Apparently it’s a trend that most men just receive wallets rather than buying them
My last 3 wallets I bought for myself. I don’t think I’ve been gifted a wallet since my teens. I’d definitely advise against anyone I knew wanting to buy me a wallet, I’m very particular in the kind I like and chances are very high I wouldn’t use the gifted wallet, or I’d try to return it.
Have a weird / old wallet and people will try to upgrade you.
I had a gaffer tape wallet for many years… People couldn’t resist trying to replace it
I had a very different reaction to my duct tape wallet. I saw a slim, front pocket design online that was exactly what I was looking for in a wallet but I was unable to find one to buy. This was around the time that front pocket wallets just started to become a fad with the mininalism community so they were still quite uncommon.
Used an old thin plastic board as a frame and duct taped the outside. One pocket for cards, one for money and a stretchy band to slip over to prevent things from accidentally falling out.
Everyone loved it because it was so unique I guess. Kept adding more tape to repair it as it aged but eventually I retired it because the old glue was smearing all over my cards and money.
I made many great memories with that wallet since it travelled with me around the world for a good number of years.
I’m into carrying the least amount of non-bulky things possible with me. I used to keep my driver’s license and credit card in between my phone and phone case. When I switched phones, the form factor made it so I couldn’t do that anymore. But I stumbled into a listing for a cheap elastic fabric wallet and pulled the trigger. I absolutely love it. It works perfectly for my needs, has an incredibly small footprint, and has a pull tab so that I can easily slide my card out when needed. I’ve had the same one for 2 years now. It goes in my pocket daily and hasn’t seem to shown much signs of wear.
Mine looks like this.
There are only 2 main downsides I’ve found to this design.
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It bends your cards over time. This doesn’t bother me. It’s really a cosmetic issue, imo. Cards still work fine with a slight curve in them. Once they get curved in one direction you might just want to try popping them in the other way.
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If you put, for example, 5 cards in the wallet for a period of time, but you eventually want to trim down to only carrying 2 cards, you’ll run into an issue. Adding more cards to the wallet stretches it out, so it may become too loose to carry less cards at some point. Once I realized this, I just figured I’d keep all of my cards in there and not trim them down. So I always have my driver’s license, 2 regular payment cards, and 2 medical related cards in my wallet. One of these cards is thinner than a regular card, so it’s kind of like I’m carrying 4.5 cards on me. Still far slimmer and pocketable than any other wallet I’ve had. Fits in women’s pockets! I love it!
I don’t carry cash or anything, so I don’t know how well this would work for that. A wallet for cash wasn’t what I was looking for, personally. I hate carrying cash.
Edit: I looked back at the listing I purchased from years ago. It looks like you can purchase it with or without the pull tab. I guess the photo I took is the one without the pull tab. The tab has been useful for me tho.
Rigid brand wallets seem nice and more durable, but they are infinitely more expensive and I don’t know if it would be too rigid for comfort in my pants pockets. An elastic wallet is going to be soft and pliable.
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I didn’t know people getting their wallets replaced by other people was such a universal thing. Every ten years or so my wallet will start to get all stringy and fall apart and my wife or BiL will just hand me a new one. I thought they were just weird wallet snobs until this thread
If you want a good wallet you buy it
I don’t want gift wallets, there are like 0 chances I get what I want. Sometimes even for the ones I buy by myself.
I don’t know, the pockets, the flatness… everything needs to fit right.
I’m recovering from a wallet disorder. While searching for the perfect wallet I probably collected 20 or so. I’ve been using the same wallet now for two years so I think it’s under control.
I prefer not to receive wallets as gifts.
Are there any interesting or unique wallets that you’ve come across? I’ve been needing a wallet for some time but I never enjoyed the look of a plain/boring slim wallet or the classic fat plain leather ones.
There are a lot of different styles for sure. I use a Pockt card wallet now and it’s perfect… for me. There’s one wallet that is two metal plates you put your cards between and they’re held together with paracord. That one has a bottle opener. A search for minimalist wallet on Amazon or similar will let you see what’s out there.
Not for me.
I currently have three wallets, all made by Saddleback Leather1. They’re expensive but the company’s tagline is ‘your kids will fight over it when you’re dead’.
I have a standard bi-fold which I have actually semi-retired in this modern age of pinging payments with my phone, a classic tall, slim wallet for an inside suit jacket pocket, and my everyday carry card wallet which has three bank cards, my driving license, and £100 emergency ‘shit they don’t take phone pinging payment’ situations.
Edit to add: I don’t anticipate ever needing to buy another wallet in my life. These are solid.
[1] Saddleback leather is owned and run by a guy called Dave Munson who is a self-described ‘faith driven entrepreneur’. I don’t care what the dude believes.
I use the business card holder as my wallet. I bought two at the same time, I’m still using the first one after 10 years or so, and I don’t know when I might ever have to replace it with the spare. And for anyone wondering, it stretches over time and I have about 10 credit/cards in it.
No, I saw a wallet that was exactly what I was looking for and bought it. I’ve carried it for years. The last time someone else bought me a wallet it was just a generic bulky one.
When I was younger, yeah.
I think wallets are for people nobody knows what to buy for. Like getting them a tie. No hobbies, no interests, no personal declarations of what they might like. Or people just don’t know them well enough to get anything other than some generic gift like a wallet.
No. My wallet is…fucking hell… 20 years old.
A friend made me a duct tape wallet in high school. My brother hated it, had won a contest, and spent some of.his winnings ona new wallet for me. It’s been close to 20 years.
I made some amazing tape wallets back in the day. One of them was so well made it lasted more than 1 year.
Funny enough I recently ended up finding a brand that makes paper “leather” slim wallets. Mine is lredy a few years old https://www.andersundkomisch.de/
Wallets are good gifts until a guy is like 25-30. Then he’ll buy the style he likes for himself.
Do men tend to ask for wallets as gifts? If so, it makes sense they would tend to get them as gifts then. My dad certainly did. He was very particular about brand and model, and he showed genuine appreciation when I tracked one down (especially prior to internet shopping being what it is). It made for a good gift.
I have never had a wallet bought for me. Probably wouldn’t want one either, because I don’t use traditional wallets, but rather a card wallet that keeps them all flat so they don’t crack down the middle.
My daily carry wallet is… Damn over 12 years old now, and was a gift ha.
i only bouhgt my current one myself
the ones before were all gifts from my grandpa, and the last one lasted 11 years and i know he would have liked the one i bought. really tried to pick one he would have gifted me :)
