Wallets :: Baseball Gloves, Denim, Plastic.

by Leather, August 15, 2012

Wallets are a funny one; most people’s perspectives on them are that they just hold cash, coins and some cards. Some people don’t use a wallet, they just throw everything into their pockets and run with it. Others are more pedantic and have places for everything in their wallet and they may even employ a two-wallet strategy.

While in the US over the last two months I came across three distinctly different carry hacks that are fun and creative – from denim, to plastic to old baseball glove leathers. Thought it would be nice to share and ask what wallet hacks are you running these days? We’ve spoken about a few hacks before, but it’s always neat to see what else is happening out there…

The Baseball Glove

Came across a friend who had one of those Fielders Choice wallets – made from old baseball gloves. I’d seen a bit on the web about these, but in person they are dreamy (and a little stinky, ha). The leather is well worn in, full of character and gets you thinking about who was wearing it, catchers, pitchers, etc.

The craftsmanship is solid, all hand made in the US. The leather is from Nokona, who have been producing ball gloves since 1934 – so yeah, there’s some old ones in there. Made with top-grain American hides provided by American ranchers, Nokona leathers are tanned in the USA to Nokona’s specifications.

The Denim Sleeve

Did you know that the leather patch on the back of Lee jeans is around the same size as a credit card? Nope, me neither. Well, not until I saw this little puppy.

What’s happened here is our friend has ripped the leather patch off the back of their now defunct jeans, and also cut a piece of denim from the same jeans at roughly the same size as the leather patch. Then he’s stitched the two together down the sides and left an opening at the top.

This leaves a sweet-looking card sleeve that is probably one of a kind? Well, we haven’t seen others…

The Bus Pass Sleeve

This might not be a long-lasting solution to avoiding purchasing an actual wallet, but if you’re stuck and have lost your own then it’s a pretty quick, painless solution. This little plastic idea came from Rain. I caught up with him in NY last month and he pulled this out.

The sleeve is what most kids are using/given to hold their bus/train pass when commuting to/from school. It fits more than one card, so if you don’t carry a lot of cards it could be a good interim set-up. A little slide area to help remove cards in the middle. Clear so you can show ID without pulling cards out. And best of all, slim.