I've long noted that my "rustable" hand tools fared much better when stored inside of a closed wooden box, cabinet, or chest. Hanging out in the air and they are a constant challenge to keep the rust off, so for me even though I don't travel, having a wooden box to keep my tools, keeps them rust free, clean, and therefore ready to use.

So a chest simply offers housing, and protection to a larger number of tools at once. Though there is nothing wrong with a box that holds a smaller number. For some I have seen they used the smaller box theory, and in the end it was a lot more of a footprint if you added all of the smaller boxes together. It's just finding a parking spot for some. Fortunately my shops size allows for the smallish footprint of my chest, and I did a small add on of wheels, so I can move mine to anywhere, quickly.