Bitchin' Innertube Wallet

Make a wallet out of duct tape? How 1992. I remember learning how to make a duct tape wallet at scout camp in 1992, and extended that lesson to a duct tape tie which I wore to any and all high school presentations or performances that required an increased level of attire. Needless to say, I had no problem avoiding sexual contact with the opposite gender.

Duct tape wallets are non-optimal. The nature of the adhesive used on duct tape results in a wallet that will slowly slide apart based on the forces input to the wallet by your ass. After a year or so, depending on the ambient temperature of your location, the wallet will be falling apart and you will be building a new one. Besides, who needs all those pockets, a full length cash slot or other "wallet" features? In today's modern, RFID, credit-ready, cash-poor society a money clip with credit card and drivers license storage is truly the best wallet you will ever need. Any more storage and you will tempted to store receipts, ATM slips, business cards, and other sundry items in the wallet until you have a full blown case of "Costanza Wallet".

Enter the Innertube Wallet. As a Maker, geek, or otherwise shunned cheapskate, you doubtless have numerous blown bicycle innertubes, a few sheets of rusty 22 gauge steel, and any number of DOA hard disks and their attendant magnets. With such materials and a boundless enthusiasm for turning interminably stored junk into stuff you don't need, I present the bitchin' innertube wallet to solve all your wallety needs.

Step 1 Assemble your materials

The first step to creating your awesome new innertube wallet/money-clip is too assemble the materials required. The photo below should give you an idea. Feel free to substitute as needed.

1. Innertube. I recommend a mountain bike tube rated in the 2.1 to 2.6 inch range. Patches are optional but add a nice touch. You will need about 6-8 inches of innertube.

2. Thin steel sheet. I had a spot welded piece of 22 gauge sheet steel sitting around that was magnetic, and easily cut with my available snips. Rust is optional but gives street cred.

3. Metal snips. My brother-in-law has been borrowing my legitimate tin snips for about six months so I had to use my "super scissors" (pictured) which put the hurt on them. You should use real snips designed for steel. Since I had about 25 minutes to complete the project, I had to make due.

4. A magnet. I used a rare earth magnet from a broken 2GB Caviar HDD that I had sitting around. You will need something stronger than a fridge magnet, but the steel sheets will shield your credit cards from the super strong rare earth magnet for the most part.

5. Rubber cement. I used a bicycle tube patch kit to glue closed the assembled wallet.

6. Lastly you need some kind of file or sandpaper to smooth the steel pieces you will cut.

Comments

[royalestel]

Yeah, has a magnet killed your credit card yet? Other than that . . . spiffy.

[quicumque]

I presume you haven't seen Mythbusters. They tested large electromagnets against credit cards. The credit cards won.

[royalestel]

Then I certify this as Awesome! (except for the name) Three cheers (and a favorite).

[carpe_noctem]

the name is awesome! who knew peple on instructables could get so uptight.... jk i love you guys lol

[cornflaker]

Haha how could the name be any better?

[carpe_noctem]

right?

[d-sier]

So i guess it was magic that erased my Visa card and not the Wizard PK Ring? :)

[Frag]

I used to have an innertube wallet such as this one, but I ended up making a pretty sick-nasty leather wallet (complete with waterproofing and a logo. ;)

[DrStoooopid]

bad idea bro. The magnet will screw up your credit cards.

[struckbyanarrow]

the magnets will do nothing at it has been proved that its impossible

[DELETED_craz meanman]

(removed by author or community request)

[DrStoooopid]

it's not the SIZE it's the strength. And No, Struckbyanarrow, you're wrong. ANY magnetic media can be erased and/or rewritten via magnetic field. Get your facts straight.

[flio191]

 No no, mythbusters has proven this to be incorrect.  you need a fairly strong magnet specifically made to alter these cards to change the coding within.

[flio191]

 Also, I forgot to include that you would need a changing magnetic field, aka. AC current to affect any data on the card, therefore, you'd have to constantly swipe the card and change the magnets (magnetic field) direction.  However, It's pretty darn difficult to do this with a simple, even a nd magnet.

[struckbyanarrow]

i would believe you but your name is Drstoooopid.

[beachflight]

"i would believe you but your name is Drstoooopid."

struckbyanarrow you just made me wish Instructables had a "like" button!
Now that I think about it, that is a terrible idea, but nonetheless I would "like" this comment.

[RyanKim]

Me too!! Baahahha!! GOOD-TIMES!!

[bono80kuriks]

 the neodymium magnets from harddrives are pretty strong tho, wouldn't that be bad for credit cards, ipod /cellphone next to it?

[jmengel]

The metal plate in the wallet side will shield the cards from the magnet if big enough and the magnet is not too strong.  I have not had a problem with mine but your mileage may vary.  I typically keep my drivers license and other optical cards closest to the magnet as a precaution.

[NatureBoom21]

i just wanna say, that no matter what magnet, it WILL erase the credit cards, but only after multiple encounters.

[ralphab]

use a sewing machine to sew the middle section shut and on one end, put a snap unit from fabric store and fold over and you have a coin snap purse; use the open end for cc cards.

[MattSwan]

Why not make the whole wallet bigger to fit the money in?

[jmengel]

Because this is a money-clip style wallet which holds a minimum of cash. Cash is not king.

[MattSwan]

well, i meant along the the lines of making it wider. That way it doesn't wrinkle the bills along the side.

[the_TRUE_LINK_OWNZ!]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?! HOW IS CASH NOT KING?! MONEY IS THE BEST THING U CAN HAVE IN THIS C***PY ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!!

[shaneomacmcgee]

He means that cash isn't nearly as popular as plastic anymore

[incorrigible packrat]

Oh damn! I got a terrible case of Costanza Wallet, and I even empty the darn thing on a fairly regular basis. I think the ATM stubs, old lottery tickets, receipts and Canadian Tire money all get funky and replicate in there. I'm sure I don't put much in the wallet, but sho' 'nuff, every few months, the wallet's all fat again, and it sure ain't fat with cash. Somebody help me...

[jmengel]

Only you can prevent Costanza wallet. What are you saving those receipts for? Your credit card has all your transactions online. So does your ATM. And who needs to shop at Canadian Tire more than once a lifetime anyway? Ehh? The solution is within you. Recycle your receipts. Shred them if necessary. There is no reason to alter your spinal alignment by sitting on a pile of thermal paper printouts of your financial life.

[incorrigible packrat]

But, I do remove receipts (occasionally). Moved the wallet to the front pocket twenty-odd year ago, specifically to prevent spinal problems. It's a mandatory for Canadian citizenship, to shop at Canadian Tire at least once a week. Being a Costanza involves a deep commitment to shirking individual responsibility. I think professional intervention, via some governmental or non-profit agency, must be required...

[cornflaker]

"It's a mandatory for Canadian citizenship, to shop at Canadian Tire at least once a week." lol awesomeness

[incorrigible packrat]

You also gotta drink at least a case of Molson Canadian every week. I'm in constant violation of citizenship requirements, 'cuz Canadian is just such turrible, turrible beer. btw Thanks for quoting my text, and pointing out the grammatical error I made. It should have read just, "It's mandatory for Canadian citizenship..." Maybe that little "a" was snuck into my text by Mooninites, who stole the "a" from Neil Armstrong's "One small step..." speech, in 1969, and have kept the "a" in cryogenic suspension all this time.

[cornflaker]

Ah huh! Those little Mooninites didn't expect us to notice did they?

[maharg20]

I thought you weren't aloud to say bitchin on instructables. That's bitchin!

[I_am_Canadian]

nice instructable, but the very 1st word should not be a swear :-(

[jmengel]

The first word is "Make".

[TheShawMaestro]

No, I_am_Canadian means the title.

[Gjdj3]

"Needless to say, I had no problem avoiding sexual contact with the opposite gender" Haha. I thought that was funny. Btw, nice instructable.

[parloop]

Might as well just stick with the good old duct tape wallet. Some professional ones can be found on Duct Tape Revolution.

[pocketwatch]

But money is bigger than it. If your sewing machine is up to it you could slice it and try some topstitching to hold it together. Or that tube glue, but that sounds like a worse plan. Or you could move to someplace with thinner money.

[hyoomen]

For anybody concerned about the magnets, just leave a small flap on one side of one end of the tube and add some fashionable button snaps. http://www.snapsource.com has a great selection of various colored snaps (including an assortment of greys and blacks). http://www.hidehousesouth.com/Catalog/R-H-Snapcap.htm lists some of the traditional motorcycle-jacket style snap caps.

http://www.denverfabrics.com/pages/sewinginfo/hsc-sewing-hints/sewing-snaps.htm talks about how to select snaps and some of the other basics while http://www.ehow.com/how_17167_apply-sew-snaps.html demonstrates how to apply no-sew snaps.

Ideally I'd love to find some gear plate button snaps to really round out the cycle style, but I haven't come across 'em yet.

Thanks for the tutorial.