rinse and dry first. Do: keep one compartment for the snaps and swivels you lose, because a morning ends early when the only snap is the one that just opened. Don't: treat an 11-inch box as if it were the 14-inch Plano. A jerkbait that fits the Plano may not lie flat in the 4007, and a bent bait fishes worse than the one you left at home.

How to pack either box so it still opens next month

Start with the hooks you retie, not the lures you might throw someday. A box that holds forty colors and zero 2/0 hooks is a display. A box that holds the six baits you fished last Saturday, plus the hooks, weights, and a leader spool, is a kit. Put the sharp points down or covered. A hook riding point-up wears a groove in the lid and then wears a groove in your thumb.

Leave air. Dividers that are packed until the plastic bows will creep. Soft plastics leach oil. That oil clouds a clear lid and can soften some divider walls over a hot summer in a truck. If a compartment smells like a bait shop and looks fogged, wipe it and move the baits to a bag for the drive. The box is for organization. It is not a greenhouse.

Label the outside for the water, not for the brand. "Smallmouth, river" and "pond, evening" beat "Plano 1" and "Plano 2." When you change lakes, you change one box, not the whole crate. The casting reel can stay on the rod. The box is what you grab when the fish want a different head weight than the one you tied in the driveway.

What actually fails on a small tackle box

Latches fail when the lid is crowned. Overfill is the cause. A single latch that will not catch is telling you the box is too full, or the latch tooth is packed with sand. Rinse the latch. Do not bend it with pliers until it "feels tighter." A bent latch is a latch that opens in the bag and dumps trebles into a pile of soft plastic.

Dividers fail when they are forced into the wrong slot or cracked in the cold. A cracked divider lets a 1/16-ounce head join the 3/8-ounce heads, and you spend the evening wondering why the bait will not stay down. Carry one spare divider in the bag if you have it. If you do not, tape is a field fix and a replacement divider is the real fix.

Rust fails the plan when wet metal goes into a closed box and stays there. Zerust and Rustrictor slow the reaction. They do not dry a hook. Spread wet tackle on a towel at home. Oil the hooks you care about. Close the box when the metal is dry. Salt is the faster version of the same failure. A brackish morning without a rinse is how a "new" box looks old by July.

The other failure is the wrong size with the right name. Plano's 3700 word has meant more than one footprint over the years. Flambeau's 4000 series is not one box either. The 4007 is this card: twelve dividers, about 11 by 7.25 by 1.75. A 5007, a waterproof terminal slim, or a four-pack of empty latches is a different product wearing a familiar word. Read the model. Then read the inches.

What this fight is not

It is not a tackle bag, and it is not a boat seat. A bag without a box becomes a junk drawer with straps. A box without a bag is what you drop on the concrete. It is not a waterproof case for a phone, and it is not a livewell. It is not the pliers. You still want a tool that cuts line and flattens a barb when you have to, and that tool does not live in the same compartment as your jerkbaits if you like your jerkbaits.

It is not a reason to buy more lures. If the Plano is the long box, fill it with the long baits you throw. If the Flambeau is the small box, fill it with heads and hooks sorted by weight. A third box can wait until these two are actually full of things you have tied on. Line on the reel still matters more than a new color of tray.

So which box should you buy?

Buy the Plano StowAway 3700, model PLASTOW3700STD, when the lures are long and you want one latch and a clear lid on a tray about 14 by 7.3 inches. Buy the Flambeau 4007 when you want twelve Zerust dividers and up to twenty-four small compartments in a tray about 11 by 7.25 inches. Measure the sleeve in the bag you already own. Dry the hooks before you close the lid. Label the outside for the water you fish, and leave the next size of box on the shelf until this one is actually doing a job.