Back Pocket

I don't tend to think about my wallet much, until I need a new one. Then I go nuts for a while looking for something different, because I don't like the standard horizontal-opening style. A long time ago I used to use a trifold, until I realized that it was just too bulky from those extra layers of leather.

I don't carry as much in my wallet as some people I've seen, but I need a certain minimum amount of space. For the past decade or maybe longer, I've had two or three examples of what I guess you could call an L-fold or flip-fold style wallet: it opens vertically, like a book, and there's another section on the left that flips up. I kept my less frequently used cards under the flip and the everyday-access stuff on the right.

When I noticed recently that my wallet was looking worn, I started to think about what I might want to replace it with. I've seen some very nice wallets that are meant to be kept in the inside pocket of one's suit jacket. I sometimes wear a sportcoat, but not regularly, and what would I do with the wallet when I was just wearing jeans or shorts? I needed to stick to a wallet that would go in my back pants pocket.

The Mrs. offered to buy me a new wallet as a birthday present, so I gave her some basic guidelines. We were in a Marshalls a couple of weeks ago and she found what I had described, but it turned out to be the exact same wallet I've had for the past six years, even made by the same company. I realized that I didn't want to simply get another of the same thing.

I tend to get wrapped up in searches for things that are very difficult to find, and I was off on another one. I looked just about everywhere I could think of for something suitable yet different enough to be interesting. I've seen some very nice products from companies like Makr, Tanner Goods, and Chester Mox that make leather goods in the USA from quality leather. But I was disappointed that I couldn't find a wallet from any of them that would work for me.

Eventually I found a Fossil wallet from Zappos. (It also came in black, which is what I got, but it has since sold out.) It opens like a book, but instead of the flip-up flap, there is a dual-sided ID window that is attached to center of the wallet so that it flips from side to side like a page in a book. It turned out to be a little bigger than what I really needed, but I still liked it and decided that it was a good enough choice that I could stop searching.