I am aware and I guess the crux of my argument is that ultimately it doesn’t matter how much they suck or not. I agree with the OP - the crates are definitely something that should have the crafting reqs/level unlock looked at because of their nature. The part I came in disagreeing with was the latter supposition by others about their supposed place on a linear progression chart.
I personally don’t think they’re meant to be part of the whole ‘chest’ group for progression, they’re a side show like the cupboard.

Thematically, I get why they used shaped wood rather than plain wood, gotta shape wood to make planks for the crates and all that nonsense. From a gameplay perspective it feels to me like a slightly confused aim as an abstraction for realism and immersion with the crafting steps (at least they didn’t make us use resin and oil to act as a sealant, right?). Why they would just slap it on the crates and not others arbitrarily I have no idea but it’s not the first time and there’s plenty of downright silly level and material requirements for supposedly decorative items (like those little cloth awnings we love so much).

oh and:

The storage category is in the Decorations segment of the build hammer, so that’s neither here nor there.