Communications

Cellphone Credit Card Pocket

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Wallet replacement for minimalists

I’ve recently been doing a lot of traveling to places like Kathmandu and Capetown, which are pretty well known hotspots for pickpockets. When you’re in a place where pickpocketing can be an issue, standard policy for men’s wallets is to remove them from your back pocket into your front pocket.

I’ve discovered that between my wallet, my phone, keys, and my everyday carry Skeletool, I just have too much stuff to keep in my front two pockets. It becomes bulky enough to attract attention, which defeats the purpose of the whole exercise.

I thought I’d found a solution in the Card Ninja, but the price is a bit much — it’s just a pocket that adheres to the back of your phone that you stuff only your wallet necessities into. It shouldn’t be $20.

So I went searching and found this on Amazon at $6.99 for 3 (share with your friends, or keep a spare for when you trade in your cellphone, I guess!).

Most cellphone wallets are clamshell cases that you have to open whenever you want to access your phone or your wallet; with a pocket on the back of your phone, you have access to both without having to open anything.

The pocket is snug enough that cards don’t fall out but I can also easily jam 12 cards and some cash in there if I have to (the slim design really encourages you to carry only what you need, which is a feature rather than a downside in my opinion).

If you’re interested in minimizing your everyday carry weight, you really can’t do better than eliminating your wallet for one of these. I’ve also stripped down my keys and have only one ring that I keep in my Skeletool’s carabiner, so I have only two objects to remember when I leave in the morning — my keys and my phone. Everything else takes care of itself.

-- Jonny Dover 02/28/14

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