The Original World’s Thinnest Wallet

I remember seeing an infomercial once for some super-thin wallet.  It showed a guy sitting with a comically overstuffed wallet in one of his back pockets, and he was tilted over so far it looked like he was constantly flatulating.

My wallet never got quite that bad, or at least I learned not to keep it in my back pocket. However, I remember the days before the cell phone was commonly used; if you wanted a phone number handy, you generally put it in your wallet.  I also like to be ready for any contingency, so I keep a moist towelette or two in there as well.

I recently transferred all the stuff from my old wallet (Fig. 1) to The Original World’s Thinnest Wallet (Fig 2).  This wallet, sold by a company called ALL-ETT, clearly does a better job of spreading out credit cards, IDs, etc, so they’re not all stacked on top of one another.  It’s a pretty simple matter of space management, and I must say I’m happy with the results.

I do a decent amount of traveling, so there are a lot of things I like to have handy: frequent flyer cards, hotel reward program cards, and train tickets, to name a few.  These all fit in one of the four card slots in the wallet. The other three have plenty of room for all sorts of stuff – library cards, insurance cards, tuna melt…I’m just kidding; I don’t eat tuna.  I don’t like the mercury sauce.

ALL-ETT offers several varieties with different features.  The Original is the only one that fit all my stuff in it, but if you’re less of a pack rat, you might find an even smaller one that’s right for you.

For the environmentally conscious, every model is available in something they call Spinnaker. It’s recycled and recyclable, and you get to choose from 5 colors.  For those who like to keep their money inside a cow, leather is also an option.  I guess those are recycled too, technically, since the cow once used it as skin, and now you get to use it to hold your stuff.

Speaking of cash, inside each new wallet, you get a nice discount coupon (Fig. 3) worth 10% off your next order with ALL-ETT.  The beauty of it is that it looks quite a bit like a $10 bill.  I’m not suggesting you try this, but if you hold it right (Fig. 4), you just might be able to pull a fast one on the late-night clerk at the Qwik-E-Mart.

Anyway, after a few months of using – and really liking – this wallet, I have noticed that the edges have frayed a bit.  It’s not falling apart, and it looks fine after I cut back the loose threads, but I am wondering a bit about longevity issues.  Otherwise, the wallet has held up well, and I’m quite happy with it.