When I ordered this I didn't study the photo well enough; it only has a clasp on one side, it has a hinge on the other side. The size & general construction are just what I was looking for, but for simplicity sake, I was expecting it to be like all the other bins out there; to have clasps on both ends.
I am a mechanical engineer and I design plastic components for a living. I'm not certain that the hinge on the one end of this container will hold up to daily use for the design life of this box. So far it's been just fine and it does have a reinforced stop on it to take stess off the vulnerable "axles" that it pivots on, but this is a large lid with a relatively small set of hinges. There is a lot of leverage to tranfer a huge load on those "axles" if it ever gets bumped when open. I hope I'm wrong, but I take great care to not apply any undue force on the lid when it's open.
Like I said, so far so good. Maybe I'm being too conservative; but I wouldn't have made this box with a hinge. The latch handle design is very sturdy, why compromise the robustness of the product to put a far less sturdy hinge on one end? I don't think the hinge makes it a better or more convenient product. It must've been the concept of someone in Marketing; certainly not from a pragmatic engineer. It introduces a vulnerability that doesn't need to be there.
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