While interesting, the scope of some of these sorts of posts is almost starting to make me wonder how many of those links are paid for (beyond the obvious Amazon Affiliate links).
As for a wallet, I go for a simple Ixchel hemp bifold. https://www.ixchel.net/products/3-fold-hemp-wallet
And I put my coins in my pocket.
Hey, did the Cool Tools blog and the Coding Horror blog get cross-wired?
Instead of optimizing my wallet, I optimized my pocketsāgot the Scott-E-Vest hidden cargo pocket pants. You can practically stuff a eee pc in there without a noticeable bulge.
The reason you should not keep wallets in your back pocket is that you have the lowest density of nerve cells in your whole body in that area.
Who pinched my wallet?
Iāve just ordered one of these : https://www.doshbrand.com/usa/
Slimline wallet with 3 or 6 cards.
I use a wallet that I bought around 8 years ago for less than $10 at Wal-Mart. Itās contoured to my butt and my butt is contoured to match itā¦I hardly ever notice it in my back pocket. Plus, Iām more interested in the money in the wallet than the wallet itself.
Plus, if you cram receipts in your front pocket and just keep cash and credit cards in the wallet, itās no big deal.
Wallet goes in the jacket and in your desk when you sit down (and some place safe at home).
No more back pocket, front pocket issues.
I didnāt know that I was supposed to be obsessive about keychains (mine has keys on), or wallets.
/me uses an Umbra Bungee Wallet for nearly a year and thinks its great.
Though, recently, one of the two notches on the top that holds the lid on fell down into the wallet/grove it sits on. Oh well.
Iām a fan of the low-tech solution here.
It helped me winnow down the things I āneededā quite a bit. Iām happier for it.
Second Ryan O.'s suggestion on money clips. I still carry a wallet, but itās pretty thin w/o the cash.
I like my tiny Fisher Space Pen:
https://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Bullet-Chrome-Finish-400/dp/B000095K9D
Itās tiny, and itās a friggin PEN, FOR SPACE.
I would never carry my wallet in the back pocket. Itās uncomfortable and seems easier to steal.
@various: yes, what do people do with coins? Currently I use a duct-tape wallet I make myself as a fourth-generation copy of the original I bought about 10 years ago. They gradually get scuffed over time so need patching, and eventually rebuilding, but that means I can make exactly the wallet I want, and a couple of layers of duct tape back-to-back is thin.
Pens: bullet pen seconded, and the clip works well for clipping it to the wallet. I had a pen very much like the Derringer, and it wore out in a few months, the retract mechanism broke and it fell into little bits. Sturdy, lasts a long time, geek appeal, etc ā itās just not as thin as other pens might be.
Not tried it myself, but the foldzflat pens look pretty minimal ā fancy stainless steel one here:
Being an American in the UK, I switched to carrying my wallet in the front pocket several years ago and canāt imagine keeping it my back pocket anymore. Having been told horror stories of others being pick pocketed in Europe, I switched from fear (granted this is true, as evidenced by the one time I put it in my back pocket and it was stolen.) My philosophy anymore is constraining what I carry and not how I carry it. I.e, no more than 2 cards and cash, receipts go in the pocket as do coins. British coins are more valuable than in the US, so I only carry anything higher than a 50p piece and keep smaller change in my pocket until the end of the day when they go in a loose change bag that is cashed at the bank once it is full.
+1 on the All-ett being good. Iāve had one for 4 years now, and the crackling eventually goes away (I forget how many years it took). The āfalling to centerā problem requires care when opening, but is fine once youāre used to it.
Iāve been carrying an All-Ett for the past six months and Iām really happy with it.
I find it odd that out of all of the very enlightening, mostly technical subjects you write about this is the subject that makes it to the top of hacker news. I think it is solely based on the dot matrix wallet design.
-d.
Iām a big fan of the Slimmy wallet. I used to get lots of numbness in my legs from sitting on my wallet. Once I switched to the Slimmy, which you carry in your front pocket, my numbness went away.
I also use and recommend the INKA pen http://www.writeanywhere.com/inkapen.html if you want to carry a pen on your keychain.
I got one from here: http://www.saddlebackleather.com/leather-wallets-belts/leather-wallets
Great quality with a 100 year warranty.